Colleague stealing

There could be an innocent explanation - an arrangement with the boss that you were unaware of, but whatever the cause - whether it is £500, £5,000, or £5 your boss needs to trust his staff and by covering up a possible theft you are letting him down. Furthermore, if it is a case of theft, the culprit, having got away with it once, will continue doing it.
Why are you concerned about shopping a thief? Do you think he will retaliate against you? All you have to say to the boss is that you cannot trace what happened to such and such stock, then it is in his hands.

Ive only just seen this so i hope by now youve got this sorted out- yes i would have said i thought id miscalculated and got the boss to recheck,then it would be up to him,or else you may have been in trouble for not saying anything if it did come to light,surely you wouldnt have to relate the whole overhearing thing? Im sure your boss could work it out for himself from the invoice etc who is to blame? I dont imagine hes stupid by a long shot so he may even have an eye on this person himself already,due to past behaviour,but if you tell him some is 'miscalculated' then he can take it from there,as the boss,and at least he knows youre not 'in on it' with that person.Let us know how you get on, grannyben.

If you don't mention this because it probably won't be noticed, then the person who is stealing may well feel bold enough to keep on until it is. You may well then have a situation where you will be asked why you hadn't noticed. It's not a good place to be I really do know what you are feeling as once I had to 'report' something a colleague had said purely because if I didn't someone else would have done so and they were raring to make it all a lot worse - I got in first and attempted to make it quite low key. The thing is you do know - and with that knowledge I can't see you have any real choice but to speak up, for the company and for yourself.

It could just be a complete mistake(customer could have taken more when they collected?or some such?)But then if there is a reason,its up to the boss to find out why,then its up to him to listen to the persons excuse/reason,if there is one,and act accordingly.

You'd have more to worry about if you noticed and didn't speak up!!! Might even implicate you. You like your job and your clean record, don't you?

I’m hoping you’ve resolved this and spoken to your boss by now.
However, just wanted to say I disagree with the advice upthread about notifying your colleague first to give them a chance to put it right. If they are deliberately thieving, there’s every chance that knowing you have sussed them, they could notify the boss first and alter records to make it look like you’d done it. ?

deep breath, courage and do what you know you must. Keep it factual - produce figures and leave it to the boss.What's not to say it isn't just a mistake? no harm done. And if it is - this individual may be base enough to try and implicate someone else including you in any theft.
Let us know how you get on and big

Why worry? You haven't taken the unaccounted for/missing stock and I should think that any employer would be pleased to have vigilant staff.
If the boss knows about it but has omitted to inform stock control, then it's a failing on his part.
Whether it's £500, £5k or £500k, it all matters.

Grannyben

Have no doubt. You are doing the right thing. Not speaking out is covering for a thief and you don't want that on your conscience...do you?

Many years ago I was in a similar position when a member of my staff told me that in effect someone else was fiddling expenses. I was told this in a sort of jokey way whilst having a drink in the local pub. As manager I was also aware of immense difficulties this person was under at the time. I agonised over this and whether to take it any further but then decided that the person who told me was likely to tell others (which she was as she didn't see it as such a big deal) then I had no option but to report it up the chain of command. I did not want to be accused at some future date of condoning such behaviour and of course it was dishonest. Report it otherwise you're not doing the job you're being paid for.

I hope you've managed to sort this. What a horrible position to be in. Difficult as it is you must report your suspicions to the boss. Knowing about it and not saying anything could cause you even more stress and worry.
Be brave - you know it's the right thing to do, which isn't always the easiest thing to do.

Tell your employer asap. You have a duty to do that before any other consideration. If there is an acceptable explanation your employer will still recognise your loyalty to him and the business. And that is right.

Whatever you do, do not mention any of this to the suspected person. What a daft suggestion.

You must tell the boss though. He will be very grateful that you have brought it to his attention.

It sounds to me as if your colleague is running a scam, relying on the fact that no-one will be likely to notice. He will go on unless he is stopped, and he might even be able to implicate you or some other innocent person, so please, do speak up now, without mentioning who you suspect.

I hope it all went well this morning, it was the right thing to do ....

You need to do your job and no more. It is the correct thing to do to tell your employer of the discrepancy regardless of the causality. Anything else is down to him. Try not to worry about this.

good luck. Let us know how you get on and what the outcome is.

Today, it has come to my attention that there is about £500 of stock missing........^I know I must speak to my employer tomorrow, it is the right thing to do^

Whether or not, it's the 'right' thing to do, depends on your role within the company. To begin with, unless there's due diligence, employers cannot act on mere suspicions. Someone's job and livelihood could be at stake here and there are also legal implications.

If your job responsibility is to report a discrepancy, then by all means, proceed under company guidelines (albeit small businesses often lack clear policies). Your employer will take it from there.

Having said that, I would not escalate without investigating the matter further. It could be an accounting error, misplaced inventory, a delayed sales report, etc.

My son worked at a builders supplier and some people would arrive and load up and pay cash to one of the workers for goods at a very reduced rate. This is theft and can put small companies out of business.

Have you resolved it Grannyben?
As other posters say, you do need to say something, and the checking your calculations seems a good way to do it.

Your employer sounds like he is a decent enough person to be told, it may be £500 now but if the person gets away with it it will be more next time. Whistleblowing is hard but if done properly will not come down on you but will save someone who sounds like a good boss a lot of money

I've just come online and seen that so many of you have taken the time to respond, thank you so very much. I've been at work all day and then out for a birthday tea.
Well, I had a terrible night, I spent hours rehearsing what I was going to say and then it all went to pot when I got in there. In I went, burst into tears (sleepless night and anxiety aren't a good combination for me) and then we say down and had a good chat about my suspicions. As I expected, my employer was very supportive and told me no amount of lost stock is worth me getting into a state over.
He is fully aware of all the details and we left it at that. If the employee departs i will obviously know why, otherwise I know he won't discuss the matter with me any further.
I'm hoping for a good night's sleep now but I am so very grateful to you all, your support means so much , particularly when you are on your own.

Well done Grannyben! It can't have been easy but I believe you did the right thing.

Grannyben, now you have told your employer, it's up to him to decide the next course of action.
Try and forget about what's happened, ( not easy, I know) and get a good sleep. You must be exhausted.
Tomorrow is a new day. You haven't done anything wrong.?

Well done Grannyben, for screwing up the courage to speak to your boss. Now have a decent night's sleep. Night, night, sleep tight.