The Top 10 List! Why Do Employees Steal Time?
10. They Feel Entitled To It: Believe it or not, most employees view themselves as hard workers. They feel they are doing the company a great service by showing up everyday and doing their 8 hours. If they show up 10 minutes late, want to take an early break, or sneak out of work most do not view this as “bad”. They feel because they work so hard and simply do their job, stealing 20-30 minutes a shift won’t hurt the bottom-line (the average employee steals 54 minutes EVERY 8 hour shift).
9. Best Friends At Work: Friends go to great lengths for each other, including signing in and out for their friends at work. Every organization has people who cover for each other. They view this as a favor, not theft. They steal time to help one another.
8. Fear of Losing Their Job: Some employees actually steal time out of fear for losing their position. Many employees have stated they fudged their timecard or never reported their absence out of fear if the boss found out, they would be fired. So instead of being honest, they just decided to steal time. Employees who fear for their job will never admit wrongdoing, including showing up to work late.
7. Have to Pay The Bills: Employees steal time for the most obvious reason out there: they want money! Employees don’t want to lose a single dime from their checks even if they don’t really deserve it. Some employees intentionally work OT, arrive to work 20 minutes early, leave late, etc. Anything they can do to rack up time so they can get a bigger paycheck at the business expense.
6. Anger and Revenge: Some employees steal time to “stick it” to their company. Angry employees are obviously not good ones. Some are smart enough to know they can’t steal supplies or cause damage, so they just steal time to get as much money before they leave. Employees have admitted taking advantage of time and attendance systems to steal time in order to drain the resources of the company.
5. Human Error and Incompetence: You know the saying, “I am human”. This means human beings make mistakes. They read the schedule wrong and show up to work when they are not supposed to. Some employees have reported they simply didn’t know how to use the companies time keeping system correctly and would rack up hours. Also, some people have very bad handwriting, not familar with technology, etc. Human error and incompetence cause for huge losses.
4. The “Egomaniac” Mentality: Employees have admitted they steal time to prove they are smarter than their boss. They have also reported they steal time to prove to their co-workers they are untouchable. There was once a report done that compared employees to children, from the standpoint they constantly test the boundaries of what they can and cannot get away with. Some employees steal time to prove to their piers and themselves they are the smartest one in the room.
3. Peer Pressure: This is a very common reason among employees to why they steal time. Not only do they have friends at work, but, more employees help others to simply impress them. No one wants to be the outsider, and more employees have admitted to helping or simply not saying anything about employees who steal time just to get along or try to cement friendships. This occurs more so to new employees trying to fit in and find their way.
2. Inadequate Management: A big reason employee steal time is they report when they try to record their time, it doesn’t work. Employees report frustration when they want to record their time but the system is down, a punchcard is missing, or the time sheet is outdated or missing. They get upset with management and steal time, or forecast hours in fear it might not work the next day.
