Today shortage in the store - one of the few situations of unpleasant impact, which has a significant impact on the attitude of the employer directly to its employees. A violation of such a plan is the difference between the real value of the products, which is recorded in the accounting documentation, and the actual, current at a given time. To date, two of the most common methods for identifying shortages are known. First, retail pricing; secondly, calculation in accordance with the purchase price. It is important to add that in both cases shortage in the store calculated in cash. By the way, this does not depend at all on what exactly was lost: a specific amount of money or goods.
Reasons for shortage in the store and their classification
The main nuisance in relation to the situation considered in the article for the employer is that losses in reality often exceed the cost of the goods sold. Why? The fact is that lost profit, which could have been received, say, grocery store, would appear the goods on the shelves.
It is important to note that when there is a shortage at a particular trading facility, employees are not always to blame. It is not necessary that the cause of the loss is theft or other fraud, which is carried out consciously and subsequently leads to criminal liability.
Common Causes of Shortage
Because of what appears big shortage in the store? It is advisable to consider a list of reasons that lead directly to errors in accounting for products sold, affecting profit and, as a result, the relevance of such an unpleasant situation:
- Significant underestimation of the price of the product sold. This can happen if the employer has not debugged the mechanism for creating the final value of the goods. This practice is often observed with the active use of a discount system at a particular outlet. So, when deciding on a similar option for increasing sales in the audit process, it is imperative to take into account the difference between the initial and discount value of all units of products.
- Low level of care for cashiers in the contents of baskets and carts. The fact is that buyers usually prefer to lay the heaviest bags at the bottom of the baskets. Accordingly, this requires maximum care from employees in the process of collecting the cost of goods, as well as quantitative verification.
List of additional reasons
If a shortage detected in the storeIn addition to the above reasons, the following points are relevant:
- Shortage due to oversight in the accounting documentation. So, a situation is possible when the corresponding employee forgets about accounting for goods written off for the needs of the outlet. If you don’t write off any item on time, then it is mandatory to be included in the deficiency during an annual or quarterly audit. As a result, the situation misleads the employer regarding the unprofitable amount. By the way, it is also possible to untimely write off goods that for some reason have been damaged. One way or another, they must be registered and written off by issuing a special form.
- Lack of store often appears due to inventory errors.The fact is that the employee may not randomly take into account any goods standing on the windows.
And if it’s not accounting?
Interesting thing is that shortage in the store it is often detected even in the case of competent calculations. For example, the inclusion of erroneous information in the report when marking the purchase price and inventory number cannot be ruled out. The best way out of this kind of situation is to check out of turn, because it is guaranteed to prevent a shortage.
By the way, today the issue of expired products is very urgent. So, the goods are often not written off as necessary (that is, a form of a certain form is not drawn up) and is taken into account as a defect. It is important to note that shortage of goods often argued for the lack of control over new supplies. In this situation, the goods are paid, but the appropriate employees forget to count them and take an inventory. Thus, the new batch simply ends up in stock, it is not taken into account in the process of general settlements.
Shortage in the store: what should the seller do?
To begin with, it should be noted that the consequences of such an unpleasant situation as a shortage for sellers primarily depend on the design of the main documentation. This should include an act (report) on inventory and an agreement on collective responsibility in material terms. It is very important whether the accused worker will be able to prove his own non-involvement in the situation that caused shortage in the store (criminal liability waiting for him otherwise). In addition, the fact that the employee has proven certain violations on the part of the employer will be a great advantage. Among them may be inferior conditions that accompany the workflow, or non-compliance with the rules regarding the safety of entrusted values.
Employee Responsibility
In the event that was issued shortage act, in accordance with article 243 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, absolute liability with respect to an employee occurs:
- If such a plan, responsibility was brought against the employee through the provisions of labor law (after all, he occupies a specific position, which is one way or another noted in the law) or a separate collective agreement.
- If the damage was not carried out during the performance of labor duties (an excellent example of this type of violation is the use of a company car for personal purposes outside working hours by a person to whom the vehicle is entrusted in accordance with its official duties).
From the above, we can conclude that only an employee who is liable can be responsible for the shortage of commodity or monetary resources in the store.
What penalties are possible?
What will happen to the seller, if identified shortage in the store? Explanatory - the mildest punishment that can be applied. It should be noted that in this case, the employee is often charged about twenty percent of the monthly salary. In turn, a larger amount of compensation required to compensate the owner of the outlet) is established in court (138th article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). By the way, the amount of liability should in no case exceed the amount of the official salary of the employee (248th article of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). An exception to this rule is payments established in accordance with a decision of the judiciary.
Collective activity leading to shortage
Often, employees of the outlet work in a team (for example, grocery store) In this case, with a lack, it is necessary to take into account some features:
- The amount of payments for each employee may not be the same, as the accrual is carried out proportionally. For example, one of the employees was on vacation or on sick leave. It is for this reason that he is not obliged to bear responsibility for the shortage. It is important to add that for new employees, payments are made in accordance with the days worked.
- If an agreement has been signed regarding the assignment of material responsibility to specific persons, they must be present at the audit being carried out. So, if a shortage is discovered, they will have to draw up explanatory notes. After that, an order is formed to withhold a specific amount from the monthly salary of employees. It was noted above that such deductions should not be more than twenty percent. In other words, the outlet management has the right to levy compensation payments solely from financially responsible persons and only in the amounts established by the current labor legislation.
Collection features
It must be remembered that liability cannot be removed from an employee even when he has not signed a full liability agreement. But in this case, the employer must necessarily prove the presence of violations by the employee. By the way, if the fact of the loss of the products sold is identified and, accordingly, documented, an active dispute between the employee and the employer can be resolved voluntarily. The employee’s refusal to recover damages, as a rule, leads to the appeal of the second party to the judiciary.
How to document a violation?
The documentary violation considered in the article is documented in accordance with the following steps:
- An audit is initiated by the employer, the results of which are recorded through special acts.
- Filling out an explanatory note from an employee who made a shortage. By the way, in this case, the employer often collects memos from other employees.
- The written request of the head for damages sent directly to the employee.
- Execution of a separate act in the event that the employee refuses to recover losses. By the way, at this stage, the employer has the right to sue.
- Submission to the judicial authorities of a correctly executed act that records the results of the audit, as well as accounting documentation, which indicates the initial cost of the goods. Moreover, as a rule, correspondence with the employee is sent to the court (a written request for compensation for the discovered shortage).
- Recovery from the amount of the employee’s salary per month forcibly. This operation is carried out through the order of the head or by order of the judicial authorities. It is important to note that the document is published no later than a month from the date of the audit (inventory).
How to prove innocence
It often happens that the seller is absolutely confident in his innocence about the shortage. Then he needs to contact the judicial authorities with a request to find out the current situation. Since the trial procedure is quite complex, it often becomes necessary to contact a professional lawyer who can help you fill out a statement and collect all the necessary evidence of innocence.
If the employee has nothing to do with the shortage, but the employer blackmails him, forcing him to make a compensation payment, the employee has the right to apply to the local police department with a corresponding complaint (abuse of tenure by the employer).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be noted that in any case, it is necessary to independently control the process of audit (inspection), despite the fact that only specially trained people participate in it. It is important to add that the compiled act is mandatory signed by those who bear material liability. For example, a cashier. In addition, when conducting an audit with violations of the procedure, the employee has the full right to appeal to the judiciary.
