Hiscox Dishes the Details on Small-Company Employee Theft

May 13, 2015

Employee theft costs U.S. companies with less than 500 people a median loss of $280,000 annually, affecting a wide range of industries, specialist insurer Hiscox found in a new report.

What’s more, most cases of employee theft involve veteran employees, according to the 2015 Hiscox Embezzlement Watchlist.

The study found that smaller companies were among the hardest hit by employee theft, with as many as 80 percent of organizations targeted employing fewer than 100 people. Average total losses in landed at $842,403, Hiscox said.

“Although risk mitigation strategies such as background checks will add a layer of protection, no organization can completely insulate itself form employee theft,” Doug Karpp, national underwriting leader for crime & Fidelity at Hiscox, said in prepared remarks. “Organizations, can, however, take proactive measures to minimize the likelihood of theft and the impact of losses.”

Hiscox recommends that small business owners protect against employee theft by sending bank statements directly to their homes so they can be reviewed, enabling the prevention of falsification. Also, Hiscox said business owners should periodically review payroll reports to look for anomalies. As well, they should either sign all the checks themselves or keep the signature stamp locked up.

To compile its report, Hiscox looked at employee theft cases active in U.S. federal courts in 2014. Among Hiscox’s other employee fraud findings:

Source: Hiscox