8 Ways To Help Control Employee Theft at Your Restaurant
As if the day to day challenges of running a restaurant aren’t enough. The fierce competition, marketing, keeping guests satisfied and coming back for more, getting those 5-star Yelp reviews. The list goes on and on. But what about your own staff stealing from you right under your nose? Employee theft is a big problem for restaurants. Annual costs associated with employee theft in the restaurant industry are estimated at $3 to $6 billion nationally!! Employee theft is a bad situation for any business, and unfortunately it’s a common one in the restaurant industry.
Restaurant employees may provide free food to their friends and family, or they may take restaurant items home or steal money and tips.
Here are some precautions to take to prevent employee theft at your restaurant:
- Have a Theft Policy and Make it Known: Make sure every employee knows how the company defines employee theft and the repercussions of any theft. Offer annual training on the subject and have employees sign a policy. Place posters and signs around the restaurant to keep the policy fresh in employees’ minds.
- Conduct Background Checks: Check the references of all hired employees. If the applicant is a high school student and has never had a job before, contact his/her guidance counselor or ask for the contact information from a babysitting or dog sitting job.
- Use Technology: Video surveillance cameras are an excellent way to catch potential thieves, but they can also be a positive for the restaurant by pointing out procedural problems or ensuring employees are being safe on the job. Also, using technology that limits the amount of employee cash handling can deter would-be thieves.
- Treat Employees with Respect: Employees who are treated fairly and with respect by their employers are less likely to steal from the company. The employees feel less justified in stealing from those who care about them and treat them with dignity.
- Conduct a Drawer Check: Make sure the money balances out at the end of each shift.
- Keep a Careful Inventory: After each shift, count the remaining items and compare them to the items sold, paying specific attention to the products you sell the most of. Make employees aware that you conduct these daily inventories to deter them from trying to steal anything in the first place.
- Keep Your Eyes on the Trash: Employees tend to steal things when they are taking out the trash. Use clear bags to reduce the likelihood that this will occur.
- Get to the Root of the Problem: If you suspect an employee of stealing, move him/her to another shift. If you recognize that you are now missing items from the new shift, approach the employee calmly and ask for an explanation.
- Protect Your Customers: A new way of stealing from customers is called credit-card skimming. Restaurant employees will swipe the customer’s card through an unauthorized magnetic card reader to obtain their account information. Then, the data is copied and used to make counterfeit cards. To prevent this from occurring in your establishment, monitor the register closely and only allow seasoned employees to handle customer money and credit cards.
Need help dealing with employee theft problems at your restaurant? Or, have other risk management issues you need guidance on? Contact me today to talk.
Focus on what you do best, providing the delicious food and ambiance that will keep your guests coming back posting those 5-star Yelp reviews. The money will follow and you deserve to have it in YOUR pocket.
-JCK
What Does Business Insurance Cover?
Business insurance coverage for a commercial operation can include the following and more:
General liability insurance: Covers third party liability claims for injuries to other people.
Professional liability and malpractice insurance: aka Errors & Omissions Insurance (E&O). E&O covers professionals against loss due to negligent professional duty, wrongful acts, and advice and services that lead to another person’s loss or injury.
Product liability insurance: Covers against faulty products and damage, illness, injury or death that may occur from using a faulty product.
Property insurance: Covers loss and damage to your commercial business property due to fires, theft, storms and other causes.
Commercial vehicle insurance: Covers commercial vehicles and drivers for collision, liability, property damage, personal injury and “comprehensive” (now known as “other than collision”).
Workers compensation: Covers your employees if they become ill or injured while working on the job.
Loss of income: Also referred to as Business Income, this covers your business expenses such as rent and employee wages if you can’t operate your business.
Key person insurance: Covers loss of income that may result from the head of the business or other key personnel becoming incapacitated or passing away (also known as key man insurance).
Cyber-crime insurance: Provides protection for risks due to Internet use and online communications.
Each and every business is unique. A food products manufacturer or distributor doesn’t have the same risk exposures as a software developer. As an everyday Joe, you’re expected to know if you need these coverage’s or not for your business. If your head is spinning or you’re feeling overwhelmed, this is why you work with an insurance agent or broker.
Let’s face it, most people really don’t like insurance, they don’t care to read their policies, and they just wish someone else would take care of it for them. I like insurance (don’t judge me), I read policy forms all day long for my clients, and people call me to handle all their business insurance needs so they don’t have to. Pick up the phone and call me today or email me if you have questions about these overage’s and whether your business needs them or not.
-JK
EEOC Launches Small Business Resource Center
One of the most challenging aspects of owning a small business (particularly in California) is knowing and following legal requirements regarding hiring, managing, and sometimes terminating employees. It seems like there are new laws drafted daily. How can one possibly stay on top of it all???
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently launched a Small Business Resource Center designed to assist small business owners in their compliance with employment laws they, the EEOC, enforce.
This new dedicated EEOC Resource Center contains a general overview of small business obligations including the posting and record-keeping requirements to assist in staying compliant with the myriad of nondiscriminatory laws.
The website also has available FAQs, tips, fact sheets and videos, as well as no-cost outreach programs. This is a good resource to keep in mind when you need to make sure how you are treating employees is legal.
I wouldn’t recommend that you try to do it all on your own though. Use a professional Human Resources consultant or attorney when necessary when dealing with sensitive matters surrounding the employment process.
Need help finding a reputable Human Resources consultant or attorney to help with your business? Contact me today. I have relationships with some great ones who can help you out.
-JK
California Commercial Auto Insurance – Losses & Costs Rising
Right now there are industry-wide challenges with increasing loss costs in commercial and personal auto insurance, particularly in California. If you have a commercial auto insurance policy for your business, you’re probably seeing your premiums increase. If not, you can expect to. I’ve been seeing it with pretty much all major insurance carriers on the market. We’ve been having to shop coverage for clients like crazy due to the steep premium increases.
California Commercial Auto – What’s Driving Losses?
More traffic: Total miles driven increased 50 percent faster in California than in the rest of the country since the start of 2015. More vehicles = higher frequency of accidents.
Distracted drivers: One-quarter of crashes involve drivers talking on phones or texting.
Escalating medical costs: Medical care costs are climbing more than 1.5 times faster than other costs.
More fatalities and other severe accidents: Accident rates per person and per mile
of driving are rising in California.
Inexperienced or undesirable drivers: A shortage of skilled commercial drivers with good driving records = greater odds for accidents.
Rising auto repair costs: Record U.S. auto sales mean garages are often servicing newer cars with more expensive parts. Even minor repairs can cost big bucks.
What you can do to help ease your commercial auto insurance loss costs?
- Implement a fleet safety program and follow proper fleet maintenance procedures.
- Enforce company policy for use of company vehicles (e.g., limitation on personal use, who can use company vehicles, hours of operation, etc.).
- Regularly check employees’ driving records and take appropriate action driving records are not acceptable.
- Use telematic devices to monitor employee driving habits and usage of company vehicles.
- Be aware of the risks involved with employees using their personal vehicles on the job.
- Provide Driver Safety Training for their employees. Important topics include, but are not limited to: Distracted Driving; Speeding; DUI; Need for Rest; What to do if your vehicle breaks down, etc.
Need help with these things? Contact me today. Buying a commercial auto policy is one thing, but implementing these risk management procedures along with the policy can help your business tremendously with costs.
-JK
Man Sues Krispy Kreme For Not Having Real Fruit In Its Doughnuts
Yes, you read that title correctly. A Los Angeles man is suing Krispy Kreme doughnuts claiming they misled the public by naming its doughnuts in a way that led people to believe they contained vitamin-rich fruits, despite them being completely fruit-free.
Read more HERE
If you’re wondering what this has to do with anything, my point is that there are nut jobs all over the world like this who are sue happy and looking for a little extra money, even through a settlement. It’s imperative as a business that you carry commercial general liability insurance with product liability included. By carrying a policy for this, you have defense coverage under the policy to protect your business from even the frivolous claims.
Even though a judge could potentially throw this case out the window, there’s going to be legal fees that need to be paid no matter what. And the headache of dealing with this. Leave it to a commercial general liability policy to handle this for you so you can focus on the important things in running a business. Don’t think that only happens to the big guys like Krispy Kreme either. This can happen to ANY business, especially in litigious Southern California.
-JK
10 EEOC Tips for Small Businesses
I will preface this by saying that I am not a Human Resources professional nor an attorney. Don’t take this as the end all/ be all when it comes to your employee relations. Although I am not and attorney or certified HR professional, I do help businesses with their risk management and insurance needs and Employment Practices Liability Insurance is one of those areas. Here in Southern California, Employment Practices Liability insurance claims happen a LOT more than general liability, professional liability (E&O) or any other areas of liability for that matter. I don’t have the statistical data, but working day-in and day-out with clients, I do see Employment Practices Liability claims a whole hell of a lot more than most other lines of insurance. And remember, Employment Practices Liability claims are NOT covered by a General Liability insurance policy or Workers’ Compensation.
With that being said, here are 10 EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Tips for Small Businesses taken directly from the EEOC. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1964 to eradicate discrimination in employment. The Commission enforces various statutes that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, retaliation, age, and disability or protected veteran status.
The EEOC has the authority to investigate charges of discrimination filed against employers who have a statutory minimum number of employees. HR can help avoid costly penalties by following the tips published by the EEOC.
- Look at the facts, not the faces. Race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity), national origin, disability, age (40 or older) or genetic information (including family medical history) should not be a factor when you hire, fire, promote, pay, train, discipline or make other work-related decisions.
- Provide reasonable accommodations to applicants or employees who need them for medical or religious reasons, if required by law*.
- Develop a strong anti-discrimination policy before discrimination becomes a problem.
- Ensure that employees understand their rights and responsibilities at work.
- Be alert to potential harassment or discrimination. Stop, address and prevent harassment and discrimination.
- Ensure that employees are not punished for reporting discrimination, participating in a discrimination investigation or lawsuit, or opposing discrimination.
- Post an EEO poster at your business.
- Keep employment records as required by law.
- File an EEO-1 Report if you have 100 or more employees. Some federal contractors with at least 50 employees must also file this report.
- Contact the EEOC to request assistance, information or training.
* Federal, state and local laws may prohibit additional types of discrimination and/or require you to provide reasonable accommodations for other reasons. Federal, state and local government websites may have additional information about these laws.
-JK
Los Angeles Has Highest Workers’ Comp Claim Costs in California
File this under the No Surprise folder but a new study by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau show that Los Angeles has the highest workers’ comp claim costs in California.
Among other key findings, “The Los Angeles/Long Beach Area is the most litigious region in California. Medical legal costs are over 2.8 percent of total incurred costs on indemnity claims in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area compared with 2.0 percent statewide.”
“Indemnity claim frequencies in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area were 24.0 percent higher” than the rest of the state of California.
Read more here from the Insurance Journal:
As frustrating as this is, none of it surprises me. Not a week goes by where I don’t see a workers’ comp claim come across my desk for “cumulative trauma” or “repetitive motion” from an attorney after termination of an employee. And as I always say, nobody hurts more from this than the honest business owner trying to get by everyday running an honest business. They’re the ones paying the costs of these claims.
Here’s a map showing the regional differences of indemnity claims as a share of the total claims counts in California:
-JK
Educate Your Employees During National Cyber Security Awareness Month
This October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, an event co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) in order to raise awareness of the importance of cyber security issues. While the event is designed to highlight some of the nation’s cyber security precautions, as well as how to be prepared in the event of a national cyber security incident, much of the focus is on good cyber security practices for the average individual.
Specifically, the groups are trying to promote their “Stop. Think. Connect.” and Stay Safe Online campaigns—efforts that teach good cyber security in terms everyone can understand. In order to encourage your employees to practice good cyber security, review the following lessons with them:
- Password Security: More powerful computers have given criminals the ability to crack passwords easily. Passwords with a mix of capitalized and lowercase letters—as well as numbers, symbols and other special characters—are much harder to crack. And, though it should go without saying, make sure your employees don’t write their passwords down in plain sight in their work spaces.
- Phishing Scams: A number of different scams could fall into this category, but they all have commonalities that your employees should be aware of. Never open an email from an unknown source, and never click on a link in an email unless both the sender and the link can be trusted.
- Software Updates: Security patches are designed to fix known vulnerabilities. Make sure your employees download the latest security patches when they become available.
Those wishing to participate in this year’s activities can find a number of resources available online, or contact me for further cyber security materials.
-JK
Can I Be Fined for not Carrying Workers Compensation Insurance?
Answer: Yes, you can be fined for not carrying workers’ compensation insurance and more. If the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (state labor commissioner) determines an employer is operating without workers’ compensation coverage, a stop order will be issued. This order prohibits the use of employee labor until coverage is obtained, and failure to observe it is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to 60 days, or by a fine of up to $10,000, or both. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement will also assess a penalty the greater of (1) twice the amount the employer would have paid in workers’ compensation premiums during the period the employer was uninsured, determined according to subdivision (c), or (2) the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per employee employed during the period the employer was uninsured. [Labor Code section 3722(b)].
Additionally, if an injured worker files a workers’ compensation claim that goes before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and a judge finds the employer had not secured insurance as required by law, when the dispute is resolved the uninsured employer may be assessed a penalty of $10,000 per employee on the payroll at the time of injury if the worker’s case was found to be compensable, or $2,000 per employee on the payroll at the time of injury if the worker’s case was non-compensable, up to a maximum of $100,000. [Labor Code Section 3722(d) and (f).]
Finally, as noted in answer to a previous question, failure to secure workers’ compensation insurance is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, or by a fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by both that imprisonment and fine. (Labor Code Section 3700.5)
If you need help with quotes for workers’ compensation insurance for your business, contact me today. We can market this with numerous carriers to find the best coverage and price.
-JK
Participating On A Panel for Cyber Crime
This past Wednesday I was part of a panel for an educational workshop to discuss innovative ways to protect small businesses from cyber crime.
On the panel was an FBI Special Agent who shared FBI insights on fighting cyber crime. Akilah Kamaria from Blue Fields Digital Intelligence shared strategies organizations can use to prepare for and respond to a cyber incident. I shared information on cyber liability and data breach insurance and its role in helping to protect companies from cyber crime losses.
Special thanks to Akilah Kamaria for allowing inviting me to participate. Also, to Gal-A Photography for the professional photos:
Thank you for putting on such an important and great event!
-JK
About Me
I grew up in Fullerton, CA and graduated from Servite High School in Anaheim. I have my Bachelors degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I currently live in Tustin, CA.
Please contact me if you need help with any of the following lines of insurance for your business:
-Cyber / Data Breach
-Commercial Property
-Commercial General Liability
-Products Liability
-Workers Compensation
-Commercial Auto
-Umbrella/Excess Liability
-Errors & Omissions/ Professional Liability
-Employment Practices Liability
-Directors & Officers
-Life & Disability Insurance
Jimmy Kinmartin, CPCU 