Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am the owner of a family business where my daughter  has been employed for 6 years & is administer & in charge of finances. Her husband & my son came to work 18 months ago.  I just discovered that she has been using the company credit cards to write off her personal family expenses & taking some cash out of the daily cash deposits for the past several years. She has admitted to this & is remorseful & wants to repay the debt. Should I forgive & allow her to pay & remain?

In my persona opinion, I would not allow her to run the business or be apart of it in any manner.  Stealing is stealing and doing this for several years is not only illegal and a major criminal offense, but a major break of trust.  What is a person worth if you can not trust them.  A family member may have some level of felxibility but to steal out right and for several years.  I don`t care who you are my personal opinion would be have her repay the loan/missing money and not have her run the business.  Fro any bad deed there must be a punishment.

 Sorry to hear that.... However I say yes you should take the money back because the business must go on. But allowing her to work beside you is another thing you would have to ask your self do you really want to go down this road again because no matter what happens at work that’s similar you will automatically think she had some thing to do with it. So to save your self the extra stress and to try to save the relationship between the two you might want to think in to it. BEST WISHES

If she wasn`t family, what would you do??? I`d do what I would do with any employee caught stealing.  I wouldn`t give her a good recommendation, either and pretend it didn`t happen.  She made the bed, now she has to lie in it and deal with the fact that she can`t be trusted.  If you give her a letter of recommendation for another job and she does the same there, you could be held liable.  I love what Doctor Phil says, "What`s the best predictor of future behavior?  Past behavior!"  People can change and she probably will, but she can`t expect the person she stole from to make it all better for her now.  She`s lost your trust and it takes time to build that back.

If she needed more money, it`s odd that she didn`t just ask for it.  If the next job doesn`t pay her enough will she feel justified in doing the same thing?  She`s a pro at it now, apparently.  I`m sorry this happend, but you need to do the right thing and let her do the right thing.  That`s how people learn unforgettable lessons. 

JMHO

~Kim

I agree.  Yes, require her to repay the debt.  Treat it like you would treat it if she wasn`t family.  "I love you, I forgive you, I want to maintain a great relationship with you, but you will have to find employment elsewhere."

In the long run, our kids want us to be moral role models.  What would you tell her if she was in the same situation?

Ouch, that hurts.

The bigger question that I see is how was your daughter able to get away with this?  Your business might be missing some basic financial controls.  No matter what you decide to do about this situation, discuss the theft with an accountant or consultant and figure out how to prevent this again in the future.  There are many innovative ways to fit any business. No matter how small.

As far as your daughter goes, personally, I would be willing to give her another chance as long as the financial controls and additional supervision were in place unless she had a long history of drub abuse or dishonesty.  But as you can see from the other responses, this is a touchy subject and my opinion is in the minority. 

Financial controls are not foolproof (Enron, Worldcom, etc.) so it really depends on the people involved.

Good luck!