Employee theft in the restaurant trade: Forms of ripping off by waiters at work

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
[The work setting in recent years has provided a fertile site for studies of deviant behavior.] The variety of part-time theft techniques used by waiters in the restaurant trade is examined using a self-report methodology. Using 12 hypothetical cases of ripping off in restaurants, 3 potential theft targets are assessed: the restaurant, customers of the restaurant and co-workers. Predictions about the frequency of involvement of these theft activities are tested using a sample of waiters in 4 "prime rib" restaurants. Hypotheses dealing with working conditions and the ability to neutralize moral controls against theft are presented to explain which waiters wil be involved in employee theft. The theoretical implications of amateur trading and pecuniary-based theft are developed in order to show the critical role that theft activities play in the work setting of the restaurant. Findings have implications for a controlled larceny solution to the problem of employee theft.