The year's off to a great start...not

[BrokeIn2010]

Wife's job was $100 short last now. They run a unified till (4 to 6 people run on one register till for up to 16 hours at a time). Last night 5 people (counting her) ran on this till. She talked to her boss (who was one of the 5 on the till) and was told that the shift-supervisor (my wife) could be terminated under the "lane accountability" policy.

The head office says they can find who created the shortage and how, but they might still fire whoever the person on the schedule was listed as "supervisor for the front end". And that regardless of the person that cause it, the shift supervisor will be written up and termed for a "cash loss of $100 or more due to negligence". The person that caused it would be terminated for "Poor Cash Handling"-- a "lesser crime" in the handbook

I'm not even sure that's it's legal to fire her that way. And if they did, I'm pretty sure she 1) get her unemployment-- we're in TN; 2) She be able to sue.

So now we're sitting here waiting for the phone to ring to see what happens next.

[pavlikclan]

Depends on the laws in your state. Most places are at will employment which means they can release her basically anytime they want to. My husband recently had something similar happen. He was the manager of a business and a significant amount of money went missing. This 'missing' money wasn't discovered until something like 3-4 months after the fact. Oddly after the employer came in closed the business and promised my husband (verbally) a significant amount of money in severence pay. Instead he got criminal charges pressed against him, even though other people worked in the store, other people could have taken said money, but there is no proof. You cannot prove you didn't take money. Don't ever expect the employer to be on your side on things like this. It just won't happen. You take the write up, you take company trouble, termination whatever, if it isn't termination I'd start searching for a new job for her ASAP. I can GAURUANTEE you though it is far far better than having your name drug through the mud in the community, having a 'criminal' record for something you never did in the first place and having to deal with all the B.S. that goes along with it.

[BrokeIn2010]

Something's fishy going on: She's talked more to the boos and the boss said if my wife wanted to put in a $100, she could cover up the loss and not report it. My wife said the only fair thing would be for all 5 of them to cheap a equal share, her boss said she wasn't going to do that, besides the other cashiers already said "report it and take their chances", when my wife said that we didn't have the money and it wasn't fair she take all the blame, the boss hung up.

[clevelandmom]

Oh NOOOO. . .that doesn't sound good! Too bad your wife didn't have that conversation on tape! I don't get how even if your wife is the Supervisor, and HER OWN BOSS was on the same till, your WIFE is the one who could get terminated even if her BOSS is the one who made the mistake (assuming it was a mistake). For some reason it doesn't sound like a mistake, though. In essence, the boss could have "taken" the money, then told your wife to annie up so she could save her job, and everyone gets off scott free - including the boss who just made an extra $100? This is what Lifetime movies are made of. I'm sorry my friend. I know the economy sucks and jobs are hard to find, but I wouldn't want to work ANYWHERE where the boss could actually steal money, stick me with the crime, and fire me anyway. She'd be better off on unemployment.

[discouraged]

It sure does sound like her boss is trying to cover up something - maybe the fact that she, in fact, would be the one who would ultimately have to take the blame. By trying to have your wife pay for it, your wife in essence would be admitting guilt and the boss would walk away scot free.

Not sure what I'd do in your shoes, but I certainly wouldn't admit to a wrong I didn't commit!

[pavlikclan]

Yeah you need to start looking for something new ASAP. I mean really EXACTLY 100 dollars missing HORSE DUNG. Get her out of there it will happen and happen again. If it keeps happening they could attempt to charge your wife with the crime and the higher the dollar amount is the more trouble she is in. Anything over around 1k is generally a felony.

[pavlikclan]

Ouch it is different in TN anything over 500 is a class E felony.

[chicagoannie]

Your wife needs to start job hunting ASAP. I hate to say this, but if she is fired because they accuse her of theft, that is gross misconduct and I do not see her receiving unemployment benefits because of it.

[Peeps]

Does the company have one of those tip lines to report internal fraud? Call in a tip on the supervisor, since it's very suspect that they were willing to cover up the whole thing up for a quiet cash payment under the table. If there's no tip line, then maybe a quick talk/statement with an HR rep. They would probably take allegations of extortion pretty seriously. Even in employment-at-will states, there are often protections in place for whistleblowers. It's still probably a good idea to find a better job but at least this could buy her some time and protection.

If she is fired because there's an allegation of theft, it's not very likely that she would get unemployment or have grounds for a lawsuit. She might gain a bit of traction if she loses her job as a whistleblower. Best of luck.

[BrokeIn2010]

I don't know how of if this will help her, but the computer audit log for that day came down this morning: The computer at the head office is saying that the shortage (how it knows, don't ask me) happened to a specific cashier out of the 5 that ran on the till, and that it's 100% that cashier's liability. My wife made a copy of it. The only thing I can figure is, that if something did happen to her [my wife] at least she'd be able to make a cause to the labor dept. and / or the HR division in the company that it wasn't her fault

[AngelinaCatHub]

I have 35 years with the National Cash Register Co. NCR corp. There is nothing I don't know about cash register security. First, basic rules is one till, one person. Employee has a right to count the till before shift, and after shift. Get a reading before and after from the register. The reading should be to the penny minus the till. You count out a new till first and what is left should balance to the register. This looks ripe for a rip off. The worse place to work is for family. They feel "entitled" to steal from the till.

Also pull the cash drawer and look in back of it. Crashing a cash drawer will cause money to flip over into the register back of drawer. Found many a dollar in back, (ALWAYS returned it to the owner or manager and got a receipt.) Once I was set up with a new crisp $20 bill under the drawer when I was working on a machine. Irritated a bit so I dis-assembled the bill and oiled down to the bottom of the base. Did not take the bill and no complaint for some reason.

If this young lady gets canned, and if there is a register security camera, I would insist on subpoena that day's recording. In my professional opinion, this is a set up for either power, jealousy, or money. I've seen this many times. 'Hub

[AngelinaCatHub]

I don't know how of if this will help her, but the computer audit log for that day came down this morning: The computer at the head office is saying that the shortage (how it knows, don't ask me) happened to a specific cashier out of the 5 that ran on the till, and that it's 100% that cashier's liability. My wife made a copy of it. The only thing I can figure is, that if something did happen to her [my wife] at least she'd be able to make a cause to the labor dept. and / or the HR division in the company that it wasn't her fault

Excellent. Even better if the security camera time is synchronized with the detail report time. Don't think it is only customers that shop lift. It is known that the employees in Walmart lift more than a customer. This is the reason Walmart has every inch covered with camera. They DO NOT share a till. NEVER. Things like "sliding" are caught with those cameras. Sliding is moving an item over the scanner and bagging it for a friend. It's common name is stealing. The register balances but the item is short. Many a time I caught checkers doing this. I never pointed a finger, just with diplomacy, told the store manager to "watch" checker number 4, or whatever. Never a sub manager as they could be in consort with a checker and cover for him/her. This could also be the case with your wife and the set up going on. Does the report pin down the individual, by time and date?

If you ever see a display covered up (particularly in a bar) you can bet it is being "short rung". The bartender rings up say, 0.50 cents on a dollar, gives correct change for a dollar, then keeps a count by putting a penny into a glass or bending a match. Later, counts the pennies, takes that amount of 0.50 times the count. and the register balances. A very common theft. Always ask for a receipt. 'Hub

[BrokeIn2010]

Excellent. Even better if the security camera time is synchronized with the detail report time. Don't think it is only customers that shop lift. It is known that the employees in Walmart lift more than a customer. This is the reason Walmart has every inch covered with camera. They DO NOT share a till. NEVER. Things like "sliding" are caught with those cameras. Sliding is moving an item over the scanner and bagging it for a friend. It's common name is stealing. The register balances but the item is short. Many a time I caught checkers doing this. I never pointed a finger, just with diplomacy, told the store manager to "watch" checker number 4, or whatever. Never a sub manager as they could be in consort with a checker and cover for him/her. This could also be the case with your wife and the set up going on. Does the report pin down the individual, by time and date?

If you ever see a display covered up (particularly in a bar) you can bet it is being "short rung". The bartender rings up say, 0.50 cents on a dollar, gives correct change for a dollar, then keeps a count by putting a penny into a glass or bending a match. Later, counts the pennies, takes that amount of 0.50 times the count. and the register balances. A very common theft. Always ask for a receipt. 'Hub

What she's afraid of is that she (my wife) did 5 times as many transactions (34 to 8) as the cashier the computer is blaming, and that they'll try to back up and blame her (my wife) based on "quantity"; 5 times the transactions, but a third in the amount of money processed. It's like I told her, they can't do that-- legally-- and they'd have to pull the security tapes (there's a camera directly over each cash drawer) and they claim they have security people trained to watch the tapes and count the money, so make 'em prove it. She might end up out of a job, but with the log that came down today they can't stop her from getting unemployment and she might have a cause for action now if they do hang her. Plus she has 6 years with the company, wins two to three awards a year, and has zero disciplinary actions against her and her biggest shortage in 6 years was 50 cents in a roll of quarters. All things, I think, would work in her favor.

The whole ideal behind a single till is so the customer doesn't have to wait for shift-change. The whole 12 to 16 hour shift runs on a single till then the computer shorts it out by employee ID number at the end of the day. How it figured out that the cashier with the least transactions made a $100 error, I've no clue. They're suppose to audit the till every so many hours-- if there isn't a line of customers; but they were told to stop doing it cause they had complaints from people that they had to wait to go home past their punch out cause the audits hadn't processed in the computer.

I used to work in a movie theater, I know all about "short ringing" and running a "pocket register". We had a AM that used to go out on the floor on business nights and take food and drink orders from the crowd and have them pay him, then punch them into the register at the end of the; everytime we did and we did a "locker" (food, popcorn bag/bucket, & drink) audit at the end of the night, the amount on hand was always big time less than the comp said we sold through on those nights. Worked at a truckstop, and the Manager would sell beer to drivers on their company card but ring it through as "oil" or "misc. parts".

[reddy2011]

Depends on the laws in your state. Most places are at will employment which means they can release her basically anytime they want to. My husband recently had something similar happen. He was the manager of a business and a significant amount of money went missing. This 'missing' money wasn't discovered until something like 3-4 months after the fact. Oddly after the employer came in closed the business and promised my husband (verbally) a significant amount of money in severence pay. Instead he got criminal charges pressed against him, even though other people worked in the store, other people could have taken said money, but there is no proof. You cannot prove you didn't take money. Don't ever expect the employer to be on your side on things like this. It just won't happen. You take the write up, you take company trouble, termination whatever, if it isn't termination I'd start searching for a new job for her ASAP. I can GAURUANTEE you though it is far far better than having your name drug through the mud in the community, having a 'criminal' record for something you never did in the first place and having to deal with all the B.S. that goes along with it.

Each and every single line is true ! Totally agree with it