How do I prevent employee theft in a restaurant?
On a restaurant or cafe floor, prevention is the shift you coach every day: who owns the drawer, how voids are called, and how the close is counted. It is not a hidden-camera plan. Busy service is when habits slip, so the routine has to survive a rush.
Short answer
Give the drawer an owner when the roster allows. Count in and out. Dual-control the drop. Require a short reason on voids and no-sales. Review the exception list with the shift lead on a fixed rhythm, and pull a short clip only for the timestamps that need it. Same standard for senior staff. Culture is the routine people see you keep.
What to coach on a busy floor
- Drawer ownership through the rush. If two people share one till all night, you cannot coach either of them about a short count.
- Voids in the moment. A void called out and noted beats a silent button. The lead checks the list, not a live feed.
- Comps and staff meals. Written, not whispered. The argument is the missing note, not a personality.
- Close. Float, tips if you handle them in the drawer, and who signs. A close nobody watches will drift.
Keep service coaching separate
A bad customer moment is a service conversation, not a theft conversation. Do not mix them. Cash pages if the till is the actual problem: why the till is short and stop staff stealing from the till. Retail twin: prevent employee theft in a retail store. Method: cameras and POS together.
Coach the close. Do not run a sting from the office.
SoraData soft-connects cameras you already run so a cafe or restaurant shift can be reviewed at the exception, not all service long. Request a trial or view plans when it fits.