How to tell if an employee can be trusted

As an employer, you have to place a lot of trust in your employees. It can be hard to do, and sometimes you might suspect that your business is at risk of an untrustworthy employee. Private investigators are called to investigate cases of employee fraud and dishonesty all the time. It’s not nice to imagine, but if your gut is telling you someone can’t be trusted, it’s best to find out. There are two situations in which you need to be wary, when hiring a new employee and when a seed of doubt is planted about an existing one. There are warning signs you can look out for, and then there are things you can do to help protect yourself from the dangers of having someone taken advantage of you.

Prospective Employee

You’re hiring for a new position and you’ve interviewed a really great candidate. They looked great on paper, and when they came in they answered all the questions well; it’s just, something isn’t right. Watch out for a few warning signs that someone’s past may not be as glossy as they make it out to be.

There could be unexplained gaps in their work history, short terms of employment or some very vague titles that sound impressive, but don’t really tell you much. Then there are behaviours to watch out for; they could avoid answering certain questions or dance around certain topics. They might appear a bit nervous when pressed about their background, or they may talk too much, but it doesn’t seem to really answer your question. This can be a distraction technique to try to give the appearance that they aren’t hiding anything. It could even be something that you can’t quite put your finger on, but something about the prospective candidate isn’t quite right.

Rather than jumping to conclusions, you need to do your due diligence and find out if there’s something you should know about in your prospective employee’s history and if they’re lying to you. A professional background check, performed by a licensed professional investigator can give you the peace of mind that everything they say checks out, or let you know about any issues in their past before you make the mistake of trusting them in your business. Catching issues through a discreet investigation before you find out the hard way will save you time, stress and money if something were to turn sour.

Current Employee

Sometimes an employee may decide to do the wrong thing by you. People can be dishonest, and if your employee can’t be trusted you need to know about it! It could be small things; calling in sick only on Mondays or Fridays, not answering your calls or acting secretive around the office, shutting windows when you walk past. Or it could be that a lot of stock seems to be damaged, or the tills don’t ever seem to add up. Whatever it is that’s bothering you, again, it’s always best to trust your gut. It doesn’t take a detective to tell when something isn’t right! It may just be something minor, but it could also be something more sinister. Some discreet surveillance can sometimes uncover some horrible practices that your employees are up to behind your back, eating into your profits, productivity, or even putting your whole business at risk!

Then there’s the risk of worker’s compensation fraud. This type of insurance fraud costs Sydney/Melbourne businesses millions of dollars a year. A good employee who has genuinely hurt themselves will be open to suggestions and discussions about returning to work. But sometimes workers will try to take advantage of the situation to get compensation they don’t deserve. They could even be lying about it completely! Unfortunately there are these people who will try to fraud the system. But you can start to see the warning signs and do something about it. They may be highly insistent on seeing a certain doctor, and refuse to see anyone else. They may seem to be exaggerating their condition whenever you see them, or they could seem to never make any progress towards recovery. Whatever it is that makes you suspect that there’s a case of fraud, you owe it to yourself to find out. A skilled private investigator can get you the evidence you need to stop any fraud or dishonest behaviour from your employees, all with the utmost discretion. To get peace of mind or stop yourself being taken advantage of, you need to find out the truth. Getting a detective is the most common and cost effective way to be sure and to get the evidence you need to defend yourself against any dishonest employee.

The detectives here at Elite Investigations have seen it all, and are the epitome of professionalism. We know it’s important to be sensitive to every client’s need, and can help you with your concerns, whatever they are. Discretion, sensitivity and commitment to finding the truth is our promise to you. If you think something is happening behind your back that you ought to know about it, give us a call on 0438 198 916.