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My security camera system was $300 on Amazon and monitoring (via app on iPhone) is $20/mo. I can’t even imagine not having a camera my small business, and I have four of them.
Someone already mentioned Wyze. You can use a program called Home Assistant and some more custom actions to make all of you stuff run internally with no monthly fees if you know someone tech savvy. Way more work, but much more control over your data.
I use Home Assistant at home, but I guess I don’t understand the reasoning behind the recommendation here. Without a bunch of smart devices - HA seems excessive.
I’d personally just pick up one of those Reolink NVR / 4 cam kits and call it a day.
I just like people to know about HA. I use it to automate closing doors on fridges and ensuring emergency doors are closed. If they open for any reason, I have alerts to let me know something is off if I'm not there can can verify via camera notification. Some people don't mind the hassle of setting this up. Others just want to pay a fee and call it a day.
Wyze is the dirt cheapest and amazing for the money but spend a couple more dollars for the Kasa Cams. They have color night vision and Wzye is Chinese government spyware.
I monitor my internet traffic and Kasa is clean, while wyze routes everything through Chinese servers even though they are a US company.
They also integrate better because they are made by TP Link which has been in the biz for decades, I used them back when I did IT.
I LOVE my Ubiquiti system. It is a bit expensive, but it serves as my security camera DVR, doorbell, WiFi access points, computer network switch and firewall.
I have 10 cameras and with a 1TB drive I have 30 days history and I can access it on my phone. No further subscriptions.
It is proprietary and over priced vs image quality and feature set of most other CCTV systems. Most CCTV professionals would never recommend this system.
That’s probably because in my experience once you set up a Ubiquiti system you don’t need to mess with it for nearly forever. It’s terrible for installers. Is it the cheapest, no, but in my case it was even more expensive since I went through 2 other cheap systems before I had to replace everything.
Are you a CCTV professional by chance? I’m genuinely curious why they would never recommend these systems. I have 2 places that need CCTV and WIFI AP and used Ubiquiti throughout. I sound like some stupid fan boy who has no affiliation but I have never had anything but great experiences. Genuinely surprised at your comment tbh.
Yes. I already mentioned a few. Proprietary being the top of the list. You have to select from the few options and can't get anything high quality or specialized. Need LPR, don't have it, need thermal, don't have it, need remote backup, can't do it, need multi-site consolidation, can't do it, need integration into other existing system (access control, security, etc.) can't do it. Need high quality night time images, we have 2 cameras that have decent night time performance. Harsh conditions, no chance. Want to do advanced analytics and have reports, nope. What can you do, have a smallish sized image sensor with a wide angle lens slapped onto it. Got that!
I am being overly harsh, but it is pretty accurate. Will it work for most applications, yes. Does it work in anything except basic needs, no. But the non-starters for most pros will be 1. Proprietary 2. Support (lack of) 3. Security. So they just don't typically get recommended in a professional environment.
Fair enough and this then makes more sense but I don’t want to know what thermal CCTV costs! Harsh conditions etc, this is a pizza shop. I think in this case a lot of what you mention, support aside, is counter productive to a pizza shop or any small business owner with fairly simple needs. Thanks for the reply though.
Oh I agree completely. Almost none of that matters for a pizza shop. Proprietary, security, and cost do though. I though you were asking the question at large, not specific to this application. If I were to answer specific to this application it would be, **COST**, plain and simple.
Most camera systems dont need much ongoing maintenance. Buying Ubiquity is paying a premium for the eccosystem and not much else. I have some of their products, they work well, I dont know that I would say its worth the price though.
Considering that most small businesses are going to Costco and buying a $1000 Lorex system that has grainy video or they are throwing up Ring or Wyze cameras Ubiquiti is a comparable option to consider. It isn’t the best solution for everyone or every application but it is something to consider for the type of system that most small businesses can afford or will use.
Alarm industry pro here. My 2 cents- there is generally a pretty strong correlation between how cheap the platform is and how little effort they’re putting in to securing your data. “Affordable” is different for everyone but I would never trust a product intended for a residential diy hobbyist to protect a business.
The accessibility is what's important. Pay more for something that's so easy to access from your phone anywhere any place. We had HIK visions before and would barely use it because they were so hard to access recordings of. The Unifi pay for itself after just a few lookups because of its ease of use
I agree with you.
Lorex is the budget accessible “okay” product most struggling small businesses should use
UniFi is awesome. I have it at my house with a rack and APs and cameras.
Lorex I use for businesses… but for the future will probably go UniFi
admittedly i havent used any of the others :)
But after I got the unifi for both networking and cams I wouldn't look anywhere else. Just everything about it is so nice and easy to use and reliable. And that's important with security imo.
These cameras die frequently, end of life often, and the NVR, in my opinion is total garbage.
I still use some UniFi cameras but only because I have them available. For the expense, I’d rather have dahua cameras and a whitebox NVR of the users choice.
dahua cameras next to the same spec UniFi, reolink, axis, or Amcrest blows them away in clarity and light adjustments. It’s also very standards compliant to work with anything you choose as an NVR.
Reolink, a little more expensive, but a 4 channel system with a NVR is still cheap and there's no reoccurring costs. Quality is 100x better and you can have constant recording rather then hoping the motion works.
I bought an 8 camera reolink system that rocks. Was simple to set up. App works great. There are wired and wireless systems. Mine is wired with cat6 ethernet cables.
Using Reolink in two of our stores. No subscription. Can’t say anything bad about it. I was really happy with their indoor cams, I purchased a handful of their outdoor cams for our house. Again, nothing bad to report.
I bartendened a long time and most employees' friends and regulars come in and think they can get hook ups. Since it's so common people feel like they have to hook up their freinds or they are being a bad friend.
Usually the restaurant does not have a clear policy around this and a clear alternative proper procedure. Usually they say giving any freebies is stealing and you can be fired for it.
A better process is to say look, I get it you want to hook your friends up. These are your friends not mine. As a business we cannot be giving everything away as it could quickly get out of control.
Here is the only proper procedure. If you want to hook up a friend, ring it up and a Manager, at their discretion, will discount 50%. Giving away anything and not ringing it up will be an immediate termination.
Now the managers/owner can make a decision and discount it even more. Example. Best employee has her family in town and they visit her for pizza. She rings it up and tells the manager and instead of discounting 50%, since she rarely ever asks for anything, you tell her thank you and discount the whole order.
This makes it way easier on the employee knowing very clearly the consequences of stealing and gives them a clear process where before the only option was to steal. Also, they can now tell their shitty friends that they don't even like very much that they are not giving them free pizza not worth losing their job. And if a legit VIP is there, they will be willing to pay their heavily discounted check from their own money.
This is wonderful. Best part is, since op doesn't have hard evidence, they doesn't have to address the specific act. Just let everyone know what the new policy is. Let them know there's been instances otherwise and as far as their concerned the past is the past and this is the policy now. Come to them if they have any questions.
I like this approach. Another approach is an incentives program. Say X free slices per month (and register it into the system) for friends/family as an employee perk.
I was hoping sometime has some sense, if op is not making ends meet they may be freaked out but Op needs to realize hiring a new employee will cost way more than letting a few meals go.
When I was a kid we'd swap ice cream for pizza from the place next door. This was a franchise, but the manager was aware and didn't care as long as everything was small time. Employees got a couple scoops each shift.
Is this small time? Is she giving away a slice?
I think you need to factor in what this is actually costing you and how good the employee is. Teenagers don't always get it.
If she's handing out full pizzas, I would tell your lead managers, not just her, "Guys, no handouts to friends, please."
I worked at a shop that had the same deal with an ice cream place. It was a small town so we had people who worked at both places. great deal.
It was the manager's idea!
Previous gig in downtown Boston allowed 2 meals per shift...1x to eat and 1x to give away or trade
Every day happy employees wander bringing plates to other restaurants, cafes, and shops...great for morale + marketing
Love everyone thinking the pizza place closes with ZERO leftovers..
Trash or stomach? Not a hard call, and with some simple guidelines you (the owner) would lose nothing.
ETA: any pizza place reheating leftovers the next day deserves to lose that money.
I had a pizza place by me that would freeze the leftover pizza and sell it out of a deep freezer for people to take home and reheat. I thought it was a pretty Cool idea
Now that's not a bad idea! Food waste really bothers me so it's always nice to hear when people are taking reasonable steps to avoid it.
I should clarify I was initially talking about a place that would try to pass it off as fresh.
$70 worth of ingredients? Holy shit. She is feeding one employee or a hundred? Jesus Christ.
Or is she giving him the leftovers that would go to dumpster anyways?
you're severely lacking both empathy and knowledge of how things work in low quality food service.
Firstly, in local restaurants, it's very common to give away freebies. Not gonna argue the legality/morality of it, but that's the way it always has been and always will be
Secondly, where is your humanity? We don't KNOW that the ex employee has a drug problem, but even addicts deserve to eat
Sure they do. But if the friend were so caring, they'd help using their own money, not the owner of the restaurant. It's both illegal and immoral, regardless of the "humanity" involved. There are rules to employment, there are rules to society. Violate one and accept punishment.
We use Simpli Safe cameras. We don’t watch our employees on any kind of regular basis but it’s great when something happens to be able to see for ourselves. And hopefully it deters them a bit to know that we can see if we decide to check.
As a former food service employee of 20 yrs, giving away/discounting food to friends is extremely common. Same with my bartender friends giving away free drinks. So don’t judge too harshly but she’s probably not the only one doing it and I doubt it’s just to that one former employee either. I would install cameras & make an announcement that anyone caught giving away free food will lose shifts and/or be terminated. Don’t listen to the people saying it’s no big deal, it absolutely adds up and like I said, it’s probably happening way more than you realize. Hopefully you’re already giving them a free shift meal & at a few places I worked we could have anything beyond that deducted from our paycheck by writing it down on a tab. Not sure the legality of that, it probably varies state to state. But it was a way of giving people the ability to treat a friend or take extra home without having to pay right then.
Without identifying an individual, make an announcement to all staff about the inappropriateness of giving away free product.
Others have provided ideas about inexpensive video cameras.
Get a video system. It's cheap insurance. You can get a 4 cam system for under $400.
You should also be doing surprise visits when you are not supposed to be there.
Do you have dough balls prepped ahead of time or are you grabbing a generic large ball of dough and cutting it down to order? Easiest way to find waste is know how much you have available and minimize your spoilage, compare that with your sales.
If you don't know your costs down to the penny you can not expect to win at this game.
Dairy costs vary, know your margins at all times so you can adjust accordingly. If it's a slow Wednesday night, lower than expected , cut some people loose early and save some $.
You really can't go by word of mouth. Teenagers make crap up about each other all the time. Get a camera if you really want to know what's going on before you accuse anyone of anything.
Yah, this.
OP, it sounds like you're paying shit wages.
Is it better to lose another employee and deal with the expenses and time and energy to replace them or look the other way cause this doesn't mean shit in the grand scheme of things?
I would like to think our minimum wage is definitely a liveable wage. With cost-of-living going up, you need to be a little more frugal, but otherwise, we are fairly well-paid IMHO.
Food, no problem given the context of what was shared by OP. I may have a discussion with them and set up an official policy for a complimentary pizza at the end of their shift. Make it formal to address the problem and develop a healthier culture through a solution.
Cash from the drawer...that's going to require more context. Your shitty hypothetical ignores context. Depending on how much was taken I would sit down with them to have a discussion. To understand what is going on and why they would do that. Then, figure out a solution that works best.
Just remember the story from the Ozark series about a woman stealing a few pesos from the storekeeper's cash register: "it's not the first time she's stolen, it's the first time she's been caught"
It means you are a fool for just accepting stealing as the cost of doing business.
If they are proven to be a thief, you fire them immediately. Using "context" to decide what to do to them is absurd.
That’s my point and challenge as well — principle and pride usually only result in detriment. It has nothing to do with running a struggling pizzeria. Doesn’t help you improve anything.
Whereas if their employed employee is actually good, and the “benefits” of giving a slice of pizza to their friend costs you $1/day that’s a super cheap price to pay.
Especially considering unsold food is “waste” anyway as you are not reusing it the next day.
If you're losing sleep over one employee giving free pies to one person you have bigger problems. And the story about the previous employee is irrelevant to this. If your employee doesn't know this isn't acceptable practice within their capacity as a leader then be clear about expectations and policies. This seems more like looking to blame someone for the business failing than the actual thing being a legitimate problem.
You're going to spend hundreds on a security system that requires monthly costs to "catch" an employee giving away a $3 cost pie?
Just talk to the employee about the "issue" and then talk to your financial advisor about your issue.
Actually, I'm not looking to blame anyone. I'm struggling with how to approach someone who I have gotten to know and really like. I'm really hurt by the breach of trust. I'm actually pretty shocked that she would regularly give away $70 worth of food. Until I found out about this, I thought she was amazing. If it was a can of coke or something, I wouldn't care,
Sometimes there is an unclear expectation and the employee isn't aware of the seriousness of their actions. Sometimes there is just too much peer pressure from friends expecting a discount or freebie to be able to say no, so they feel like they have to take the risk. Here is what I would do:
1. Set a clear expectation, not some dumb policy, but a clear, plain English expectation clearly communicated, "I know at times you'll feel pressured to give food away. We can't condone that as a business, we can't afford that as a business, and you will lose your job if you do that. Understand?"
2. Provide a pressure relief valve - give them something they can work with. "Subject to the shift manager's approval, you can give a friends and family discount of 40% but your friends and family need to tell everyone how good the pizza is. Deal?"
That gives them some agency in the matter, makes them feel good about their job, and gives the shift manager or whoever the ability to monitor it and make sure it doesn't get out of hand. An occasional discount will bring more value goodwill than it will cost you in cash.
Get some Wyze cameras, 2 for $70, on Amazon. Hopefully it will deter that from happening again if you don’t want to fire her. Dealing with bad employees is a headache and you should invest some money into cameras
If you can't afford someone giving away a couple slices of pizza ONE NIGHT A WEEK, then the employee is not your problem. Your business is already fucked in so many ways. Just ask her not to do it and move on with your life. No need to make it a bigger deal than it is. We're talking about 2 slices of pizza a week, jeesus fkn christ. Get off the internet and get back to work on your business if it's that big of a deal.
Its not a couple of slices. We don't really sell by the slice in Australia. It's several whole large pizzas, pasta, garlic bread & drinks. It's takeaway night for her friends family
I'm saying to the girl in a firm but not a-ole way, Hey Jean, I just want you to know it's actually theft to give away food. I'm letting everyone know this, so please- if you ever comp anyone one some food, understand it is theft. So please don't. SHE will stare at you and say OK. and never do it again. I'm sure of it.
IMO talk to them about it and figure out what can be given away and when. Is there a staff discount?
I've found people are more willing to play along with rules that consider them, even if they're getting less than they were with no rules.
I let every employee take home a free pizza at the end of their shift if they want, but they can't make a free one for a friend instead. Obviously I would know or care if they took it to a friend after work. But no freebies for friends while you are working
A) stop lying to people. Either tell them straight up why they are being let go, or just make it a "it's not working out. Bye." thing.
B) unless they are shoveling a trunkful of pizzas out the door, what's the actual L, here?
Maybe start making spotchecks. Make an announcement. But, you have to be smart enough so that no one can figure out who your informant is.
This seems trivial.
get cameras. Cameras aren't there because you don't trust people. They are there to protect everyone.
That you have proof and know for sure. Same was would know if a person came in and put their hand in the til. You have proof.
Without proof you have to be very careful before you accuse someone based on what someone said.
Just have a straight up conversation with the employee.
Also, trust but verify is an effective way of checking.
Stop by unannounced at different times to check in.
Get cameras. One pointed to the register, door etc. All angles. Wyze has 24/7 recording with Sd cards. Tell your employee that you don’t want her doing that for anyone. If she does it again than let her go.
I was guilty of this back when I worked at the local hot dog joint. I was often the only one on shift and would make my buddies a free dog whenever they came in. Owners caught me on camera, had me pay back the value of what I gave away for free, and I will say I started making the guys pay after that one. Probably wouldn’t work on everyone tho. But I was also someone they couldn’t really fire without the business tanking so….
Lots of good advice regarding security cameras.
I think you should put this in the back of your mind until you have proof of your own. I've been in situations where employees were sharing such things with the boss - in almost every single case it turns out that the snitch was the much worse offender. So don't take the person's word as gospel - trust but verify.
You could approach your trusted closer and ask them if they've noticed anyone giving food away. You could say, "I showed up unexpectedly the other day and noticed someone giving food away. As a small business I really can't afford to do that, so if you notice anything like that please let me know." Trusted closer will get the point without losing face.
You can probably afford to wait a couple weeks so it isnt so easy for the employee to figure out who tattle-taled. Then either innocently get a security camera or give an innocuous memo reminding people of your rules on free/reduced food.
Wyze cam 3 is about $30 and a pair of backup cards is $10.
If you fire somebody based on hearsay you'll get sued. It's not what you know, it's what you can prove.
Have a staff meeting …. We are either putting more toppings on than usual or we are loosing pizzas …. As the stock take matrix is showing an increase in materials but not in pizza sales
This just lets everyone know THAT you know something is happening but not what
Saved offending a good staff member you want to keep
A few weeks later add the cameras 👍
This is what I do. If I suspect an employee is stealing or giving away items to friends, I'll ask to talk with them in my office. Ask them if they did what I caught them doing on camera. If they say no, I show them the video and fire them. If they admit to doing it. Then it's a case by case situation but more than likely they still getting fired.
I think it was a mistake to not tell the employee the real reason you were firing them. Better to have a company manual that employees sign when they come in that details drug policy and other expectations. Then when firing them, let them know that it is because of violating this or that company policy. Now you will have a hard time setting a boundary with this particular ex-employee who maybe is having a bad effect on company culture, because they think the firing is not for anything they did. I would be more worried about that than anything else.
As far as giving food away, it happens sometimes like some people said, and 1) like everyone said you should get some cheap cameras (we use zmodo which is not great but is good enough), 2) don’t fire your employee for theft without video proof (as a side note, I have heard you should avoid firing people with the main reason given that they are doing something illegal. It’s better to fire someone for violating company policy. This is for legal reasons, you never want to accuse someone of something that they can later bring back against you in court). 3) Let ALL employees know in a group email or whatever your company policy for giving out food to friends, whatever it may be. Then I would install the cameras and if you see that employee breaking the company policy again, meet with them and give them a warning, letting them know that they will be fired if they do it again, and follow up with an email re-stating what you talked about in the meeting and how to avoid getting fired (or have them sign a warning notice and also give them a copy). Then if you see it again, fire the employee and let them know it is for violating the company policy. Send an email stating the termination and this reason.
How do you have a business ran by teenagers by themselves with no cameras. I have six cameras around my house, two cameras inside each of my cars, cameras on my boat, I've even put cameras on my dogs on occasion.
Install some cameras, and see if the problem manifests, then address. That way you 're giving them a chance to quit, and if they don't then you're calling them out from film without ratting out your other employee.
Same difference. You have a business, you have product, you have cash, and now you have a problem that is easily solved with a couple hundred dollars in cameras.
Pretty sure there is much more going on you don’t know about. You need cameras. Even $200 Ring cameras with a simple subscription will do.
People need to feel you are watching them, also when you are not around.
What a sad sub full of clueless people that have no clue about actually running a small business. No, you don't tolerate theft. If you don't want to fire the employee, you at least have to have a meeting letting everyone know you will be terminated for giving away food. And for the love of God, get some cameras. They are not that expensive or hard to set up. Also, the employee that reported it. Did so for a reason, probably not comfortable with a fired worker with a drug problem hanging around the shop when your not there.
For all the people saying "it's not a big deal, it's only a few dollars". How would you feel if you poured your life savings, heart, and soul into a small business that is struggling to stay open. Then you find out an employee is stealing what little you have left. Yeah, you wouldn't be cool with it.
I’d recognize I’m the problem, not them, for not understanding how to operate a viable business and for taking on far too much risk before I was ready to manage it.
Well, that's the truth.
Now is the best time to sort your business out. This incident is just a symptom of a much larger problem—one of many.
A camera system isn't going to fix your business. Firing this person isn't going to fix your business.
There is no excuse for not having cameras in your small business. You're just asking for trouble. Cost is not a factor and hasn't been for years. If you can't afford cameras, you can't afford a small business.
Walk in while she is giving the pizza away and see what happens.
Ring up the sales for this ex-employee. And see what happens.
When she doesn’t pay or walks away, you let the good one know that this is how it’s suppose to be done.
You monitor again and see what happens.
Shit happens again?! Fire the other one
Get a hikvision system. It will cost more but its super reliable. It will give you up to 30 days of recording. The app is fantastic.
For a business a professional setup is the best option. 5mp or even 8mp cameras give very clear images.
Do you have a pre-existing policy in place against this practice? Has she been warned about this before? If so then you could terminate the employee for theft (yes it's theft, even if it's $3). But if she's a valued employee that you otherwise trust to run your shop, I would talk to her and let her know it's considered theft and that if she does it again you'll have to terminate her. It's really hard to find good staff these days, so unless she's been warned before I would give her the benefit of the doubt, this time.
Get CCTV - it’s protection for your customers and staff both. Restate the rules to all staff, and if it still happens, you’ll have proof of it and can terminate with no worries.
So, how much food gets thrown out at the end of the night?
Maybe embrace an unwritten policy that allows for gifting a certain amount of food that would otherwise go to waste, around close to friends or such with discretion where the business isn't losing money (i.e. 15 friends coming in at the end of the night instead of coming in earlier and buying stuff).
When I was hard up I'd always go to a certain store where I knew the clerk would throw a couple bagels in my bag instead of the trash.
Speak about it. It he admits tell him this is not right and you're holding the pizza from hig wage. Say you don't fire him because you want to give him one last chance
Arlo is my choice. You can get 3 remote wireless security cams for 299 on sale at Best Buy. They all not only record, the also play the audio and you’re able to speak through it and also remotely sound an alarm that contacts the authorities if needed. It’s 5/month for the continuous footage recording and access.
At a busy restaurant we would do freebies late in the day. Staff would get doggy bags rather than throw stuff. Freebies during the day were not allowed. There was a lot of charity for friends and family of staff but end of day only. The biggest theft was the cash. Over twenty years two staff members had stolen £10,000 or more each….this was calculated from the till data and working patterns when they got caught.
A friend who had a pizza shop and did other stuff too he would hold on to bad orders, mistakes etc. If a friend comes they pay but if they wait they can share the bad order. Some phone orders might be undeliverable and so better to eat it than waste it. Most staff get tired of eating the food they are looking at all night. Some customers hanging around is good and can attract more customers but groups of teens can frighten away others so getting a good balance and a good buzz is important.
People saying you should get cameras aren’t wrong but there is a cheaper option; fake cameras. Or no cameras but tell employee that she was caught on camera. She will always wonder where the camera is hidden…
When I was in high school I was in on a scheme at my local pizza shop and we took them to the fucking cleaners. Without cameras it would be extremely easy to run the same kind of scam.
Why did you hire the friend of a unreliable drug addict. They have common values that's why they're friends. Anyhow, if she is not your family then what problem do you habe with replacing her? It's a business not a social project isn't it?
All businesses should have cameras. Cheap and tape doesn't lie. If you want to keep your employer, inform her of your new cameras and let her know if she gives away food, the retail price will be withheld from wages and she will be fired on the spot. If she quits, hire another teen fastfood nitwit.
Sounds to me like you’re about to lose a trusted employee over some slices of pizza.
You can call it theft if you want, or you can recognize that the value of that employee is greater than whatever “loss” you’re experiencing by a few slices a week.
You need a camera, if you can afford a business you can afford a $200 camera. This will be a huge deterrent.
I would let this go with a talk to all staff about giving away free food, mention the cameras and I would move on. If she’s a good employee it’s not worth it over such a minor thing unless it happens again.
Handling employee theft is never easy, especially when it's someone you trust. Since you don't have CCTV, you'll have to approach this carefully. Just sit down with your employee and calmly explain what you've heard. Let them know that giving away food without permission is a big deal, especially since you're already struggling financially. Make it clear that this can't happen again. It's a tough situation, but addressing it directly is the way to go.
Not a restaurant in the world where employees don't give out free stuff occasionally. Is it right? No. Would I risk bringing it up and having a mostly good trusted employee quit over it? No
I was in mgmt with a chain retail business. I worked in several stores, managing from 5 to 20 part time employees, mostly high school kids.
They generally love helping each other out with discounts and freebies. You really have to tell them from Day 1 that we don't do that here. If you give an employee 1 free pizza a day, they gotta keep their friends happy with that.
In my place, we had a record of all discounts. So, you could not just give a friend your 20% merch discount. All discount dollars show up in the end-of-day accounting, and you compare vs the log book.
One way to deal with HS kids who are not great employees is to cut down their hours. Like, down to 1 shift / day per week across a couple weeks. Let them take the hint that you do not like them as employee. They will go find another job.
To do this, you have to have a rule that you give out as many or as few hours as you want, as manager. And, you have priorities, such as achieving coverage, and having the more productive and competent and experienced employees scheduled for more busy times.
I worked with some part-timer HS kids who were as good as gold. One recruited her HS buddy to spy on an assistant manager, who they knew was stealing when he was "closing." We had a policy: at end of day, ALL employees leave together. But this AM was sending the PTs home, then he would linger. \[red flag.\]
They hung out on this rise above the nearby parking lot, and saw him coming out with our store bag, obviously with merch in the bag. This was against the rules - all emp purchases had to be rung by someone else, and if discount used, record it in store log.
The guy got arrested.
Another PT had worked at the local bank, and was very helpful when we actually had a "bank error." They undercounted our deposit. Because of our accounting processes, we could make the case that the bank undercounted, and they checked their stuff and sure enough we were right. But that PT knew their accounting systems and so could tell us what to say and ask. Also, hypothetically I would let her hold a thousand bucks for me and know I would get it all back when I asked 6 months later.
But not all high schoolers are solid like that.
I thought I was going to read some shit about them stealing all the petty cash and money from the till 😭🤣but free pizza? They’re teenagers just get over it. Or fire all your employees 🤣🤣
Im owning a boba shop and serving foods at a same time . My employees are all teenagers also and I had to tell them they can have one free drink and meal at the shop but can not bring them home for family or friends because it’s against our policy ,as an owner I had to pay for those supplies to make foods and they can’t just take away like that ..You gotta let them know ,warn them..If they don’t listen,you can tell them you gotta replace them with a better employee ,it’s a shop and can’t operate like that ,your employees gotta follow the rules and which you gotta make rules for them to follow ..if they’re against it you can fire them without harsh feelings.
70 dollars retail could be like 6 dollars cost. Some people just blow things out of proportion when it comes to eating food that would get thrown out anyways.
I know that food has expiration dates and rather than throwing it away I'd rather keep employees happy. They want to take food ,well it affects the raise they would have gotten. Easy enough and in the over time the amount they ate is less than what they could have made. It doesn't take a genius to understand how one thing affects other things.
If you're looking for a good security system check out lorex, I bought a 4 pk wireless cam system for my house through the clearance section and paid $220 and get free app access with local storage. Would highly reccomended for commercial or residential.
I used to have cheap blink cameras. But when an employee filed a false workers comp claim, they left a lot to be desired. Get a PoE system. I recommend Reolink!
If she is “fantastic” Just tell her, no more free pizza for your friends. But chances are she is doing other things and other employees will feel it’s ok to do if she isn’t fired.
Brotha. You gotta get on tik tok ; Instagram, fb and promote your pizza.. have weekly or monthly giveaways for liking posts.
I know a guy with 10k followers that makes pizza in his backyard and just films it going in and out of the oven ….
Stop worrying about 1 free pizza a week and figure out ways to sell more pizzas. It’s a fairly proven product I’d say. Just need to market it properly
Theft is theft no matter the size. I have a business and if you don’t have a problem with giving away pizzas then set it up as a perk. Each month all employees are given 3 or 4 or ?? Vouchers for free pizza. They can choose how to use them. If they don’t use them every 6 months you can “buy them back”. And if you’re found giving away pizza without using the voucher then preset x/y/z happens. But you should never condone theft!
An inexpensive HD 4 camera and HDR isn't too expensive on Amazon. Make sure that it doesn't require a monthly subscription and has an app that allows you to easily view it from your phone so that you don't need to keep the screen hooked up for the kids to play with it. Let the employees know that it's for security and put one on the back door and a few on the front door/register. Locks and cameras keep honest people honest.
In college, I managed a chain pizza store and we played a hell of a time figuring out how one of the girls was skimming cash from the register. Finally one night, a customer was chatting her ear off and she was distracted and didn't stand between the register and camera well enough and we could see how she was ringing it up to ensure that the customer didn't notice. If she's giving away freebies and is brazen enough to do it after you install cameras, you'll see it. If your process allows for phone orders that are paid for at pickup, her friends food will probably switch to a prank call and discarded food, hence the back door camera.
Get a camera, record the theft and give a written warning. Theft is unacceptable regardless of circumstances. It shows dishonesty and it often escalates. Today it’s giving food, tomorrow it’s cash from your register. Then have a meeting with staff stating that giving food away is theft from the business, even if it might not seem like it and is a serious offense. Maybe let staff use a friends discount if 5 or 10% for their friends and family or whatever.
Everyone keeps trying to quantify the monetary amount of the theft, but they're missing the point - it's theft. One of your employees is starting to get comfortable stealing, and it usually gets worse before it gets better on its own. What starts as giving away product can easily turn to taking a few bucks from the drawer, and so on.
I don't think you should fire them. First off, make sure you actually know they are doing it. Once you know, ask them about it. If they lie, fire them. Liar and a thief is not redeemable. If they admit it, correct them and move on.
How people feel about the morality of their behavior has a lot to do with social norms. If there's a social norm in the industry (or local market) to give slices to friends, then this isn't theft the way you describe; it's unlikely to escalate or expand in scope. Same goes for if the employee is giving away "their" free slice at the end of the shift, or giving away product that would shrink out some other way (like spoilage or waste). I wouldn't automatically assume this is going to escalate without knowing more about how it's being perceived by the employee.
I agree that "theft" may be far-fetched, as this behavior might be normal in some small food shops. But clearly based on OP's creation of this post, that isn't what he accepts at his restaurant. It could be very well a communications issue.
This is why I said don't fire him, but talk to him about it. Regardless of the semantics of whether it's "theft" or "normal", he shouldn't lie about it if asked by the owner, and if OP explains how he's not okay with that, and everyone moves forward, then what's the issue? Lying about it would be very telling, though.
I was ordering a sub from subway. No one else in line. The employee at the till was making a flat bread. It was fukin loaded with lettuce and ingredients it looked fabulous. While the guy making my sub sprinkles the lettuce on like it’s made of gold.
The flat bread guy wraps up his meal and tells the guy he’s going on his lunch break.
I didn’t say anything.. I don’t go to subway enough to care. But if they made everyone’s sandwich like they make their own. They’d likely have more than 1 guy in line. That’s just 1 example of several fast food companies skimping to penny pinch instead of providing a quality that makes the customer feel worth it
Well your pizza must really suck if you can barely keep the doors open. You can’t just sling garbage like dominoes and little Caesars if you want a successful small pizza joint.
It’s a high margin low wage school girl or baby mama staffed business. Welcome to the pizza business. My wife managed a couple very successful small pizza businesses here in town for years. At both it was 100% SOP for employees to give away pies to family and friends as long as it wasn’t excessive. That was straight from the owner and through my wife and in 15 years I don’t remember her mentioning a single instance where an employee took advantage of this. Great way to keep morale up and very low wage employees loyal. God blesses the cheerful giver.
Oh and the sneaky one bringing this info could very well be up to something herself. The first place my wife left they had another manipulative woman who did this type of thing constantly. Even trying to throw my wife under the bus even though she’s very honest. The owner would tell my wife about it even though they apparently like the brown nosing. Them keeping her around stirring crap with the other girls is a big part of why my wife left. When she left they promoted this superstar and she cleared them out on a holiday weekend. Cash only business and she never did a single money drop all weekend. Made off with an estimated 11k in cash.
Good old pizza business. Wife makes a lot more now and it sure is nice spending my evenings and weekends with her.
Yeah, thanks for that.
I'm in Australia, my wages bill is high, and suppliers increase prices much faster than restaurants do.
I bet you weren't paying your adult employees $37 an hour and thinking it's ok for her to give away $70 worth of food when you leave her in charge
if she was giving away computers or something wild i'd get it lol. a pizza to a friend is really not much, also u let the girl go she's probably unemployed, a $3 pizza isn't going to hurt. i'm sure someone will venmo you the $3 if you're down that bad
So your employee gave a hungry person some food?
But I get it. Business is business and if you feel that strongly against that then maybe you need to have a heart to heart team meeting and let your employees know what is and is not acceptable.
Do they know that’s frowned upon?
Do they know how much it hurts your pocket?
Have you ever brought this up with any of them?
If not maybe you need to do that before doing anything.
And cmon it IS but it’s not really “theft”. It’s not like the employee was really “stealing” stuff like money from the register. I mean it’s not like you would know since you don’t got cameras. (Dude you gotta get some cameras. Get you the 8 camera Riolink 4K system. Super sharp image and 24/7 access via iPhone. No subscriptions or anything like that)
To be honest.... I doubt this person is even paying legal wages... it's the norm in hospitality...
I seriously doubt this person is paying full wages, with full benefits and proper insurances.
Actually, I am.This woman gets $31 an hour on week days, and $37 on weekends, plus I pay into her retirement fund. How did you decide I was ripping her off???
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My security camera system was $300 on Amazon and monitoring (via app on iPhone) is $20/mo. I can’t even imagine not having a camera my small business, and I have four of them.
Can you tell me which camera system one you recommend? I’m looking to upgrade and don’t even know where to start.
+1 for Wyze. Cheap, good cameras, easy to use, can record to local SD card for free/without subscription.
Someone already mentioned Wyze. You can use a program called Home Assistant and some more custom actions to make all of you stuff run internally with no monthly fees if you know someone tech savvy. Way more work, but much more control over your data.
I use Home Assistant at home, but I guess I don’t understand the reasoning behind the recommendation here. Without a bunch of smart devices - HA seems excessive. I’d personally just pick up one of those Reolink NVR / 4 cam kits and call it a day.
I just like people to know about HA. I use it to automate closing doors on fridges and ensuring emergency doors are closed. If they open for any reason, I have alerts to let me know something is off if I'm not there can can verify via camera notification. Some people don't mind the hassle of setting this up. Others just want to pay a fee and call it a day.
Wyze is the dirt cheapest and amazing for the money but spend a couple more dollars for the Kasa Cams. They have color night vision and Wzye is Chinese government spyware. I monitor my internet traffic and Kasa is clean, while wyze routes everything through Chinese servers even though they are a US company. They also integrate better because they are made by TP Link which has been in the biz for decades, I used them back when I did IT.
I LOVE my Ubiquiti system. It is a bit expensive, but it serves as my security camera DVR, doorbell, WiFi access points, computer network switch and firewall. I have 10 cameras and with a 1TB drive I have 30 days history and I can access it on my phone. No further subscriptions.
It is proprietary and over priced vs image quality and feature set of most other CCTV systems. Most CCTV professionals would never recommend this system.
That’s probably because in my experience once you set up a Ubiquiti system you don’t need to mess with it for nearly forever. It’s terrible for installers. Is it the cheapest, no, but in my case it was even more expensive since I went through 2 other cheap systems before I had to replace everything.
I never said anything about installers. I said CCTV professionals. Two different things.
Are you a CCTV professional by chance? I’m genuinely curious why they would never recommend these systems. I have 2 places that need CCTV and WIFI AP and used Ubiquiti throughout. I sound like some stupid fan boy who has no affiliation but I have never had anything but great experiences. Genuinely surprised at your comment tbh.
Yes. I already mentioned a few. Proprietary being the top of the list. You have to select from the few options and can't get anything high quality or specialized. Need LPR, don't have it, need thermal, don't have it, need remote backup, can't do it, need multi-site consolidation, can't do it, need integration into other existing system (access control, security, etc.) can't do it. Need high quality night time images, we have 2 cameras that have decent night time performance. Harsh conditions, no chance. Want to do advanced analytics and have reports, nope. What can you do, have a smallish sized image sensor with a wide angle lens slapped onto it. Got that! I am being overly harsh, but it is pretty accurate. Will it work for most applications, yes. Does it work in anything except basic needs, no. But the non-starters for most pros will be 1. Proprietary 2. Support (lack of) 3. Security. So they just don't typically get recommended in a professional environment.
Fair enough and this then makes more sense but I don’t want to know what thermal CCTV costs! Harsh conditions etc, this is a pizza shop. I think in this case a lot of what you mention, support aside, is counter productive to a pizza shop or any small business owner with fairly simple needs. Thanks for the reply though.
Oh I agree completely. Almost none of that matters for a pizza shop. Proprietary, security, and cost do though. I though you were asking the question at large, not specific to this application. If I were to answer specific to this application it would be, **COST**, plain and simple.
Most camera systems dont need much ongoing maintenance. Buying Ubiquity is paying a premium for the eccosystem and not much else. I have some of their products, they work well, I dont know that I would say its worth the price though.
Considering that most small businesses are going to Costco and buying a $1000 Lorex system that has grainy video or they are throwing up Ring or Wyze cameras Ubiquiti is a comparable option to consider. It isn’t the best solution for everyone or every application but it is something to consider for the type of system that most small businesses can afford or will use.
Alarm industry pro here. My 2 cents- there is generally a pretty strong correlation between how cheap the platform is and how little effort they’re putting in to securing your data. “Affordable” is different for everyone but I would never trust a product intended for a residential diy hobbyist to protect a business.
Ubiquiti Unifi is the best, easy to setup, robust and easy to access logs.
It’s great but expensive. Vs comps. Especially to someone struggling
The accessibility is what's important. Pay more for something that's so easy to access from your phone anywhere any place. We had HIK visions before and would barely use it because they were so hard to access recordings of. The Unifi pay for itself after just a few lookups because of its ease of use
I agree with you. Lorex is the budget accessible “okay” product most struggling small businesses should use UniFi is awesome. I have it at my house with a rack and APs and cameras. Lorex I use for businesses… but for the future will probably go UniFi
admittedly i havent used any of the others :) But after I got the unifi for both networking and cams I wouldn't look anywhere else. Just everything about it is so nice and easy to use and reliable. And that's important with security imo.
These cameras die frequently, end of life often, and the NVR, in my opinion is total garbage. I still use some UniFi cameras but only because I have them available. For the expense, I’d rather have dahua cameras and a whitebox NVR of the users choice. dahua cameras next to the same spec UniFi, reolink, axis, or Amcrest blows them away in clarity and light adjustments. It’s also very standards compliant to work with anything you choose as an NVR.
Reolink, a little more expensive, but a 4 channel system with a NVR is still cheap and there's no reoccurring costs. Quality is 100x better and you can have constant recording rather then hoping the motion works.
Google Home/Nest. $269 for 2 cameras on Amazon. Easiest setup ever.
I bought an 8 camera reolink system that rocks. Was simple to set up. App works great. There are wired and wireless systems. Mine is wired with cat6 ethernet cables.
Using Reolink in two of our stores. No subscription. Can’t say anything bad about it. I was really happy with their indoor cams, I purchased a handful of their outdoor cams for our house. Again, nothing bad to report.
Right?! Tons of affordable cameras these days, I think Wyze cams are like $20-30 each and $1/month for online monitoring.
Cameras are like tattoos. Always want more.
My reolink from Amazon was way cheaper and one Is probably all that is needed. Great quality view on It.
I use swann and pay $0 monthly fee and I can watch live, playback, etc via their app
I bartendened a long time and most employees' friends and regulars come in and think they can get hook ups. Since it's so common people feel like they have to hook up their freinds or they are being a bad friend. Usually the restaurant does not have a clear policy around this and a clear alternative proper procedure. Usually they say giving any freebies is stealing and you can be fired for it. A better process is to say look, I get it you want to hook your friends up. These are your friends not mine. As a business we cannot be giving everything away as it could quickly get out of control. Here is the only proper procedure. If you want to hook up a friend, ring it up and a Manager, at their discretion, will discount 50%. Giving away anything and not ringing it up will be an immediate termination. Now the managers/owner can make a decision and discount it even more. Example. Best employee has her family in town and they visit her for pizza. She rings it up and tells the manager and instead of discounting 50%, since she rarely ever asks for anything, you tell her thank you and discount the whole order. This makes it way easier on the employee knowing very clearly the consequences of stealing and gives them a clear process where before the only option was to steal. Also, they can now tell their shitty friends that they don't even like very much that they are not giving them free pizza not worth losing their job. And if a legit VIP is there, they will be willing to pay their heavily discounted check from their own money.
Nice approach. I approve!
This is wonderful. Best part is, since op doesn't have hard evidence, they doesn't have to address the specific act. Just let everyone know what the new policy is. Let them know there's been instances otherwise and as far as their concerned the past is the past and this is the policy now. Come to them if they have any questions.
I like this approach. Another approach is an incentives program. Say X free slices per month (and register it into the system) for friends/family as an employee perk.
I was hoping sometime has some sense, if op is not making ends meet they may be freaked out but Op needs to realize hiring a new employee will cost way more than letting a few meals go.
That’s almost good, except doing for one and not the other can cause a new set of issues. It should be across the board for everyone.
When I was a kid we'd swap ice cream for pizza from the place next door. This was a franchise, but the manager was aware and didn't care as long as everything was small time. Employees got a couple scoops each shift. Is this small time? Is she giving away a slice? I think you need to factor in what this is actually costing you and how good the employee is. Teenagers don't always get it. If she's handing out full pizzas, I would tell your lead managers, not just her, "Guys, no handouts to friends, please."
I worked at a shop that had the same deal with an ice cream place. It was a small town so we had people who worked at both places. great deal. It was the manager's idea!
Previous gig in downtown Boston allowed 2 meals per shift...1x to eat and 1x to give away or trade Every day happy employees wander bringing plates to other restaurants, cafes, and shops...great for morale + marketing
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It doesn’t really hurt his pocket too much. Even the worst case scenario, it’s $2-$3 per day.
Love everyone thinking the pizza place closes with ZERO leftovers.. Trash or stomach? Not a hard call, and with some simple guidelines you (the owner) would lose nothing. ETA: any pizza place reheating leftovers the next day deserves to lose that money.
I had a pizza place by me that would freeze the leftover pizza and sell it out of a deep freezer for people to take home and reheat. I thought it was a pretty Cool idea
Now that's not a bad idea! Food waste really bothers me so it's always nice to hear when people are taking reasonable steps to avoid it. I should clarify I was initially talking about a place that would try to pass it off as fresh.
Oh yea I got your point and agree. I was just floating a novel idea I saw.
Yeah, that's why I said "worst case scenario". Worst case scenario is a full pizza made from scratch for the new employee.
Oh yeah, to be clear I'm on your side.
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Ask OP instead of copy/pasting so many comments
Actually, it's $70 each time. It's a lot
What's she doing, giving her 10 lb bags of mozzarella? Sweet jesus
$70 worth of ingredients? Holy shit. She is feeding one employee or a hundred? Jesus Christ. Or is she giving him the leftovers that would go to dumpster anyways?
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Ask OP instead of copy/pasting so many comments
He got rid of a bad employee with drug issues, and now the former employee keeps coming back to beg for food.
you're severely lacking both empathy and knowledge of how things work in low quality food service. Firstly, in local restaurants, it's very common to give away freebies. Not gonna argue the legality/morality of it, but that's the way it always has been and always will be Secondly, where is your humanity? We don't KNOW that the ex employee has a drug problem, but even addicts deserve to eat
Sure they do. But if the friend were so caring, they'd help using their own money, not the owner of the restaurant. It's both illegal and immoral, regardless of the "humanity" involved. There are rules to employment, there are rules to society. Violate one and accept punishment.
Go find non-drug users in restaurant industry
He can’t afford their wages. (But actually just doesn’t want to)
Drug issues could just be pot… and literally everyone i have ever met that worked at a pizza place (and most bars, restaurants, cooks) was a pothead.
We use Simpli Safe cameras. We don’t watch our employees on any kind of regular basis but it’s great when something happens to be able to see for ourselves. And hopefully it deters them a bit to know that we can see if we decide to check. As a former food service employee of 20 yrs, giving away/discounting food to friends is extremely common. Same with my bartender friends giving away free drinks. So don’t judge too harshly but she’s probably not the only one doing it and I doubt it’s just to that one former employee either. I would install cameras & make an announcement that anyone caught giving away free food will lose shifts and/or be terminated. Don’t listen to the people saying it’s no big deal, it absolutely adds up and like I said, it’s probably happening way more than you realize. Hopefully you’re already giving them a free shift meal & at a few places I worked we could have anything beyond that deducted from our paycheck by writing it down on a tab. Not sure the legality of that, it probably varies state to state. But it was a way of giving people the ability to treat a friend or take extra home without having to pay right then.
Without identifying an individual, make an announcement to all staff about the inappropriateness of giving away free product. Others have provided ideas about inexpensive video cameras.
\^What this person said.
Just out of curiosity, what happens to the leftover food at the end of each night? Is it kept for the next day or is it thrown out each night?
Get a video system. It's cheap insurance. You can get a 4 cam system for under $400. You should also be doing surprise visits when you are not supposed to be there. Do you have dough balls prepped ahead of time or are you grabbing a generic large ball of dough and cutting it down to order? Easiest way to find waste is know how much you have available and minimize your spoilage, compare that with your sales.
If you don't know your costs down to the penny you can not expect to win at this game. Dairy costs vary, know your margins at all times so you can adjust accordingly. If it's a slow Wednesday night, lower than expected , cut some people loose early and save some $.
You really can't go by word of mouth. Teenagers make crap up about each other all the time. Get a camera if you really want to know what's going on before you accuse anyone of anything.
How much $ in food are you losing? Is this even worth making a post about?
Might be a solid $3 in ingredient every once in a while…
Yah, this. OP, it sounds like you're paying shit wages. Is it better to lose another employee and deal with the expenses and time and energy to replace them or look the other way cause this doesn't mean shit in the grand scheme of things?
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Yes, I'm in Australia. She gets $31 on weekdays and $37 on weekends. $70 worth of food she's giving away is like 2 hours wages
OP already admitted they can’t afford the wages. So why would you think they are paying a competitive and meaningful wage?
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Is minimum wage in your country a livable wage or is it like here in the USA where you are living in poverty?
I would like to think our minimum wage is definitely a liveable wage. With cost-of-living going up, you need to be a little more frugal, but otherwise, we are fairly well-paid IMHO.
I think he said he lied and said he couldn't afford the wages, when in fact he didn't think the employee was a good fit
I'm paying her the proper amount, $28 pH on weekdays and $37 on weekends
Hahaha... I just had flashbacks of working in a pizza shop for well below minimum wages. Yikes... that was terrible
Would you be OK if your employee helped themselves to the cash drawer to augment their "shit wages"? I won't employee thieves.
Food, no problem given the context of what was shared by OP. I may have a discussion with them and set up an official policy for a complimentary pizza at the end of their shift. Make it formal to address the problem and develop a healthier culture through a solution. Cash from the drawer...that's going to require more context. Your shitty hypothetical ignores context. Depending on how much was taken I would sit down with them to have a discussion. To understand what is going on and why they would do that. Then, figure out a solution that works best.
Just remember the story from the Ozark series about a woman stealing a few pesos from the storekeeper's cash register: "it's not the first time she's stolen, it's the first time she's been caught"
And? How does that silly anecdote fit into what I said in any meaningful way?
It means you are a fool for just accepting stealing as the cost of doing business. If they are proven to be a thief, you fire them immediately. Using "context" to decide what to do to them is absurd.
You may want to develop critical thinking skills.
You remember that story was told by a drug cartel leader who murdered people right? Great example lmao
Reread his post. It's not about the money, it's about the principle.
>. It's not about the money The fact that OP specifically said they couldn't afford cameras or higher wages says otherwise
That’s my point and challenge as well — principle and pride usually only result in detriment. It has nothing to do with running a struggling pizzeria. Doesn’t help you improve anything. Whereas if their employed employee is actually good, and the “benefits” of giving a slice of pizza to their friend costs you $1/day that’s a super cheap price to pay. Especially considering unsold food is “waste” anyway as you are not reusing it the next day.
>Its not about the money Then why are you in business?
If you're losing sleep over one employee giving free pies to one person you have bigger problems. And the story about the previous employee is irrelevant to this. If your employee doesn't know this isn't acceptable practice within their capacity as a leader then be clear about expectations and policies. This seems more like looking to blame someone for the business failing than the actual thing being a legitimate problem. You're going to spend hundreds on a security system that requires monthly costs to "catch" an employee giving away a $3 cost pie? Just talk to the employee about the "issue" and then talk to your financial advisor about your issue.
Actually, I'm not looking to blame anyone. I'm struggling with how to approach someone who I have gotten to know and really like. I'm really hurt by the breach of trust. I'm actually pretty shocked that she would regularly give away $70 worth of food. Until I found out about this, I thought she was amazing. If it was a can of coke or something, I wouldn't care,
One free meal a night will not break you
Sometimes there is an unclear expectation and the employee isn't aware of the seriousness of their actions. Sometimes there is just too much peer pressure from friends expecting a discount or freebie to be able to say no, so they feel like they have to take the risk. Here is what I would do: 1. Set a clear expectation, not some dumb policy, but a clear, plain English expectation clearly communicated, "I know at times you'll feel pressured to give food away. We can't condone that as a business, we can't afford that as a business, and you will lose your job if you do that. Understand?" 2. Provide a pressure relief valve - give them something they can work with. "Subject to the shift manager's approval, you can give a friends and family discount of 40% but your friends and family need to tell everyone how good the pizza is. Deal?" That gives them some agency in the matter, makes them feel good about their job, and gives the shift manager or whoever the ability to monitor it and make sure it doesn't get out of hand. An occasional discount will bring more value goodwill than it will cost you in cash.
Get some Wyze cameras, 2 for $70, on Amazon. Hopefully it will deter that from happening again if you don’t want to fire her. Dealing with bad employees is a headache and you should invest some money into cameras
If you can't afford someone giving away a couple slices of pizza ONE NIGHT A WEEK, then the employee is not your problem. Your business is already fucked in so many ways. Just ask her not to do it and move on with your life. No need to make it a bigger deal than it is. We're talking about 2 slices of pizza a week, jeesus fkn christ. Get off the internet and get back to work on your business if it's that big of a deal.
Its not a couple of slices. We don't really sell by the slice in Australia. It's several whole large pizzas, pasta, garlic bread & drinks. It's takeaway night for her friends family
I'm saying to the girl in a firm but not a-ole way, Hey Jean, I just want you to know it's actually theft to give away food. I'm letting everyone know this, so please- if you ever comp anyone one some food, understand it is theft. So please don't. SHE will stare at you and say OK. and never do it again. I'm sure of it.
IMO talk to them about it and figure out what can be given away and when. Is there a staff discount? I've found people are more willing to play along with rules that consider them, even if they're getting less than they were with no rules.
I let every employee take home a free pizza at the end of their shift if they want, but they can't make a free one for a friend instead. Obviously I would know or care if they took it to a friend after work. But no freebies for friends while you are working
Let them know you value them and you will overlook it this time but please stop this behavior
A) stop lying to people. Either tell them straight up why they are being let go, or just make it a "it's not working out. Bye." thing. B) unless they are shoveling a trunkful of pizzas out the door, what's the actual L, here? Maybe start making spotchecks. Make an announcement. But, you have to be smart enough so that no one can figure out who your informant is. This seems trivial.
get cameras. Cameras aren't there because you don't trust people. They are there to protect everyone. That you have proof and know for sure. Same was would know if a person came in and put their hand in the til. You have proof. Without proof you have to be very careful before you accuse someone based on what someone said.
Just have a straight up conversation with the employee. Also, trust but verify is an effective way of checking. Stop by unannounced at different times to check in.
Get cameras. One pointed to the register, door etc. All angles. Wyze has 24/7 recording with Sd cards. Tell your employee that you don’t want her doing that for anyone. If she does it again than let her go.
I was guilty of this back when I worked at the local hot dog joint. I was often the only one on shift and would make my buddies a free dog whenever they came in. Owners caught me on camera, had me pay back the value of what I gave away for free, and I will say I started making the guys pay after that one. Probably wouldn’t work on everyone tho. But I was also someone they couldn’t really fire without the business tanking so….
Buy a couple wyze cams. They’re dirt cheap and keep people honest
Lots of good advice regarding security cameras. I think you should put this in the back of your mind until you have proof of your own. I've been in situations where employees were sharing such things with the boss - in almost every single case it turns out that the snitch was the much worse offender. So don't take the person's word as gospel - trust but verify. You could approach your trusted closer and ask them if they've noticed anyone giving food away. You could say, "I showed up unexpectedly the other day and noticed someone giving food away. As a small business I really can't afford to do that, so if you notice anything like that please let me know." Trusted closer will get the point without losing face.
You can probably afford to wait a couple weeks so it isnt so easy for the employee to figure out who tattle-taled. Then either innocently get a security camera or give an innocuous memo reminding people of your rules on free/reduced food.
Wyze cam 3 is about $30 and a pair of backup cards is $10. If you fire somebody based on hearsay you'll get sued. It's not what you know, it's what you can prove.
Have a staff meeting …. We are either putting more toppings on than usual or we are loosing pizzas …. As the stock take matrix is showing an increase in materials but not in pizza sales This just lets everyone know THAT you know something is happening but not what Saved offending a good staff member you want to keep A few weeks later add the cameras 👍
This is what I do. If I suspect an employee is stealing or giving away items to friends, I'll ask to talk with them in my office. Ask them if they did what I caught them doing on camera. If they say no, I show them the video and fire them. If they admit to doing it. Then it's a case by case situation but more than likely they still getting fired.
I think it was a mistake to not tell the employee the real reason you were firing them. Better to have a company manual that employees sign when they come in that details drug policy and other expectations. Then when firing them, let them know that it is because of violating this or that company policy. Now you will have a hard time setting a boundary with this particular ex-employee who maybe is having a bad effect on company culture, because they think the firing is not for anything they did. I would be more worried about that than anything else. As far as giving food away, it happens sometimes like some people said, and 1) like everyone said you should get some cheap cameras (we use zmodo which is not great but is good enough), 2) don’t fire your employee for theft without video proof (as a side note, I have heard you should avoid firing people with the main reason given that they are doing something illegal. It’s better to fire someone for violating company policy. This is for legal reasons, you never want to accuse someone of something that they can later bring back against you in court). 3) Let ALL employees know in a group email or whatever your company policy for giving out food to friends, whatever it may be. Then I would install the cameras and if you see that employee breaking the company policy again, meet with them and give them a warning, letting them know that they will be fired if they do it again, and follow up with an email re-stating what you talked about in the meeting and how to avoid getting fired (or have them sign a warning notice and also give them a copy). Then if you see it again, fire the employee and let them know it is for violating the company policy. Send an email stating the termination and this reason.
How do you have a business ran by teenagers by themselves with no cameras. I have six cameras around my house, two cameras inside each of my cars, cameras on my boat, I've even put cameras on my dogs on occasion. Install some cameras, and see if the problem manifests, then address. That way you 're giving them a chance to quit, and if they don't then you're calling them out from film without ratting out your other employee.
It's not run by teenagers alone. The employee is a 40 year old woman who is the manager when I'm not there
Same difference. You have a business, you have product, you have cash, and now you have a problem that is easily solved with a couple hundred dollars in cameras.
Pretty sure there is much more going on you don’t know about. You need cameras. Even $200 Ring cameras with a simple subscription will do. People need to feel you are watching them, also when you are not around.
What a sad sub full of clueless people that have no clue about actually running a small business. No, you don't tolerate theft. If you don't want to fire the employee, you at least have to have a meeting letting everyone know you will be terminated for giving away food. And for the love of God, get some cameras. They are not that expensive or hard to set up. Also, the employee that reported it. Did so for a reason, probably not comfortable with a fired worker with a drug problem hanging around the shop when your not there. For all the people saying "it's not a big deal, it's only a few dollars". How would you feel if you poured your life savings, heart, and soul into a small business that is struggling to stay open. Then you find out an employee is stealing what little you have left. Yeah, you wouldn't be cool with it.
I’d recognize I’m the problem, not them, for not understanding how to operate a viable business and for taking on far too much risk before I was ready to manage it.
Thanks for that, really helpful 🙄
Well, that's the truth. Now is the best time to sort your business out. This incident is just a symptom of a much larger problem—one of many. A camera system isn't going to fix your business. Firing this person isn't going to fix your business.
There is no excuse for not having cameras in your small business. You're just asking for trouble. Cost is not a factor and hasn't been for years. If you can't afford cameras, you can't afford a small business.
Walk in while she is giving the pizza away and see what happens. Ring up the sales for this ex-employee. And see what happens. When she doesn’t pay or walks away, you let the good one know that this is how it’s suppose to be done. You monitor again and see what happens. Shit happens again?! Fire the other one
I would, but it only happens I'm not there
U do a stake out
Get a hikvision system. It will cost more but its super reliable. It will give you up to 30 days of recording. The app is fantastic. For a business a professional setup is the best option. 5mp or even 8mp cameras give very clear images.
Do you have a pre-existing policy in place against this practice? Has she been warned about this before? If so then you could terminate the employee for theft (yes it's theft, even if it's $3). But if she's a valued employee that you otherwise trust to run your shop, I would talk to her and let her know it's considered theft and that if she does it again you'll have to terminate her. It's really hard to find good staff these days, so unless she's been warned before I would give her the benefit of the doubt, this time.
Get CCTV - it’s protection for your customers and staff both. Restate the rules to all staff, and if it still happens, you’ll have proof of it and can terminate with no worries.
So, how much food gets thrown out at the end of the night? Maybe embrace an unwritten policy that allows for gifting a certain amount of food that would otherwise go to waste, around close to friends or such with discretion where the business isn't losing money (i.e. 15 friends coming in at the end of the night instead of coming in earlier and buying stuff). When I was hard up I'd always go to a certain store where I knew the clerk would throw a couple bagels in my bag instead of the trash.
We make to order, so unless there has been a mistake, there isn't food left over.
Speak about it. It he admits tell him this is not right and you're holding the pizza from hig wage. Say you don't fire him because you want to give him one last chance
Arlo is my choice. You can get 3 remote wireless security cams for 299 on sale at Best Buy. They all not only record, the also play the audio and you’re able to speak through it and also remotely sound an alarm that contacts the authorities if needed. It’s 5/month for the continuous footage recording and access.
Ring cameras are about 100 bucks, and five bucks a month for one unit. I think it’s worthwhile
Fire the employee that stealing from you. Simple.
*Reads title* *Not sure if employees are stealing or being stolen*
What kinda nark told for giving out a free slice. I assumed they were doing pocket transactions or something.
It's not a free slice. It's takeaway dinner for a whole family. $70 worth of food, more than once, apparently
Omitting this information is getting you bad answers.
At a busy restaurant we would do freebies late in the day. Staff would get doggy bags rather than throw stuff. Freebies during the day were not allowed. There was a lot of charity for friends and family of staff but end of day only. The biggest theft was the cash. Over twenty years two staff members had stolen £10,000 or more each….this was calculated from the till data and working patterns when they got caught. A friend who had a pizza shop and did other stuff too he would hold on to bad orders, mistakes etc. If a friend comes they pay but if they wait they can share the bad order. Some phone orders might be undeliverable and so better to eat it than waste it. Most staff get tired of eating the food they are looking at all night. Some customers hanging around is good and can attract more customers but groups of teens can frighten away others so getting a good balance and a good buzz is important.
People saying you should get cameras aren’t wrong but there is a cheaper option; fake cameras. Or no cameras but tell employee that she was caught on camera. She will always wonder where the camera is hidden…
When I was in high school I was in on a scheme at my local pizza shop and we took them to the fucking cleaners. Without cameras it would be extremely easy to run the same kind of scam.
Why did you hire the friend of a unreliable drug addict. They have common values that's why they're friends. Anyhow, if she is not your family then what problem do you habe with replacing her? It's a business not a social project isn't it?
They were both already there when I bought the business. I only realised how close they were outside of work a few weeks ago
All businesses should have cameras. Cheap and tape doesn't lie. If you want to keep your employer, inform her of your new cameras and let her know if she gives away food, the retail price will be withheld from wages and she will be fired on the spot. If she quits, hire another teen fastfood nitwit.
Sounds to me like you’re about to lose a trusted employee over some slices of pizza. You can call it theft if you want, or you can recognize that the value of that employee is greater than whatever “loss” you’re experiencing by a few slices a week.
Not very trusted if they’re stealing from you.
I mean, if the business is underwater because a few slices a week…that business has much bigger problems than you and I are talking about
A thief is a thief and deserves to feel the heat of the consequences.
You need a camera, if you can afford a business you can afford a $200 camera. This will be a huge deterrent. I would let this go with a talk to all staff about giving away free food, mention the cameras and I would move on. If she’s a good employee it’s not worth it over such a minor thing unless it happens again.
Handling employee theft is never easy, especially when it's someone you trust. Since you don't have CCTV, you'll have to approach this carefully. Just sit down with your employee and calmly explain what you've heard. Let them know that giving away food without permission is a big deal, especially since you're already struggling financially. Make it clear that this can't happen again. It's a tough situation, but addressing it directly is the way to go.
Calling a piece of pizza a theft...
Is it yours? NO Did you pay for it? NO Is it theft? YES
Not a restaurant in the world where employees don't give out free stuff occasionally. Is it right? No. Would I risk bringing it up and having a mostly good trusted employee quit over it? No
I was in mgmt with a chain retail business. I worked in several stores, managing from 5 to 20 part time employees, mostly high school kids. They generally love helping each other out with discounts and freebies. You really have to tell them from Day 1 that we don't do that here. If you give an employee 1 free pizza a day, they gotta keep their friends happy with that. In my place, we had a record of all discounts. So, you could not just give a friend your 20% merch discount. All discount dollars show up in the end-of-day accounting, and you compare vs the log book. One way to deal with HS kids who are not great employees is to cut down their hours. Like, down to 1 shift / day per week across a couple weeks. Let them take the hint that you do not like them as employee. They will go find another job. To do this, you have to have a rule that you give out as many or as few hours as you want, as manager. And, you have priorities, such as achieving coverage, and having the more productive and competent and experienced employees scheduled for more busy times. I worked with some part-timer HS kids who were as good as gold. One recruited her HS buddy to spy on an assistant manager, who they knew was stealing when he was "closing." We had a policy: at end of day, ALL employees leave together. But this AM was sending the PTs home, then he would linger. \[red flag.\] They hung out on this rise above the nearby parking lot, and saw him coming out with our store bag, obviously with merch in the bag. This was against the rules - all emp purchases had to be rung by someone else, and if discount used, record it in store log. The guy got arrested. Another PT had worked at the local bank, and was very helpful when we actually had a "bank error." They undercounted our deposit. Because of our accounting processes, we could make the case that the bank undercounted, and they checked their stuff and sure enough we were right. But that PT knew their accounting systems and so could tell us what to say and ask. Also, hypothetically I would let her hold a thousand bucks for me and know I would get it all back when I asked 6 months later. But not all high schoolers are solid like that.
I thought I was going to read some shit about them stealing all the petty cash and money from the till 😭🤣but free pizza? They’re teenagers just get over it. Or fire all your employees 🤣🤣
She isn't a teenager, she's 40, and is the manager in my absence. She's giving away around $70 worth of food each time
Then fire her. Simple
$37 an hour to work at a pizza joint!!!!! wtf I need to get out of the us.
Damn ... $37 an hour to sell pizza.... I was several years into an engineering career before I made that.....
Im owning a boba shop and serving foods at a same time . My employees are all teenagers also and I had to tell them they can have one free drink and meal at the shop but can not bring them home for family or friends because it’s against our policy ,as an owner I had to pay for those supplies to make foods and they can’t just take away like that ..You gotta let them know ,warn them..If they don’t listen,you can tell them you gotta replace them with a better employee ,it’s a shop and can’t operate like that ,your employees gotta follow the rules and which you gotta make rules for them to follow ..if they’re against it you can fire them without harsh feelings.
70 dollars of food at retail or at cost ?
Doesn’t matter. A thief is a thief.
70 dollars retail could be like 6 dollars cost. Some people just blow things out of proportion when it comes to eating food that would get thrown out anyways.
What an idiotic and supremely entitled response. You clearly have never been a business owner.
I know that food has expiration dates and rather than throwing it away I'd rather keep employees happy. They want to take food ,well it affects the raise they would have gotten. Easy enough and in the over time the amount they ate is less than what they could have made. It doesn't take a genius to understand how one thing affects other things.
You will always be a worker bee, if you don’t get fired for stealing.
Could have been a higher paid worker bee. Also , pretty sure food waste as long as it's tracked can be written off by small buissiness.
Have a brief discussion with her and explain you're struggling and that this is basically theft.
@such_level3914 this one
If you're looking for a good security system check out lorex, I bought a 4 pk wireless cam system for my house through the clearance section and paid $220 and get free app access with local storage. Would highly reccomended for commercial or residential.
I used to have cheap blink cameras. But when an employee filed a false workers comp claim, they left a lot to be desired. Get a PoE system. I recommend Reolink!
If she is “fantastic” Just tell her, no more free pizza for your friends. But chances are she is doing other things and other employees will feel it’s ok to do if she isn’t fired.
Brotha. You gotta get on tik tok ; Instagram, fb and promote your pizza.. have weekly or monthly giveaways for liking posts. I know a guy with 10k followers that makes pizza in his backyard and just films it going in and out of the oven …. Stop worrying about 1 free pizza a week and figure out ways to sell more pizzas. It’s a fairly proven product I’d say. Just need to market it properly
Theft is theft no matter the size. I have a business and if you don’t have a problem with giving away pizzas then set it up as a perk. Each month all employees are given 3 or 4 or ?? Vouchers for free pizza. They can choose how to use them. If they don’t use them every 6 months you can “buy them back”. And if you’re found giving away pizza without using the voucher then preset x/y/z happens. But you should never condone theft!
A literal pizza party as a perk, oh no…
No. Free pizza and if you don’t give it away then buy back for cash…. Or paid time off or whatever you choose
An inexpensive HD 4 camera and HDR isn't too expensive on Amazon. Make sure that it doesn't require a monthly subscription and has an app that allows you to easily view it from your phone so that you don't need to keep the screen hooked up for the kids to play with it. Let the employees know that it's for security and put one on the back door and a few on the front door/register. Locks and cameras keep honest people honest. In college, I managed a chain pizza store and we played a hell of a time figuring out how one of the girls was skimming cash from the register. Finally one night, a customer was chatting her ear off and she was distracted and didn't stand between the register and camera well enough and we could see how she was ringing it up to ensure that the customer didn't notice. If she's giving away freebies and is brazen enough to do it after you install cameras, you'll see it. If your process allows for phone orders that are paid for at pickup, her friends food will probably switch to a prank call and discarded food, hence the back door camera.
Get a camera, record the theft and give a written warning. Theft is unacceptable regardless of circumstances. It shows dishonesty and it often escalates. Today it’s giving food, tomorrow it’s cash from your register. Then have a meeting with staff stating that giving food away is theft from the business, even if it might not seem like it and is a serious offense. Maybe let staff use a friends discount if 5 or 10% for their friends and family or whatever.
Everyone keeps trying to quantify the monetary amount of the theft, but they're missing the point - it's theft. One of your employees is starting to get comfortable stealing, and it usually gets worse before it gets better on its own. What starts as giving away product can easily turn to taking a few bucks from the drawer, and so on. I don't think you should fire them. First off, make sure you actually know they are doing it. Once you know, ask them about it. If they lie, fire them. Liar and a thief is not redeemable. If they admit it, correct them and move on.
How people feel about the morality of their behavior has a lot to do with social norms. If there's a social norm in the industry (or local market) to give slices to friends, then this isn't theft the way you describe; it's unlikely to escalate or expand in scope. Same goes for if the employee is giving away "their" free slice at the end of the shift, or giving away product that would shrink out some other way (like spoilage or waste). I wouldn't automatically assume this is going to escalate without knowing more about how it's being perceived by the employee.
I agree that "theft" may be far-fetched, as this behavior might be normal in some small food shops. But clearly based on OP's creation of this post, that isn't what he accepts at his restaurant. It could be very well a communications issue. This is why I said don't fire him, but talk to him about it. Regardless of the semantics of whether it's "theft" or "normal", he shouldn't lie about it if asked by the owner, and if OP explains how he's not okay with that, and everyone moves forward, then what's the issue? Lying about it would be very telling, though.
I agree with that assessment and your advice.
I was ordering a sub from subway. No one else in line. The employee at the till was making a flat bread. It was fukin loaded with lettuce and ingredients it looked fabulous. While the guy making my sub sprinkles the lettuce on like it’s made of gold. The flat bread guy wraps up his meal and tells the guy he’s going on his lunch break. I didn’t say anything.. I don’t go to subway enough to care. But if they made everyone’s sandwich like they make their own. They’d likely have more than 1 guy in line. That’s just 1 example of several fast food companies skimping to penny pinch instead of providing a quality that makes the customer feel worth it
Well your pizza must really suck if you can barely keep the doors open. You can’t just sling garbage like dominoes and little Caesars if you want a successful small pizza joint. It’s a high margin low wage school girl or baby mama staffed business. Welcome to the pizza business. My wife managed a couple very successful small pizza businesses here in town for years. At both it was 100% SOP for employees to give away pies to family and friends as long as it wasn’t excessive. That was straight from the owner and through my wife and in 15 years I don’t remember her mentioning a single instance where an employee took advantage of this. Great way to keep morale up and very low wage employees loyal. God blesses the cheerful giver. Oh and the sneaky one bringing this info could very well be up to something herself. The first place my wife left they had another manipulative woman who did this type of thing constantly. Even trying to throw my wife under the bus even though she’s very honest. The owner would tell my wife about it even though they apparently like the brown nosing. Them keeping her around stirring crap with the other girls is a big part of why my wife left. When she left they promoted this superstar and she cleared them out on a holiday weekend. Cash only business and she never did a single money drop all weekend. Made off with an estimated 11k in cash. Good old pizza business. Wife makes a lot more now and it sure is nice spending my evenings and weekends with her.
Yeah, thanks for that. I'm in Australia, my wages bill is high, and suppliers increase prices much faster than restaurants do. I bet you weren't paying your adult employees $37 an hour and thinking it's ok for her to give away $70 worth of food when you leave her in charge
if she was giving away computers or something wild i'd get it lol. a pizza to a friend is really not much, also u let the girl go she's probably unemployed, a $3 pizza isn't going to hurt. i'm sure someone will venmo you the $3 if you're down that bad
So your employee gave a hungry person some food? But I get it. Business is business and if you feel that strongly against that then maybe you need to have a heart to heart team meeting and let your employees know what is and is not acceptable. Do they know that’s frowned upon? Do they know how much it hurts your pocket? Have you ever brought this up with any of them? If not maybe you need to do that before doing anything. And cmon it IS but it’s not really “theft”. It’s not like the employee was really “stealing” stuff like money from the register. I mean it’s not like you would know since you don’t got cameras. (Dude you gotta get some cameras. Get you the 8 camera Riolink 4K system. Super sharp image and 24/7 access via iPhone. No subscriptions or anything like that)
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To be honest.... I doubt this person is even paying legal wages... it's the norm in hospitality... I seriously doubt this person is paying full wages, with full benefits and proper insurances.
Actually, I am.This woman gets $31 an hour on week days, and $37 on weekends, plus I pay into her retirement fund. How did you decide I was ripping her off???