Is it normal for staff to have their bag searched when leaving work these days?

[nicenewone1]

Dd just started working in a posh clothing store. She says that they all have their bags searched when leaving. Well that might be a slight exaggeration, the manager looks into them as they leave

She was also questioned as to why she was taking her coat to the toilet draped over her arm

Is this normal practice these days? I would be very offended if it were me, but she doesn't seem to mind up to now.

Maybe I am being over sensitive?

Totally normal. When I worked for Tesco we had to have a receipt for anything we took into work that could be bought there.

Staff who worked on tills were subject to extra checks, taking shoes and socks off iirc .

But then I think it's something like 10% of all new staff they take on get sacked for theft

It's very common. I've always worked in retail and had my bag checked numerous times. Nothing to hide , nothing to worry about.

I worked at Go Outdoors. We used to pull a token out of a bag that would determine what we would have checked: pockets, bag, car boot, locker or no check. We sold some incredibly expensive stuff so I can understand why they did it. It was all very lighthearted and laid back though.

I was never checked in my holiday retail job at the end of the 90s, maybe it was unnecessary as all stock would have left an obvious trail of glitter

We had to clean for 30 minutes after the doors shut on unpaid time. This was shortly after NMW came in. The shop shut at 5:30 and pay stopped then. We weren't allowed to leave until 6.

Totally normal when I had a Saturday job a million years ago and still normal for DD on her Saturday job too.

Yeah, hubs used to work at Waitrose in his youth and they did locker and bag searches. They used to smuggle items out in their socks

Lunenburg have you never worked in retail? Staff thefts are far too common for shops not to search bags. Without bag searches the costs of clothes will increase to cover losses.

There are just far too many dishonest people around who seem to be unable to resist temptation. You should read some of the threads on here where posters think it is OK to nick stuff from hotels and restaurants. Not toiletries for their own use, but bathrobes, cutlery, cruet sets etc.

As pp posting very normal, when I started a new job as a retail manager, I had to go through gross misconduct with 4 staff members straight away for theft.

I had 6 staff including me

Yes I'm shocked at the extent of this. More so because I've never worked in retail

I obviously only skimmed the Sports Direct story as I thought that was purely because the staff were having their bags searched and I was at that

I think the bottom line for me is that I like to think that most people are as honest as the day is long

I know I would be really offended to have my bag searched every day. I am honest, as you lot are, and it's a sad reflection of the world we live in.

Not at my nursery.

By the way, does anybody want a baby at a greatly reduced price?

Retail manager here. It's an unpleasant part of the job but having personally suspended / sacked around 15 people in my career for stealing, mostly finding out through bag / locker searches, they're necessary I'm afraid. You can't watch potential shoplifters and staff on CCTV all the time, so there has to be a way to check. As a PP said, most people who work in retail are not thieves but a significant number are.

I know it's a case of nothing to worry about if nothing to hide, but it's not the point is it

I reckon if you work in retail then you have become desensitised to it

Thirty years ago I had a holiday job in M&S. We weren't searched but you were only on the shop floor in the uniform dress which had no pockets. Anyone remember the very fetching cream nylon number?!

If you ever read threads on here about shoplifting you will see that stealing from big shops is seen as fair game by a surprising number of posters.

I worked in retail, at management level, for 15 years and random bag and coat checks was a company policy.

Also, all purses, wallets or loose money had to be locked away. The amount within had to be recorded and signed by management and the staff member before being locked away, and this procedure had to be followed each time the purse was removed from the safe.

Anything purchased in store had to be accompanied by a receipt and policy dictated that staff couldn't serve their own family and friends.

I never worked there but I remember that uniform so well

Yep it's in your contract when you start in retail. It was in mine for a major supermarket but was never actually implemented.

I work in retail and we have random pocket searches, which is fine because we're not meant to have money or phones or anything on the shop floor just stuff like tissues and paper and a pen.

Contract does say that they can search bags but nobody ever does and it has to be done in a private room. Not a chance I'd queue up to let somebody go through my bag in front of a load of people I work with.

I never had my bags searched working in retail, but we were told that it may happen when starting. I now work in manufacturing (not clothing) and occasionally a car search will happen to random people (think security have a monthly target). It's not just retail. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1549470/Employee-stole-yacht-one-piece-at-a-time.html

Having worked in retail I can see how/why it happens.

You have a high proportion of casual staff who are only there for a few weeks or months before moving on - no loyalty to the company. If they get sacked they just get a job somewhere else.

Easy access to stock - not just on the shop floor but in warehouse or storage areas where it can be very tempting to help yourself.

Low wages - many people are paid minimum wage and it can seem like a very easy way of making a bit of cash.

"Victimless crime" - people who work in retail will see there's a lot of waste and stuff lying around in back shop areas which doesn't appear to be valued by the staff.

Stores refer to theft as "shrinkage" which makes it sound less serious. Nowhere I worked passed details about department sales, targets or shrinkage to shop floor staff so it was all very remote from your experience.

Never any excuse for stealing but many people think it's a far less serious thing to help yourself to a new top from items which have been returned by customers.

I worked in retail for years and years....eight different places in all. Three at management level and then the others part time after dc. There were staff thefts in every single place....member of staff sacked always, and on two occasions Police had to be involved as one store was a jewellers, and the theft was of an expensive piece of jewellery, and the other involved three members of staff in a clothes shop colluding with each other to steal items.
In all cases, the staff involved were polite, pleasant, friendly with me and the rest of the staff.....and pinching stuff whenever no one was looking!
It's not a well paid job, and the hours are long, but that's no excuse.

Hmm. When I worked as a sales assistant as a student, many years ago, we had an awful lot of training on what contributed to "shrinkage." Along with locker checks, this also meant you should use the stairs to the stockroom rather than go up four floors in the lift... We also regularly watched videos on how to shoplift. Purely for the purpose of spotting others doing it.

My mum did work experience in a pharmacy, in he 80's I think, and she had to have her pockets sewn shut.

I worked in a factory in my late teens and we had random bag/boot checks. It wasn't every day but if you got caught with product outside the building it was instant dismissal.

Willwe

This was part of the Sports Direct scandal.

Dreadful working conditions and treatment of staff.

They were paid minimum wage and required to queue up while waiting to be searched after completing their shift.

It was not just a "suing for a 2-minute delay"

The workers were scared and downtrodden. It had been going on for years.

Nice to know Scrooge and Marley are still with us.

www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/15/sports-direct-staff-to-receive-back-pay-unite-hmrc

"Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “I welcome the fact that thousands of Sports Direct workers will at last be paid what is due to them, following the scandalous failure of their employer to pay the minimum wage."

“But it should not have taken months of pressure from MPs, trade unions and the general public. In light of the appalling practices at Sports Direct, it is only right that the Government imposes fines to send a clear signal to other rogue employers.”

"In June, Sports Direct’s billionaire founder Mike Ashley admitted his company had broken the law by failing to pay staff the national minimum wage."