All large chain restaurants have systems in place to help prevent employee theft, but it is hard to catch everything.

In some cases, a thief is caught just because their normal routine is unexpectedly adjusted by an employee.

That is what happened in this story, when this worker traded shifts so the manager couldn’t cover her tracks, triggering an investigation.

Check out the story below.

I’m so sorry I got in the way of you embezzling the McMoney ;(

I worked at two McRestaurants. I’m not going to reveal which McRestaurants these may be, but you may work it out.

The first was in my hometown before uni for 6 months.

The second was in my uni’s town for 18 months.

The two McRestaurants had differing IT systems (one had an online system, the other just had paper) and so I couldn’t simply be transferred.

Annoying, but no big deal.

I had to resign from one, get fast tracked through application at the other, and the people who McTrained me had an easy few shifts.

Lead up to being told what to comply to:

Now, the first McRestaurant was very strict, but a bit too easygoing.

I had good customer service so was put on the tills every shift; I could combat every Karen with enough sarcasm and fake boomer humor to make them like me.

When working on tills, the managers gave the till users their swipe cards so we could issue refunds quicker or delete an incorrect item on the order when a customer changes their minds ten times.

All is good.

Each shift I walk in, count the McMoney, do my job, cash the McMoney, go home.

I was almost always perfect to the penny.

Until one shift, I notice a coworker using my till during my break.

When I cash the McMoney that shift, I’m down by like a fiver and a few pence, and I’m given a Cash Retrainer (disciplinary and basically a pop quiz about cash handling).

After doing so, I mention the other coworker to a manager and he tells me it’s my fault for not constantly supervising my till and for not ‘locking my till’ during my break which I didn’t know I could do.

He happily shows me. Cool and good.

He’s nice and even shows me the legal writing that says I cannot leave the till – from counting to cashing – unless the till is locked… I can comply with that

The night I am finally forced to use this knowledge.

A year later.

New store, new managers, same legal stuff.

That is nice of him.

I offer to take a coworker’s shift so I can afford to eat next week, and end up on a shift with a manager who has never asked me to go on till before, which is weird.

I’m great with customers and despise cooking McFood.

This time though, she was expecting the other worker but had already gotten the McMoney ready.

I take it from her, count it, sign it off, and do my job.

I start learning that she is working everyone HARD while she picks her nails and checks her phone.

After a while she notices that we haven’t had any orders for a little while and that I’m just stood watching her procrastinate.

“Stop standing around and DO YOUR JOB”

“Err… i am? We have no customers so I can’t serve anyone”

She tells me to get stock for the kitchen.

“What? I thought you wanted me to do my job?”

“Yes. Do your job.”

“By the book McManager?”

“Yes”

“Okay. No problem. I will stay by this till like it says in the book” (duh)

I continue to stand there and she gets irate.

“Look, McManager, the only way I will leave this till is to go on my break.”

She rolls her eyes and leaves me alone. Yay!

About an hour getting paid to chat with the customers and coworkers who are nearby the till!

Eventually, I’m asked to go on my break so I lock the till as per usual and do so.

Why would she do that?

A coworker of mine (someone who used a flexible till next to mine while I was on break – a flexible till is signed off by a manager) said that while I was on my break she came to the till, got angry tapping the screen for it to do nothing, and stormed off.

When I came back from my break, I asked for her manager card.

“NO. It’s for managers only, and YOU’RE just a till boy today”

“Wow okay, is this an extended break?”

“What?! NO go do your job”

“I’ll be able to if you give me the manager card so I can unlock your till and DO my job? To be honest you can supervise since it’s your card”

Again, she rolls her eyes, goes to the till with me, holds out her manager card, and I have to swipe it while she was STILL holding it because she wouldn’t let go.

The screen becomes responsive again and I unlock it.

She seems to avoid me for the rest of the shift, while I just chill since it wasn’t too busy.

I have time for a proper laugh with some customers and I even have a drunken friend come in for a milkshake.

She and I chat for a while and talk about the weird McManager.

Now this is weird.

End of my shift, the McManager is suddenly very nice and sweet, offers to take my McMoney and count it up for me and I can go home early!

Haha… no.

I’m paid to the minute and want to cover myself, so I count it myself.

Not quite perfect.

3 pence over, I probably just didn’t give a few people their penny change when they walked away.

But for a cash retrainer it has to be +/- £1. I’m chill.

It was satisfying to irritate her so much while I took the role of procrastinating away from her for that shift.

I was grinning on my way home that I had done everything as I should’ve and put a manager in her place.

I even got a drunk friend buddy to walk home with!

Turns out there was more to it…

That was the most profitable Thursday evening in MONTHS.

That evening was HUNDREDS of quid more profitable.

A lil investigation had been carried out because of this.

Then they noticed it was the first Thursday evening in months to not have a perfect to the penny cash amount.

Then they noticed that it was me who signed it off, not the normal person.

Then they noticed that the signature of the other person didn’t match with her signature on other shifts.

Far too much for it to be a coincidence.

She had been stealing for a very long time I bet.

CCTV showed McManager to be taking the till’s McMoney into the office on the usual worker’s break every shift.

I got in the way of it this time for just doing as told and doing my job by the book.

Fired of course, fined of course, think she spent a small amount of time in prison but now I see her cleaning the floor in the colonel’s chicken restaurant across the street.

Also, I probably would have trusted her to look after the till while I got stock if she hadn’t been so rude XD.

I wonder how long she had been stealing.

Let’s see what the people in the comments say about this story.

I bet it was easier back then.

I’m sure they investigate this type of thing fast.

At least she eventually got caught.

I’m not sure how it worked either.

Wow, stealing is more common than I would have thought.

Thieves get caught eventually.

If only they would realize that up front.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.