A COMPANY that discovers that an employee is stealing from it must still follow the guidelines of the employment law before dismissing them. Advocate Jessica Roland, head of Ozannes Employment, said a number of companies had received a slap in the face by having to pay an unfair-dismissal award after having fired a member of staff, even though they had evidence to show what the employee had been doing.

Speaking at an Institute of Directors winter seminar on employee fraud, she said there was still a lack of understanding among employers about how the laws worked.

‘They think they can get rid of them straight away, but the employee does still have some rights.

‘Our advice is to take your time, take legal advice and if it’s appropriate phone the police.’

The seminar was extremely timely as it followed October’s high-profile court case which saw bank worker Emma Le Sauvage sent to prison for two-and-a-quarter years after admitting stealing £277,335 from her employer, the Royal Bank of Scotland.

DC Graham Goude of the commercial fraud and external affairs department of Guernsey Police said there was now a growing culture among employers to refer cases to the force rather than attempt to deal with them in-house.

‘There was formerly a perception that they didn’t want to wash their dirty linen in public because people would say, ﾓoh, they’re having problems with their employees – I don’t want to put my money thereﾔ.

‘But they now understand that as a big organisation if they say they are not going to tolerate it and that they are looking to prosecute, then it works as quite a good deterrent for their staff.

‘In the past, an employee was more inclined to do it because the worst that was going to happen was that they would lose their job. But if there is a good chance you are going to get arrested, go to court and have your name made public, then you are less likely to do it.

‘And I think it sends out a good message.’

Latest research conducted by Leicester University revealed that 70% of employees questioned admitted they would steal from their employer if they knew they could get away with it.

Advocate Roland said employee fraud went on in all forms of business and not just the major companies.

It can range from adjusting expenses figures and dipping into petty cash to the sums seen in the Le Sauvage case.

She found it surprising that – if business practices were being followed – Le Sauvage had been able to take from the bank for about three years without anyone noticing.

DC Goude said there had even been cases in Guernsey of directors being found to be wrongly taking from their company.

‘To date, in this year alone there have been 21 reported thefts allegedly committed by employees, of which our department is currently dealing with the three most serious.

‘Some of the highest-value frauds are conducted by company owners or senior employees. The victims are the shareholders, customers and members of the public.

‘Fraudsters fail to differentiate between company funds and their own, borrowing the former to finance their lifestyles and then finding themselves unable to replace the money.’