Workplace Theft Investigations

Workplace theft investigations exist because shrinkage is often a person with a method, not a mystery in the stockroom. Cash, product, tools, data, and customer lists leave through receiving, returns, cleaning crews, and trusted supervisors. Investigations Plus builds a fact pattern employers and insurers can act on: who, how, when, and what proof will survive a grievance or a criminal complaint.

When this service is the right file

• Inventory variance concentrates on certain shifts, SKUs, or back doors.
• Refunds, voids, or customer walk-outs spike around one terminal or one employee.
• High-value tools or copper keep leaving a job site.
• A vendor relationship looks too friendly and the prices never get bid.
• You already have a suspect and need corroboration before termination.

How the investigation is done

We review exception reports, camera placement, key control, and who actually has access — not the org chart, the real access. Fieldwork may include surveillance of exits, recovery of discarded packaging, customer or contractor covers, and targeted interviews once the evidence is strong enough that interviews will not destroy the file. We look for fences, vehicles loaded at close, and collusion between inside and outside people. Digital traces (badge logs, POS, GPS on fleet) are pulled through the client’s own systems, not by hacking.

What you receive

• Loss timeline tied to people and access
• Surveillance of removal or hand-off
• Document and POS exception analysis
• Interview notes after the covert phase
• A package suitable for HR, insurer, or police

Legal and ethical limits

Detaining staff, searching lockers, or secretly recording in prohibited areas can wreck the case and create liability. We plan searches and interviews with employment counsel. PSISA and the Criminal Code apply. Restitution conversations should wait until the proof is in hand. We do not shame employees on the floor.

Who typically retains this work

Retail, construction, warehousing, hospitality, and professional offices. Insurers also retain us when an employee-dishonesty bond is in play.

Where we handle these files

Ontario workplaces first, including multi-site operators. Other Canadian locations are covered by travel when the same theft ring crosses a provincial line.

Related services

These investigations are often used together. Open any service to see how we handle it.

• Corporate Undercover Surveillance
• Employment Checks
• Surveillance

If you already know someone is stealing and cannot prove who, do not announce a witch hunt. Get a confidential investigative plan that protects honest staff and the company.

Typical fact patterns

Inventory variance concentrates on certain shifts, SKUs, or back doors. Refunds, voids, or customer walk-outs spike around one terminal or one employee. High-value tools or copper keep leaving a job site. A vendor relationship looks too friendly and the prices never get bid. You already have a suspect and need corroboration before termination.

Deliverables in practice

Loss timeline tied to people and access Surveillance of removal or hand-off Document and POS exception analysis Interview notes after the covert phase A package suitable for HR, insurer, or police We review exception reports, camera placement, key control, and who actually has access — not the org chart, the real access. Fieldwork may include surveillance of exits, recovery of discarded packaging, customer or contractor covers, and targeted interviews once the evidence is strong enough that interviews will not destroy the file. We look for fences, vehicles loaded at close, and collusion between inside and outside people. Digital traces (badge logs, POS, GPS on fleet) are pulled through the client’s own systems, not by hacking.

Retail, construction, warehousing, hospitality, and professional offices. Insurers also retain us when an employee-dishonesty bond is in play. Ontario workplaces first, including multi-site operators. Other Canadian locations are covered by travel when the same theft ring crosses a provincial line.

If you already know someone is stealing and cannot prove who, do not announce a witch hunt. Get a confidential investigative plan that protects honest staff and the company. Detaining staff, searching lockers, or secretly recording in prohibited areas can wreck the case and create liability. We plan searches and interviews with employment counsel. PSISA and the Criminal Code apply. Restitution conversations should wait until the proof is in hand. We do not shame employees on the floor.

Workplace theft investigations exist because shrinkage is often a person with a method, not a mystery in the stockroom. Cash, product, tools, data, and customer lists leave through receiving, returns, cleaning crews, and trusted supervisors. Investigations Plus builds a fact pattern employers and insurers can act on: who, how, when, and what proof will survive a grievance or a criminal complaint. If you already know someone is stealing and cannot prove who, do not announce a witch hunt. Get a confidential investigative plan that protects honest staff and the company.