Excerpt

Have you ever committed employee theft?

How would you define employee theft? Is it only the blatant embezzlement and/or stealing of valuable assets from work? Is it a matter of degrees?

Be honest, have you ever done any of the following without the expressed permission from an employer?

*Fudged your time card?
*Padded an expense account or report?
*Made personal phone calls on company time?
*Used company postage?
*Used office supplies for personal use?
*Took office items home?
*Borrowed funds for personal use?
*Made personal copies on the copier?
*Failed to report accounting/payment errors in your favor?
*Used the company car for personal business?
*Ran errands on company time?

Chances are, you are in the 75% or more of all employees who have stolen from work.
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Employee theft is a hot potato right now. If the actress Winona Ryder dominated the headlines in 2002 during her shoplifting trial, weve had more than a decade of headlines on white collar crime and employee theft--from Enron to Martha Stewart. I imagine most people are sick of excuses.

But its not just the big stories that ought to concern us. Everyday, employee theft takes a bite out of us all.

Consider statistics from the American Society of Employers:
*Businesses lose 20% of every dollar to employee theft.
*20% of employees are aware of fraud at their companies (including theft of office items, false claims of hours worked, and inflated expense accounts).
*The average time it takes for an employer to catch a fraud scheme is 18 months.
*55% of perpetrators are managers.
*44% of workers say their companies could do more to reduce fraud.
*The U.S. Retail Industry loses $53.6 Billion a year due to employee theft.
*60% of companies have staff trained to deal with fraud and ethics issues (up from 30% in 2000).
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that 75% of all employees steal at least once, and that half of these steal again and again. The Chamber also reports that one of every three business failures are the direct result of employee theft.

In employee surveys conducted by academics, 43% of workers admitted stealing from their companies.

The FBI reports that employee theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States.

We need not worry as much about an enemy abroad taking a toll on our economy. We have met the enemy: it is us! Its either the worst time or the best time to start talking about this topic in a new way. Im hoping its the right time.
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Weve all heard similar stories of the person fired from his or her job for embezzling some ungodly amount of money or stealing goods and product. Sure, there are greedy folks, plain thieves, and career criminals in our work force. But, mostly, employee theft tends to happen a little at a time. Someones vulnerable--theres a financial or emotional stressor, a conflict at work--and a line is crossed. Next thing you know, your star employee is hauled away in handcuffs. We scratch our heads, wondering: (What were they thinking? They didnt actually think they could get away with that?( The answer usually is: (They werent thinking. They got hooked.( Employee theft can become addictive!

There are plenty of books out there that quote facts, statistics, cursory reasons why people steal from work, and what can be done to reduce or prevent it. They may certainly be of value if that is primarily what the reader is looking for. Most are written by experts in the security and loss prevention fields--the typical readers are store and business owners and fellow security and loss prevention folks.

This book is not about excusing employee theft. But it is a different kind of book. My intention is to take make the topic relevant, provocative, and urgent for everyone!
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I am a therapist, attorney, consultant and person recovering from addictive-compulsive theft since 1990. Since publishing my bookSomething for Nothing: Shoplifting Addiction and Recovery in 2004--Ive worked with more people seeking help for chronic employee theft behaviors. As shoplifting recently has gained some relative acceptance as a potentially addictive and treatable behavior, people who steal from work have begun to seek help, too.

In my research and in my personal discussions with those in various relevant fields, Ive found most people dont care why people steal from work. They view any attempt to understand or explain theft as excuses. I have known countless people who didn't fully recognize they had a problem as well as those who knew they did and wanted to stop but didn't know how or where to go for help. I have a shared interest in seeing a reduction in theft; however, I think I have some different ideas about how to get there.
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Imagine you are someone who steals from work. You come to work each day with butterflies in your stomach, on edge, looking over your shoulder, wondering if today may be the day your are discovered. Every time your name is called, or the boss asks you a question, your gut tightens. Is this any way to live? Part of you wants to come clean, spill the beans, and stop the madnessbut theres something that seems to stop you. Was this the life you chose?

Imagine you are a store or business owner and you are so busy you dont have the time to check every thing out. You do your bestin your mindto treat your employees well and you think you can trust the people you employ but you cant. Its heart-breaking.

Imagine you are a loss prevention worker and going to work each day is like coming into a war zone. You cant let your guard downyouve been surprised and shocked before. You have become jaded and cynical. You long for the day when work is easier but you crave the challenge, too: you get a high from catching people who steal.