A confession: I have a criminal past. However, I take some solace in the knowledge I am evidently not the only one. A recent report by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) into workplace fraud found just under half of the organisations they questioned reported they had been victims of fraud.
While working in my first job after graduating, I yielded to temptation. Surviving on a salary so low I was never sure if I was actually a volunteer, making ends meet was often a struggle. However, this Dickensian lifestyle would be sporadically punctuated by the arrival of a gratis toilet roll, teabag or lightbulb care of The Man. I saw this more as a monthly supplement rather than organised crime.
I have a hunch that a lot of the fraud reported by the CMI is of a similar nature - stealing the odd pen, notepad and envelope is seen by some as a perk of the job. Blurring the boundaries somewhat further are the accountants and advertising executives who claim their Friday night drinks on expenses as "client entertainment". Similarly the boss who arranges "team building" sessions with his minions. All for the benefit of the company, of course.
Putting an end to such abuses is a delicate matter. Petra Wilton, director of policy and research at the CMI, advises: "Employers need to highlight the impact that fraud can have on individuals and the business. Failure to do so means that organisations run the risk of stifling employees if they believe they are being watched by Big Brother."
So where does bending the rules end and fraud begin - should businesses accept low-level embezzlement as a necessary evil for a happy workforce? Or is stealing a pack of Biros the first step towards the marketing budget ending up in an account in the Cayman Islands?
