Nickel and Dime Criminals

According to an FBI National Press Release in September 2013 (22 months ago), a total of 18,290 city, county, state, university and college, tribal, and federal agencies participated in a UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) program in 2012, which makes this data about 34 months old.

A summary of the statistics reported by these agencies, which are included in Crime in the United States, 2012, follows:

• In 2012, there were an estimated 1,214,462 violent crimes. The violent crimes of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, and aggravated assault increased 1.1 percent, 0.2 percent, and 1.1 percent, respectively. However, the estimated number of robbery offenses declined 0.1 percent.
• Nationwide, there were an estimated 8,975,438 property crimes. The estimated number of burglaries declined 3.7 percent in 2012 when compared to the 2011 figure. The estimated number of larceny-thefts remained unchanged, and motor vehicle thefts increased 0.6 percent.
• Collectively, victims of property crimes (excluding arson) suffered losses calculated at $15.5 billion in 2012.
• The FBI estimated that agencies nationwide made about 12.2 million arrests, excluding traffic violations, in 2012. The arrest rate for violent crime was 166.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, and the rate for property crime was 528.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.
• By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and non-negligent manslaughter was 3.5; forcible rape, 5.8; robbery, 33.1; and the aggravated assault, 123.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.
• By property crime offense, the arrest rate for burglary was 90.7; larceny-theft, 411.9; and motor vehicle theft, 21.9. The arrest rate for arson was 3.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.
• In 2012, there were 14,006 law enforcement agencies that reported their staffing levels to the FBI. These agencies reported that, as of October 31, 2012, they collectively employed 670,439 sworn officers and 285,883 civilians, a rate of 3.4 employees per 1,000 inhabitants.
  

Depending upon your perspective, I suppose, the above data could be perceived as good or bad, plus the comparison data from years before was intentionally left off but suffice it to say that some areas of crime went down a little while other areas of crime increased...

But, this type of crime is really not the intent of this article but it is used simply to create a perspective of previous and obvious crime statistics.

It is estimated that $3 Billion is stolen from American Workers each year... and, here's how:

Echoing the results of previous studies, the Economic Policy Institute recently noted that wage theft has reached “epidemic” levels in the United States, with millions of American workers losing wages to the practice each year.

Wage theft, an umbrella term that is defined as “the illegal withholding of wages or denial of benefits that are rightfully owed an employee,” covers a number of different violations. 

According to WageTheft.org, “common forms of wage theft are non-payment of overtime, not giving workers their last paycheck after a worker leaves a job, not paying for all the hours worked, not paying minimum wage, and even not paying a worker at all.”

The practice is most rampant in the construction, restaurant, garment manufacturing, and home healthcare industries, though violations are widespread. Further, certain professions, such as childcare workers and cashiers, are subject to particularly high rates of both overtime and minimum wage violations. 

Maria Echaveste, a professor at the University of California Berkeley School of Law, says that victims of wage theft are typically “low-wage, low-skilled workers desperate to hang on to their jobs. Frequently they are immigrants — the most vulnerable and least apt to speak up.”

Wage theft is particularly disheartening because of who it targets: those who both desperately need their wages, and therefore, those who are least likely to protest the injustices against them for fear of losing their job, as menial as the wages may be. 

“If you steal from your employer, you’re going to be hauled out of the workplace in handcuffs,” said Kim Bobo, a Chicago workers rights advocate. “But if your employer steals from you, you’ll be lucky to get your money back,” she added.    Read More:

And while this is incredibly deplorable and amazing that it is happening right here in America, it is still not the intent of my article.

The intent of my article is EMPLOYEE THEFT...

Missing goods from shoplifting and other causes, costs U.S. retailers about $42 billion a year, according to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, an annual industry study led by Deyle and inventory management firm Checkpoint Systems.

Shoppers pay the price for such theft. The cost of mysteriously vanishing merchandise comes to $403 annually per U.S. household.

Of course, retailers everywhere deal with shrinkage, but there is one big difference between the U.S. and the rest of the world: Globally, dishonest employees are behind about 28% of inventory losses, while shoplifters account for a markedly higher 39%.

Not so stateside, the study says, where employee theft accounts for 43% of lost revenue. That’s about $18 billion, or $2.3 billion more than the cost of five-finger discounts taken by customers.

And, what about the employee that takes company pens, pencils, and paper home with them every once in a while... doing so, because they perceive that it will not be missed... or, perhaps because they did not get the raise they were expecting.

I have talked with bank employees who have told me that when the bank has promotional items to give away to customers or when the bank has a display set up at festivals to attract new business, that it is very easy to take several of these items home with them and claim that they were given out to customers or people who stopped at their display booth.

I personally, have been in positions while employed at various organizations, using the copy and FAX machines for personal business when that was specifically made clear that it was not allowed. And, I am sure that these same type of employees take home file folders and other small type office supplies that will not be missed if just a little is taken each time.

But, it does not stop here because it is very typical in all the factories I have visited and worked in as a consultant, for hourly workers to take a longer break than they are actually entitled to. An employee is supposed to leave their duty station when break begins and be back at their duty station when break ends, but that is not the case at all. Ten minute breaks turn into 15 minute breaks and 15 minute breaks turn into 20 minute breaks is the typical rule of thumb.

That lost productivity should be and is being considered as employee theft but is simply being included in the Cost of Goods Sold so the employer is not losing any money but the consumer is ultimately paying more for that item than they need to be paying because of this type of employee theft.

And, since floor supervisors are typically not observing this behavior, it is easy for employees to continue to steal this time.

It is these employees that steal from their employers that I refer to as Nickel and Dime Criminals because the actual value of what they are taking per incident is not very high but over a year or a decade or an entire career it will amount to thousands of dollars.

This is not necessarily a new phenomenon either because it was going on when I started my career in the 1960's and I must admit that over my career, I too have been involved with this activity as I would think that most of us have been, but just because everybody is doing it, does not mean that we should participate... and while we all know that intuitively, we still participate anyway because many of us see it as a PERK of employment.

So, should we start putting these Nickel and Dime Criminals in jail?