Employee stealing from a food bank

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NC'd for this. I run a food bank. I have a (paid) assistant Mary, along with lots of volunteers. My assistant used to be a volunteer, for context, but this is now her first proper job. She's on the autistic spectrum but very high-functioning. She is due to leave at the end of this month (travel, then uni). She's 19.

Anyway - I'm pretty sure she's stealing stock. Not donations from the public, but corporate type donations - bulk packs of biscuits, crisps etc. Always treat-y things rather than the (many) more mundane foods we have. Eg we receive two boxes of Dairy Milk at 2pm on Monday, I see them on the shelf, I head off at 3.30 and leave Mary there to finish whatever task - and when I come back in at 7 the next morning, one of the boxes is open and two large bars are missing. That sort of thing, again and again. On some of these occasions other people are in too, but the common denominator is Mary (and she'd always be the one in last/locking up). It's also extended to leaving the wrappers lying around on occasion, which is both dumb and infuriating.

Lives at home in a very well-off house, no expenses/money issues, no shortage of food - I'm quite certain. It feels, instinctively, like "teenage bottomless pit" type behaviour.

So:
Catch her out definitively?
Give her a vague but pointed chat about our stock and what it's for?
Say something before I wave her off at the end of the month?
Ignore?
Some other thing?

I don't think the value of what she's stealing is any great shakes, but a) really, who the hell steals from a food bank? b) theft is theft c) I trained her up and gave her a brilliant opportunity with this job, so I find it quite hurtful. I also would rather she learn her lesson now rather than when she's, I dunno, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I don't have any other managers etc to bounce this off. I have trustees, who I suspect will leave it with me to make a decision as I see fit. WWYD?

Ask her straight out " Do you know what happened to the Dairy Milk?"

“Mary, I’ve noticed that the Dairy Milk box has been open and some are missing. Do you know what happened to them?”

Job done.

I think you need to catch her red handed so to speak.
Can you get any paint or something, so you can check her hands with a uv light, or have I gone a bit too 007
id look online, there are nanny cams and surveillance gear available at pretty reasonable prices. You can’t just let her continue to steal from the most in need, that’s just so wrong.

Put cameras up solves the issue

Or ask that items taken are logged out

I would have a whole staff meeting and reiterate your policies with regard to the stock and who is entitled to it. It's disgustingly low to steal from a food bank.

Just speak to the girl for God's sake. Ask her what happened to the chocolate.

Or is the food bank open during the time you're not there? In which case it could have been taken legitimately by a member of the public. Unclear from your OP.

Re the autism - either she knows what stealing is or she doesn’t, and I’m inclined to think that if she’s going travelling and to uni, then she does. If she does, then I think a frank and stern talking to at the very least is warranted. This is a paid job supplying food to people who can’t afford it and she’s stealing from them. She’s 19, not a kid.

TBH if it is her you should fire her. I agree with having a frank conversation and taking it from there.

And yes, put cameras up.

There’s a nanny cam on Amazon for £23.

Actually @Chikapu's idea is great as it doesn't single her out.

Do you really know her home situation? I'd tread very carefully.

Charity manager here! We have a food hub and take donations of household items for those in need.

I've had volunteers and staff taking things.

What I have done in the past, is mention it in general meetings. We know how many clients are registered at our food hub. We bought enough oil but we're now two short. This is costing the charity not only the oil but also my time to keep rechecking and rebuying. Can everyone please ensure that stock stays on the racking.
She is likely to come back to you for a reference at some point, so I'd want this clearing up before she left.

We're bigger than you, 16 staff, 15 full time volunteers plus loads of part time or one off people coming through to help us, so it's hard to pin it down. Last week a new microwave went walkies so we're now talking about cctv.

Can someone else be the last one left to lock up, can Mary ,leave before you. Can you teach her how to take an inventory and stock check because you have noticed some items have been going missing and those in need are the ones suffering.

It’s a bit awkward if you can’t prove it’s her. Is the whole staff meeting idea a possibility? Otherwise, I guess, ask her directly.

I agree with raising it at a whole staff meeting.

I wonder if she has impulse control issues.

Just ask her directly? Say you noticed they are open and some are missing.
What would generally happen to the more luxury goods like that? Are they usually just put into one of the parcels? It may be she has an eating disorder? I go to a couple of groups and some people seem unable to stop themselves eating all the biscuits or a whole family bag of crisps.

Do you really know her home situation? I'd tread very carefully.

I mean, she lives at home with dad a stockbroker and mum a GP, and it's a small community, so I'm sure she's not going hungry. We have volunteers who we also feed as they are in need - that's absolutely fine. But here it is only treats going missing.

To whoever asked if it could be a member of the public - no, this is all from a stock-room with limited access.

I don't think asking straight out will work, because in the past when I've asked her straight out about mistakes she has clearly made, she makes up a dumb rabbit-in-headlights lie. So I suspect I'd get "Oh, the chocolate? How strange. No, I have no idea" - even if she was the only one in at the time. And then what?

Sounds like impulse control issues. Could you speak to her parents?

I'd start by asking her if she knows what's happened to the chocolate (or whatever). Then do what @Chikapu suggests. It may be that she's misunderstood the rules, or is copying something she's seen another volunteer do. Ime autistic people tend to be on the honest side but young people with autism can be naive- so if she was told that "it OK to take just one" she may believe it. Or think it's OK to take something if you are hungry because the food at the food bank is for people who are hungry.

Don't raise it in an all staff meeting that's not fair on the rest of the staff and demoralising.

She's 19 and an employee why would you speak to her parents?

What would generally happen to the more luxury goods like that? Are they usually just put into one of the parcels?

Yes. They are rarer, but yes they go into parcels as appropriate. Stock-taking / measuring - it's nigh-on impossible because of the speed at which things come through and get distributed (it would basically be another full-time job). But I have, since I became suspicious, photographed things as I left and then again the next day (with only M in in the interim) - and things are clearly missing.

Thank you @PeskyYeti for weighing in, that's helpful.

Ccrv imo and staff meeting about security

Sounds very much like my on-the-spectrum son to be honest. He'll take a chocolate bath from the cupboard then when I ask him what happened to the chocolate bar, he'll stand there, chocolate round his face, wrapper in hand and go "wasn't me". Even with the evidence points out he'll double down.

What has worked with us at home is reminding him at point of act that he mustn't do it. He struggles with remembering not to do things in the heat of the moment when he has an idea so we have put a sign up on the cupboard door saying "Stop! Don't take treats that aren't yours!" Could something a bit more formally worded help here on the door of the stockroom, or pinned to the shelf?

Just get a camera, they are pretty cheap and will save lots of money in the long run :)