NCCO International Employee theft is an unfortunate reality in any industry. More than 75% of employees admit to having stolen at least once from an employer, and a recent University of Florida study found that 43% of a company’s annual loss is due to employee theft.
The food industry is not immune to employee theft. In fact, restaurant employees who void tickets and pocket the money from cash transactions, take unauthorized breaks, treat friends to unapproved comps, over-pour drinks, and dine without payment all contribute to the $3 billion dollars owners lose annually from employee theft.
Preventing Kitchen Employee Theft
There will always be ways that kitchen staff can steal from the restaurant. There is no way to completely eliminate the risk of employee theft, but there are several things you can do to discourage it:
- Install security cameras
- Offer free staff meals
- Create policies that address employee theft
- Encourage open communication
- Take regular inventory
Using Food Safety Labels to Reduce Employee Theft
While it might seem like a stretch, investing in a proper food safety labeling system is one way to discourage employee theft—at least in the kitchen.
Food safety labeling not-so-subtlety communicates to staff that inventory is being monitored. This monitoring allows managers and owners to compare consumable utilization with on-the-books profits. Food labeling makes tracking food shelf life easier and allows employees to locate the inventory closest to expiration for first use.
Finally, food safety labeling systems can help ensure that covered, stored, and pre-portioned food products are rotated properly. Timely rotation ensures that the best product possible will be served, which prevents food-borne illness.
Employee theft is one of the largest contributors to profit loss and, when it occurs, it seriously impacts the bottom line of your business. Introducing a food safety labeling system will help reduce employee theft while ensuring safe usage, storage, and rotation of food, all of which protect the health of the customer and your restaurant’s profits.
For more tips on streamlining your kitchen and saving your restaurant money, visit the NCCO blog.