How do employers handle theft?

How do employers handle theft by employees? Most people could answer that question. You fire the employee who is stealing from you.

If an employee gets paid for overtime he never worked, is that theft? Is it a crime to claim unworked overtime from a government employer and collect pay for it?

How does the McHenry County Sheriff's Department handle it, when a deputy claims overtime that he never worked?

The first time, they might say, "Bad boy. Don't do that."

Then they might discipline an employee with "up to 30 days" off without pay. Ouch. Then with 30 days off. But they might soften the blow to the paycheck by hiring him to do some construction work inside the Sheriff's Department.

If it happened again, another 30 days off? But doesn't discipline escalate for repeated infractions? What's after 30 days? Isn't it a trip to the Merit Commission for a termination hearing?

How many chances should an employee get? I'll give you the lawyer's answer: "It depends."

It depends whether you are in the in-crowd (or not). If you're not, the door will probably hit you in the backside as you leave.

But if you are in the in-crowd, you'll get more chances. Your discipline will be "30 days or less", so that your case does not go to the Merit Commission. What's the benefit of its not going to the Merit Commission? It stays "inside", private and out of the public view. It does not become public record. In fact, it probably does not become known outside the department.

Payroll cheating through false overtime claims should never happen. When a deputy turns in his overtime sheet, his sergeant ought to be saying, "What's this? What do you mean, two hours O.T.? Where were you? Who authorized that?" and then the Commander ought to be questioning it. And that gets done before you leave the building.

And since theft by payroll cheating is most likely a crime, why shouldn't the employee be criminally charged? Well, it looks bad for the employee. It looks bad for the supervisor(s). It looks bad for the employer - MCSD.

But, after 2-3-4 occurrences, what if "Management" at the Sheriff's Department decides that counseling is in order?

What kind of counseling? Maybe a class in "How to Cheat on Payroll Reporting and Not Get Caught"?

When monitoring and discipline are consistent, fair and transparent, morale and overall working conditions at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department will improve. Until there are major changes (that's plural) at the top of the food chain there, these problems will continue.