When thinking about theft at restaurants, most owners and managers jump right to staff stealing from their till or taking food home with them. But there are many other ways your staff can steal from you, especially with an increasing number of people starting to pay with cash again after the pandemic.
With that in mind, here are some of the top ways in which your employees might be stealing from your business, as well as some advice on how you can prevent employee theft through a robust security solution.
The fake walkoutWalkouts certainly happen but some employees will fake a walkout to pocket the cash. The most common way to fake a walkout is to bring the customer their bill, take cash payment immediately and then head off to another part of the restaurant until the customer leaves. They then walk back to the table to find the customers have left and tell their boss it was a walkout.
Swap outsAnother common way for employees to steal from you is to serve and collect money for the correct meal then input a cheaper menu item into the POS and pocket the difference.
To help encourage customers to pay in cash, employees will sometimes fake a system failure and tell customers they can’t accept debit or credit when the manager is out of earshot. If the customer doesn’t have cash, they will just pretend that the machine is miraculously working again.
Voiding ordersSometimes employees (who can void orders or in partnership with someone who can) will void transactions paid in cash throughout the night. They will then pocket the money. If you don’t check the number of voids each night, this scam can go completely unnoticed.
Inventory theftWhen an employee takes food and inventory from your business, they are increasing your costs. The most common ways to steal inventory is by:
It isn’t just servers and kitchen staff that steal from restaurants. Administrative staff also have several techniques for taking money from your business. This includes:
This theft isn’t related to physical property but wages. It happens when employees arrive late, leave early or take long breaks while you are compensating them. This form of fraud is harder to spot because you must catch your employee in the act.
Bar theftBars are especially susceptible to theft. Not only do you have to worry about fake walkouts, inventory theft, voids and swap out, you also have to watch for:
How to prevent employee theft in restaurants
There are several ways to prevent employee theft in your restaurant. This includes doing inventory counts more frequently and fostering a positive corporate culture. You can also implement better internal procedures to deter theft, such as:
More importantly, you should install security systems that will protect you from both internal and external crime.
To help stop employee theft you should install a verified security system. This will give you oversight of your business even when you can’t be there. And it won’t only deter employee theft but prevent customer theft and other crimes, as well as increase your staff and business's safety in an emergency.
As an additional layer of security, you could also implement physical access control. This includes locking high risk or high value items up and limiting who can get to them. One of the best ways to manage physical access is through keyless entry.
Keyless entry limits employee access to specific rooms or spaces, while also minimizing the risk and cost associated with lost or stolen keys as access can be turned off digitally. Not only that but its unique reporting system will ensure you know which employees were in which room at any given time. You’ll know exactly who committed a crime, and when it was committed.
As an added bonus, keycards will track when employees check in/out and enter/leave the premises so that you don’t have to depend on them to provide the correct time card information.
Are you interested in enhancing your restaurant security? Book a free security plan with Sonitrol Western Canada today.