Searches at work

[whatevenisthis]

I work in a retail environment. All of a sudden we are being searched daily. Lockers emptied, bags searched, pockets emptied and we have to take our shoes and socks off. Even cars are being searched.

We are surrounded by cameras so it's impossible to steal anything. The things we sell wouldn't fit in our shoes and socks anyway. It's a very stressful environment but this is all legal and above board??

Here's the thing. Nothing has been stolen so why is this allowed? The company I work for does not recognise unions.

I worked at Sainsbury's as a student and one person was fired for stealing till money and hiding it in their shoe.

Money being taken from car is a separate issue and one I would query

I've worked in retail for a year now and car searches are covered in their policy. They can't force it same as they can't force a search on you but it is then considered a disciplinary issue. In practice I've only had a quick 'empty pockets' type one, and only once a full search. It Is a ball ache (I keep my phone in my pocket despite not being allowed and get a telling off) but nothing really to be worried about. I understand it being a pain especially if you're not used to it in your workplace, but it is part of working I'm retail and they do have the right. Surprised at posters telling you different. In my store it happens once a fortnight at least, and in your case I'd imagine someone in the store is on the thieve. Trust - they're a shop making a profit, trusting their employees doesn't come into it. Colleagues can and do steal, they need to be on top of it.

The searching procedure isn't ridiculous either, especially not in large supermarkets. You could hide money (from tills), jewelry, nail varnish, face masks etc in your shoes (admittedly you'd be walking funny). I think the posters who are so shocked at this likely don't work In retail. It's part of everyday life there, it's the rules, it makes sense, yes it's a nuisance but if you've done nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about

In our shop it's not security guards doing it (who by the way get paid to be there anyway so no extra expense). Managers are given a quota of searches they have to do each month, and carry it out as part of their duties. You can request a witness to be there and you can ask for it to be a manager of same gender as you, doing the search

Also I have seen managers searched - finishing at 6 like a few of us, few of us stood by the clock in machines waiting to be called in the office. It really isn't the awful experience people imagine! Dad worked in the mint for 30 years (making coins) and got searched/scanned at the start and finish of each shift. In these kind of jobs, it Comes with the territory

Sorry to keep posting! Completely wrong to be taken off shop floor in front of customers. Surely it only makes sense to a) do it when store is quiet so you're not missed or b) when starting/fibishing/ on or off break? That damages your reputation in front of customers and interferes with you doing your job and if I wete you I'd speak up when it next happens

I sometimes do searches at work.... randomly.

We are looking for drugs as much as theft. It should be somewhere in your contract that you are subject to searches

You can request in private with someone as a witness

We do car/locker/bag/pockets depending on which colour ball you pick out of a bag!

Just because this is common in retail it doesn't make it OK. Lots of working practices that were once common are considered unacceptable now.

Treating all your staff like potential criminals is likely to lead to problems in the longer term (lack of staff engagement, a 'them and us' attitude with employees doing whatever they feel they can get away with to get one over on the company).

There are other ways of tackling this which could actually engage staff, such as communications advertising that theft is an issue which should be reported, confidential theft hotlines, advice to employees as to what they should do if they suspect theft in around them.

There could still be "right to search" policy in place but this could be implemented in a targeted way, i.e. in areas where they suspect a thief is operating (looking for patterns of theft & whether they coincide with a particular individual's shift patterns/start dates etc).

I do think that most people are honest & that if you treat your employees with respect they will mostly (though of course not all) reciprocate…so rather than have a blanket policy like this wouldn't it be better to show respect for your staff and enlist their support in finding & dealing with the few 'bad apples'?

That's just my opinion of course…I like to see people being treated with respect by their employees but others are free to disagree.

Unfortunately retail thefts are high risk for companies. My dh is a security guard and has worked in various retail and warehouse roles.

But that does mean the management and the security firm still has to abide by laws set down by the SIA security industry which is regulated by law and all officers have to be government registered.

So if they are searching cars they really have to suspect a direct theft from that particular employee. Car searches are not usually cleared on a random basis. It is a misconception that you have to be searched. You as an employee still have a right to refuse a search of your property. But this does give the company another right for you to be let go for not following company policy.

So either way employees are made to feel they have to comply. It is a difficult situation as the company won't tell you if they do suspect any theft as this will give a heads up to the thief.

Unfortunately any union will not be able to do too much if the officers are following proper SIA procedures on searching staff and property. My dh has at times been unable to get employees sacked for obvious theft because of the way management have gone about ways of gaining evidence.

It must be an awful company to work for if you are made to feel guilty for others actions. All I can advise is to check they are following proper SIA procedures and look for another company that doesn't make you feel upset.

Is it Argos??
This is typical Argos behaviour!

I wonder if there's been an accusation about drugs, maybe they're looking to catch someone with something so they can sack them? Sounds like a lot of searches though, and not done in a professional way. Stealing money from your car is unacceptable!

And in response to @livingtothefull I do agree management should engage better with the employee and stop creating fear and disengagement in the workplace. But it isn't as easy in principle.

My degree and masters focused upon management and service quality and I spent time studying engagement (mainly in a hospitality setting) but when some warehouses have merchandise as small as a man's wallet retailing at over 1k and quite easy to conceal and a company paying minimum wage in a bed economy unfortunately thefts do become part of an every day occurance.

And when the security is on not much more than the staff they watch over it makes quite an interesting devils advocate

Sorry OP I understand your issue is not this I just wanted to highlight that there may be many things going on that the shop floor staff are in aware of.

I appreciate Yacka that it isn't easy in practice to engage with staff and seek their support when the theft of merchandise presents a serious risk to the company's profits.

It is up to the employer whether to take the high trust or low trust road with regard to their staff. I am just pointing out the downside of not cultivating employee goodwill…it may not be tangible in the way that losses through theft can be calculated, but I firmly believe that there will be a price to be paid by the employer.

Maybe the price will be that employee will actually see thefts being committed by other members of staff, or by customers…and won't bother reporting them because after all, why would they owe their employer any favours?

Or employees will pull sickies and treat them as additional holidays, or work elsewhere if they can get away from it (not justifying this btw, just pointing out this kind of thing is more likely to happen in a low trust, high stress environment).

Or some will be genuinely off sick because the stressful work environment as referred to by the Op, has helped make them ill.

The Op mentioned that there is camera surveillance and that the items they sell can't be smuggled in shoes & socks etc…also that the searching policy has happened 'all of a sudden'. So it is not clear what has triggered this, just a blanket change of policy?

I wouldn't like them searching my shoes or my car. Leave a book about the Lulu Lemon murder on your passenger seat?

Is it M&S op? The bit about not recognising a union made me think of them.

I used to work there and we were subject to this. Different thing was we were losing £20k per week and they couldn't work out who it was. Turned out to be the theft and loss officer who was conducting the searches on us - manager had no clue until CID turned up. He's been shipping it to Algeria and the police were alerted by the port due to the sheer volume of stuff that he was sending.

Have never forgiven him for what he put us all through. He went to prison for it, but I'd happily give him a punch on the nose should we cross paths.

I do agree with you @livingtothefull.

Employers do often take the wrong route to employee engagement. And if employees had better wages and benefits or even a simple investment in the company brand from an emotional level then I also believe theft would be reduced.

I feel for the OP who must feel like she is being victimised or made to feel guilty for others actions. No job should make you sick of affect your health both physical and mental.

I hope the security or management do have a reason to suddenly change their approach to losses. That is why I do think the OP should confirm what their search policies are and although they can't say if they have a specific ongoing incident, they may need to update their policies to be transparent to the employees.

Or OP may be able to challenge the way the company are implementing SIA guidelines.

That's just my opinion of course…I like to see people being treated with respect by their employees but others are free to disagree.

I used to work in the Policy team in HR. The amount of theft was incredible in retail. You do get quite heard hearted about it as it is quite widespread and you cannot single people out. If searches are be stepped up, don't blame the company, blame the thieves. They don't give a crap about anyone else but themselves.

Don’t get me wrong Olivia I have absolutely no time for thieves, if they are caught they deserve everything they get & in that respect I am very hard hearted too.

I am just pointing out that there is a downside to tarring everyone with the same brush and a more targeted approach may be better policy in the long run. Other posters have referred to examples of where senior employees in positions of trust have turned out to be responsible, rather than shop floor staff. If there are high losses through theft going on it is possible that there is systematic rather than opportunistic theft going on...the op refers to existing high security, is the benefit of low level pilfering really worth the risk of being caught?

At the very least the company could communicate with their staff and explain the losses through theft & why they feel their search policy is necessary...rather than letting their employees know they consider them all potential criminals. That can backfire badly on the company is all I am saying

I am just pointing out that there is a downside to tarring everyone with the same brush and a more targeted approach may be better policy in the long run.

I totally get that Living but there are two problems with that approach unfortunately. One is that you get accusations of discrimination on every basis possible if you target searches.

The second is that you tip the thief / thieves off that they are under suspicion if you are carrying out an investigation.

It is crap to target everyone but |I suspect that if the searches are as severe as the Op says, then it is likely he himself is under suspicion.

I always keep some coins in the car for parking. Not every car park I park in accepts card payment.

I used to work at Harrods. They were a bit like this.

Sort of understandable g

Dont most people keep some coins in the car ? we have two slots for £1 coins and usually keep some for the toll

I used to have to carry out searches when I worked in retail management but it was certainly nothing this extreme, just a cursory bag check.

If the till was significantly down we also had to check pockets but nothing like removing socks and shoes etc!

Surely a determined thief would put any stolen cash in their knickers or something anyway? Seems a bit pointless to me, especially if they're not catching anyone