Dennie Quill, Contributor

Lately I have been seeing more and more newspaper advertisements purporting to warn the public about former employees. These notices which are usually accompanied by photographs of these former employees seemed to have peaked in December from my observation. Is this telling us something about the state of our society?

From drinks salesmen to embroidery factory worker, the notices are designated to call attention to the fact that the individual is no longer employed to the company and is not authorised to contract any business on its behalf.

Whatever the reason, these notices have negative undertones and since I am no lawyer I cannot discuss their legality. To my mind, however, the growing practice tells a story about dramatic changes taking place between employers and their employees.

Company rules

Employees have rights and they also have responsibilities, so one expects them to be respectful of company property and observe company rules.

The management should establish clear consequences for workplace theft. If an employee is caught stealing, I believe the police should be called in and the matter should be taken to the courts.

Some companies are reluctant to call in the police because of the likely impact of negative publicity on their business. Some also refer to the disruption to business that is likely to accompany a police investigation. So oftentimes the management finds other ways to solve confidential staff matters, such as firing the employee and putting a notice in the newspapers.

Institutional standards

Fraud and institutional theft are nothing new to Jamaica and I shall give some examples from personal experience. But, the question that haunts me is whether institutional standards are falling to new lows.

A study undertaken in the United States recently found that 49 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds did not consider taking things from the workplace as stealing. And a significant number admitted to taking home company property at sometime or other.

Some suggested that they were entitled to these things since management was not paying them what they were due.

Management has a responsibility to cultivate a corporate culture that promotes honesty and ethical behaviour and this may even lead to a kind of anonymous reporting system within an organisation. I have a friend who once worked in a public hospital in Kingston and she would often regale her circle with stories about how the employees would steal foodstuff, from meat to cooking oil every week.

Supplies meant for the patients went into baskets and bags and ultimately into the homes of employees. Then in one instance, another hospital acquired some new equipment, and by day two, three of them were missing.

They were eventually located at one of the city's private hospitals. There is the classic story that took place at a Kingston hospital when eight muffins left the kitchen for a designated ward, but when the tray arrived in the ward, every muffin had been cut in half.

For some companies, workplace theft is creating a financial sinkhole. Small companies in particular are finding it exceedingly difficult to absorb these costs.

More and more companies are forced to allocate huge chunks of their budget to security because of the insidious epidemic of workplace theft.

All of us - employer, employee and citizen - have a stake in building and maintaining an ethical business community. Perhaps for 2007 we should vow to stamp out workplace theft, be a whistle-blower and protect the organisation that puts food on your table.

Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.