Hmm...OK have read all the thread. .

Is it Ok to search staff? Well, depressingly, you've probably had to sign an agreement that allows them to do it, so yes - if they want to, they can.

*Should* they do it, on a more-than-occasional basis? My view is, that unless management has a strong, nay very strong, reason to think said employee is stealing from the business, no they shouldn't.

Very regular staff searching indicates profound management insecurity, inefficient targeting - the general public contains more villains than ever the staff will throw up, assuming that you have been proper about your recruiting and have managed to weed out the more obviously light-fingered ones before they get near the sales floor.

What you need to do is build in a culture where people stealing from the firm is seen by those on the front-line as "stealing from us". "Us" meaning the business, of course.

It *can* be done, but only by management fostering a family-centred, concerned and employee-valuing culture within the business, something which almost no major retail chain even bothers with these days.

It is seen as too wimpy, anaemic and not macho enough for the lazy, pre-programmed, male-oriented, uncultured and stupid people (generally with worthless degrees) who inhabit British middle-management these days. Wonder why we're facing a total loss of manufacturing industry? Or why Britain will be the last, the very last country to climb out of the W-shaped depression?

Would the final British retail manager who believes in his or her staff, please turn off the lights as you leave?