With Workplace Thefts On The Rise, Victims Fight Back
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — If you have had your lunch or other belongings stolen on the job, you are not alone. Workplace thefts are on the rise and have become a serious problem in offices across the country.
"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce did a study, and they found that three out of every four employees are stealing something, either from each other or from the company itself," criminologist Joe Giacalone said. "Without any specific deterrents, people are going to do this."
Mid-city resident Africa Warrior said she has lost her lunches and jacket on the job. "I worked underground as a cashier in a parking garage, and it gets kind of cold down there. It gets windy. My jacket was gone."
It is a shocking feeling to think that the person who sits next to you for eight hours a day could steal from you. But employees say it happens all the time.
"You go in the refrigerator, unzip somebody's lunch bag and take out their sandwich and eat it. Who does that?" one woman said in a video posted on YouTube.
Workplace thefts have been so widespread, they have prompted people to post warning signs on their workplace refrigerators including one that reads: "Please stop stealing food! I spit in mine! Enjoy!"
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, thefts by employees cost American companies as much as $40 billion a year, which ends up affecting employees' pay. The organization also said a worker is 15 times more likely to steal from his or her employer than a non-employee. Moreover, 75 percent of employee-related crimes go unnoticed.
Warrior never found out who took her jacket but said she has learned a few things from the experience. "You find something that is not yours, at least turn it in and do the right thing."
Experts said for many of the thieves, it is more about the thrill of getting away with the crime than actually committing it.
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