What are the signs of employee theft?
Signs are patterns you can check against the till and the shift. One weird night with a shared drawer is not a sign of theft. It is a reason to coach the count. Act on a single vibe and you will create drama and learn nothing.
Short answer
Worth a closer look: shortages that continue after the count is tight, voids or no-sales or cash refunds that spike on the same shifts, resistance to owning a drawer, and register events that do not match a short clip of the counter. None of these alone proves theft. Together they justify a documented conversation, not a public scene.
Cash and shift signs
- Shortages that survive dual control. If you have not dual-controlled yet, you do not have this sign. You have a loose close.
- Exception spikes without a matching story (a known training day, a known refund rush).
- Refusing the ritual — no owner, no count, “I’ll do it later.”
- A clip and a note that disagree at the drawer. That is a question for the lead, asked in private.
What is not a sign
Staff talking, a slow greet, or someone on their phone between customers are service and floor-presence topics. Coach those as service. Do not file them as theft. Start the cash work at why the till is short and how to handle suspected theft by building a routine first. Method for the look itself: cameras vs POS.
Patterns you can check. Not a vibe.
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