For the most part, employment law in California is extremely friendly to workers. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as historically, employers have a lot of power over the lives and outcomes of their workers. At the same time, employees can’t act with impunity either and can face significant consequences.
California has specific rules and examples outlining dishonesty and other forms of employee misconduct, such as:
Lies
Making a false statement is a crime under oath in a court of law, but elsewhere things are a little fuzzier. An employee who is less than honest with an employer about personal affairs is almost an expectation. However, if that dishonesty impacts your business, that’s a different matter. These can be such instances as:
- Misreporting hours
- Falsifying customer complaints
- Altering vital company records
- Dishonesty about qualifications
These actions can damage your business and, as such, are classified as misconduct under the law.
Theft
Misappropriated – or outright stolen – company property constitutes evidence of misconduct. To ensure you can identify and track such instances, you must keep strict records of reported thefts and losses to your inventory.
Cash shortages
Most employers discover misconduct in the review of records of transactions and payments. If you are consistently finding drawers short based on the end-of-day count, you may need to take additional actions.
Abetting
The fact is, hiding some sort of misconduct is often difficult to do alone. If you have suspicions or evidence that several of your employees are colluding to hurt your business, you have options.
Taking care with your actions
You must be wary of taking any action against your employee unless you have certain proof. It is best to speak with a skilled employment lawyer to ensure that your evidence of misconduct can withstand any challenge.