Please, I need as many people to give me advice on this as possible.Very important.No Joking please?

Question

Please, I need as many people to give me advice on this as possible.Very important.No Joking please?
I own a small workshop. Last Monday, I had to leave early and only the workers were at the workshop. They are 2 workers ,and very honest. I trust them very much.
They sold things with the amount of 250 pounds on Monday. When the time came to close up, one of them put the money in the drawer of the desk , and they closed the doors and left.
The next morning, I came and asked for the money, it was gone. They looked for it every where , but they couldn't find it.There was no sign for any break in or anything.As I said , they didn't steal it. But what I think has happened is that they left the place for 3 or 4 minutes, which they often do, and someone got the money from the drawer.I decided to split the amount. I would pay 100. The one who had the money would pay 100. The other one would pay 50.But this last one refused . So I said o.k but I told him that if he ever leaves the place again, I would fire him. He got so upset and left. U think I was right or wrong ?wt should I have done ?

I respect all answers. What I need to know is "There is an older one who had the money with him. He offered to pay for all the remaining part. But I insisted that if the money was stolen from the workshop in their presence, then they both had to pay. So instead of having the older one pay 150. I asked the younger to pay 50 and the older to pay 100. The younger refused. I said o.k I wouldn't cut it from ur wage but if I ever see the workshop again empty with no one in it , I will fire u.
He got upset because of what I said and left.
What do u think abt this ?
I am asking about the moral responsibility not the legal considerations

I didn't leave any money. All the money came from things they sold after I left.

Answer 1

You received many answers, too many to read them all! Thirsty Mind made sense. It's an expensive lesson. The man who walked out should not be fired. You know these people well and trust them. Tell him you would like for him to come back to work, since he is a good dependable hard worker, and just let it go! But -- since he won't pay, the other man shouldn't have to, either, in the interest of fairness! Still, don't let your guard down. The man who walked out: I see his point of view. But not everyone is me. Trustworthy, loyal, honest, friendly, courteous, etc. He might be dishonest, for some unknown reason. If similar things happen in the future, then take action. In the meantime don't threaten any of your employees: that will lose you a good worker.

Answer 2

1. If the "younger" employee was not responsible to assure that the shop was not left open, then he shouldn't pay anything. If neither employee was responsible for leaving assuring that the shop was continuously manned, neither employee should pay. Who was in charge?? If one was in charge, act only on him, not the person who was not in charge.

2. If both employees were responsible to assure that the shop was never empty, both should be held accountable in exactly the same way, but this should not include repayment unless you can prove theft by them. So fire them both, or not.

3. SInce you cannot prove how the money was lost, and if neither employee was specifically assigned to care for the money, the problem is yours.

4. YOU DON"T EVEN KNOW WHEN OR HOW THE MONEY WAS LOST!!! You need a check and balance system. Possibly two employees counting and signing off and verifying the balance of the receipts at the end of the day, or several times during the day. (I have it done every 2 hours).

5. Bottom line is: You did not have a specific employee charged with the responsiblity of manning your shop continuously; you do not know how or when the money was taken; you do not provide adequate safeguards for the money when it is not watched (like a safe or locked box, which is not your employee's fault); you don't know for a fact that it was not taken after hours (nor does your employees); you are considering penalizing two employees unequally for the same "mistake"; and you are not taking better steps for future events which pretty much gaurantees that it will happen again, for which the "younger" employee has no intention of being penalized.

Do not charge your employees for the loss unless you have proof that they took it. Correct the conditions that led to a) not knowing how much money you had at any given time and b) protect the money from theft. If you intend to put one person in charge of the safety of the money, give them a lock box, a safe, the ability to check balances at any time, and the authority to supervise other employees accordingly. Put in a camera if you suspect employee theft.

Do not fire the younger employee. By your assumption, He didn't steal the money. He's right to refuse to be held responsible for management that left so many possible ways for money to be taken that it will inevitibly happen again, at his expense according to your rules. I agree with him 100%

Answer 3

I manage a small business myself. For starters, there should ALWAYS be at least one employee in the shop at any given time during business hours. Period. As far as lunch, etc. the two employees can take turns leaving... and if both employees are leaving, they should NEVER be allowed to leave the shop without securing all money and LOCKING IT first. And since you knew that they do leave occasionally, yet you have not addressed the situation before now, it is YOUR fault that the cash was stolen, because you were allowing them to leave things unattended.

Also, you need a more secure way of storing cash, where the employee is required to drop it in, let's say, a SAFE, once he has accumulated a certain amount of cash in the till, leaving only a small amount, say 40-50, for making change. That way, if anything's stolen, it's a minimal amount rather than the whole thing. But the ultimate responsibility resides with YOU, not them. You are the boss. They are not innocent here, but they should not have to pay for following bad business practices that you have allowed to take place.

If I were in your position, I would chastise both of them, tell them that leaving things unattended is unacceptable, and that a repeat would lead to instant termination. I would give them a clear set of rules to follow, so that there is no room for misunderstanding, and expect them to be followed from this time forward, and most importantly, implement a secure system for handling cash. But I would not have made them pay, because I would have blamed myself for being such a sloppy manager.

Answer 4

I think if the younger guy paid 50 and stayed, then that would have been a very nice ending. However, obviously your expectations didn't match his. He is not such a generous and kind-hearted person as you are. Your older employee however, seems very much worthy of keeping.

What should you have done? If your intention is to keep both employees, then the way to handle it may have been to ask for their opinions on how to handle the situation. Involve them in the decision making process, and based on that, you make the final decision. However, I think you already handled it really well. You didn't even insist the younger guy had to pay. He could have stayed without paying anything. He was too emotional or immature. Good luck in finding a more stable, mature employee like your older one.

Answer 5

this is a very difficult question, because, let's face it, enta keda 2ata3t 3esho! (u made him lose the only source of money he's got)
and coz of no real fault.. i mean, he shouldnt have refused to pay, but still, this is the punishment u give one who STOLE the money! not refused to pay damages!
i think a better solution would have been to force him to pay the money, i.e. cut it off his wage, and if he refuses, then HE should leave.. not that YOU fire him.. if that is what happened here, then i think u should give him a call or something in a couple of days to ask if he wants his job back, ON CONDITION he pays.. after all, he's trusted employee of urs..

i know ur not asking abt legal consequences but i'll mention it anyway.. im a law student and i vaguely remember something abt having to warn ur employee first before firing him for certain actions.. cant really remember what these were.. the point is, maybe what u have done is considered illegal.. however, it's not like he's going to sue u! but just so that u'll know for later on ya3ni..

Answer 6

That's a quagmire. Perhaps the money was stolen by a thief- not one of the employees. How would you know for sure? Perhaps a CCTV camera would have been handy. I don't think either should be responsible- but somehow someway someone should be liable. You did the right thing by splitting the loss- but I have reservations about that too. I have a feeling that the truth will surface in due time.

Answer 7

Fact is that they both left the place unattended, so regardless of where the money went they are both responsible. And because you cant determine which one, if either of them took the money you should fire them both The older one could be deceiving you by setting the other up to make him appear guilty But I would suspect the younger one because of his behavior. People are rarely what they seem, don't let either of them snow you. The money is missing, and someone is lying about it. Don't believe for a minute that you can tell the liar from the truth. You cant, nor can any one else.

Answer 8

If the money was stolen, your staff should not have to pay. It is your business YOU should have made sure the money was in a safe place. If you trust them and they are good reliable workers, take the loss, and set up a better security system. keep money in a locked drawer, limit the access to it. reckon the money every night and remove it from the premises. If they leave the premises make sure they lock up. Then if anything goes missing they will be liable.

Answer 9

I just wish I had an employer like you, I mean it. I work at the very bottom of the foodchain, and if something like that ever happened, I know my superiors would NEVER have the courtesy you had with them, I am seen simply as an expendable type of human, I suppose, in spite of the fact that it'd be quite expensive to fire me and train someone elso to do my job. They'd just fire me and be done with it.
The act of splitting the loss with your employees, actually offering to chip in 100 pounds of your own money even though you were not responsible for what happened is really commendable. Not only that, but you actually assumed right off the bat that they did NOT rip you off, you chose to believe in good will that in that space of 3 to 4 minutes someone came in and robbed you, no matter how improbable that really does sound. That really makes me wish, again, I were given that kind of trust by the bastards I work with. You even gave THEM, the responible ones for the loss, the CHOICE of chipping in as well, and when one guy refused, you proved yourself true by assuring him you wouldn't dock it from his wages!
Sir, I frankly don't really care how you solve this, your attitude and poise are worth much more than that measly 250 pounds you lost.

Best wishes,

A.

PS: As for telling him you'd fire him if the workshop were left unattended again, I think the guy should at least try to put himself in your shoes and understand your position a little better.

Answer 10

I agree with one of the previous answers. Your employees may not be has honest as you think. You offered a simple way out of this and he did not take it. I think you were being to nice in the first place. Someone needs to take responsibility for this. The guy that walked out...FORGET HIM!! that is kind of suspicous anyway. Also make sure you lock you money up somewhere..Somewhere that only you and one other person have access to...That way if something goes missing and it has not been broken in to...you know who is responsible.