Retailers Track Employee Thefts in Vast Databases

[Sherman A1]

Facing a wave of employee theft, retailers across the country have helped amass vast databases of workers accused of stealing and are using that information to keep employees from working again in the industry.

The repositories of information, like First Advantage Corporation’s Esteem database, often contain scant details about suspected thefts and routinely do not involve criminal charges. Still, the information can be enough to scuttle a job candidate’s chances.

Some of the employees, who submit written statements after being questioned by store security officers, have no idea that they admitted committing a theft or that the information will remain in databases, according to interviews with consumer lawyers, regulators and employees.

The databases, which have tens of thousands of subscribers and are used by major retailers like Target, CVS and Family Dollar, are aimed at combating employee theft, which accounts for a large swath of missing merchandise. The latest figures available, from 2011, put the loss at about 44 percent of missing merchandise, valued at about $15 billion, according to a trade group, the National Retail Federation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/business/retailers-use-databases-to-track-worker-thefts.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. I was accused of this many years ago and 'questioned' by corp security

I was young, it was my first real job, and I never stole a damn thing. By the end of the 2 hour interrogation I was such a wreck, this asshole nearly had me convinced that I had taken it and didn't remember doing it! Funny how when I finally agreed to a lie detector test, he dropped the request, never mentioned it again, yet still continued to try and get me to confess.

It was months before I could work up the courage to get another job, and years before I would take any position that entailed cash transactions.

[Sherman A1]

2. I have two views on corporate security types

or loss prevention or asset protection or whatever the department trendy name of the week happens to be.

They are either 1). "The Keystone Cops" barely able to find their plate with their fork or 2). "The Securitate". There never seems to be any middle ground with these folks.

[limpyhobbler]

3. A lot of potential there for blacklisting.

If companies can share their employee records like that, then I guess they can also share info about who is a trouble maker. Meaning who talks about forming a union, or who points out safety violations, etc. Maybe there ought to be tougher rules preventing companies for sharing employees info.

[Sherman A1]

4. Precisely

There is nothing to prevent exactly what you described in your post.

[limpyhobbler]

5. "Gov. approves repeal of Utah blacklisting laws"

April 02, 2013 2:42 pm • Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has signed legislation repealing state laws that make blacklisting a crime.

West Valley City Republican Sen. Daniel Thatcher authored the repeal legislation, saying the blacklisting law was outdated and unenforceable.

The law was passed in 1969 and made it a felony for anyone to blacklist or conspire against employees to prevent them from working in another job.

During the 1940s and '50s, Hollywood writers and actors accused of having communist leanings were blacklisted and unable to work.
...

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/legislature/gov-approves-repeal-of-utah-blacklisting-laws/article_a0ca4640-9bd4-11e2-8b7c-001a4bcf887a.html