Would You Fire a Manager Who Shares His Employee Discount?

JAN HAS BEEN WORKING in the pet industry for decades, owning her own store for more than 12 years now. The business is in a large town with a lake that locals and visitors alike use, with many of the latter arriving and staying on their boats with pets.

Jason joined Jan’s team 18 months ago as store manager. He is a real go-getter, and customers love him. Because he is also an experienced boater and heavily involved with the local marina, Jason sends many boating pet parents to the store.

One of Jan’s employees, Maria, approached her and was visibly uncomfortable to bring up an issue.

She said, “I know you really like Jason and are constantly raving about how much business he brings to the store. I want you to know how much I appreciate that you give us a generous 20% employee discount on everything. I know you are very strict about it being only for employees, but I have seen Jason give his boating buddies the same 20% off.”

Jan was shocked. She thought of all of the people who come in to shop with Jason and leave with bags of food as well as other items in her paw-print bags. Jan thanked Maria for the information.

She then went to a register and pulled Jason’s recent sales. Sure enough, there were 20% discounts applied to purchases! Jan tracked the transactions to the store loyalty system, and most, if not all of those receiving discounts were the same customers who come in to shop with Jason specifically. Just in the last month, those discounts added up to at least $1,000!

Advertisement

She was sick to her stomach. Giving unauthorized discounts was the equivalent of theft. Jan could take this to the authorities and press charges against him. But because none of the amounts were large, he would likely be handed a misdemeanor and just have to pay a fine.

Her mind raced on how to handle the situation. Jason knew sharing of the employee discount was not allowed. She told him this during onboarding, and as manager he shares the information with new hires. Did he perhaps justify this because he gives the discount to customers he brings into the store?

Simply talking to Jason seemed pointless. If she fires him and files charges, she could lose thousands of dollars in revenue each month from customers loyal to him and her store’s reputation could be shredded in the boating community and possibly the entire town. Not doing anything would damage her reputation with the other employees, and the unauthorized discounts would continue.

Plus other employees may feel if it’s OK for Jason to share the discount, it’s OK for them to do so as well.

 

Jason Parlotto
Aqua-Mart Aquariums, Port St. John, FL

Fire him! It sets an example and gets rid of the problem! Some customers are loyal to a certain employee, but most will just pick another!

Bill Trufant
B&B Pet Stop, Inc., Mobile, AL

We have a “Friends & Family” discount for our employees. It’s not as good as their “Employee Discount,” but it allows them to “give the hook up.” We limit it to one discount per month, but are willing to authorize additional for a good cause. This keeps anything like this from happening. As for Jason, I think Jan should implement a policy similar to the above, then explain to Jason how she feels and tell him that this is his one and only warning. BTW, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Jan and Jason should sign the document, and it goes into Jason’s personnel file.

Alissa Kloc
Pets Plus, Lockport, NY

There is a cost to bringing in new customers. If he is growing your customer base by offering a first-time discount to a new customer, you should be thanking him. As long as you are not losing money on the sale, be grateful your customer base is growing. Offering a percentage off for new customers is pretty much industry standard with online sales, following over to brick and mortar is the next logical step to stay competitive.

Barbara Clemmens
Aardvark Pet Supplies, Thornwood, NY

I would give him a warning, both written and verbal, but give him another chance. I would also clearly explain how much the discounts cost the store. If there are volume discounts that can be given to his buddies, let him make them an offer that of course would be available to all other customers. It is very hard to find good employees, but he will obviously need to be watched.

Advertisement

Brett Foreman
Eupawria, Owego, NY

Jan needs to sit Jason down with an objective third party, have all of her data and present it to him as evidence. Then have him sign a document stating he understands that this will become a legal and civil matter if he breaks protocol again. If he doesn’t stop, she has all she needs to terminate and have him arrested and sue for damages.

Karen Conell
The Bark Market, Delavan, WI

Jason broke the rules in a big way. The fact that he brings in business in no way gives him license to create his own policy. What other liberties is he taking? Depending on how he responds to Jan confronting him, would dictate the next move. No remorse or if he’s offended would make it easy to let him go.

Rachael Creech
Adventure Pets, Mandeville, LA

I don’t know if I would be so quick to fire someone who seems to be a great manager in every other way. I would want to hear his side and explanation first. After 25 years, I am pretty confident that I can tell when someone is lying or not telling me the whole story. Jason is aware that these things can be checked, so my first thought would be that maybe he misunderstood how he could use the discount. We give our full-time employees the ability to offer 10% off to a customer at any time. I’ve never had anyone abuse it. They also get a 30% employee discount and don’t abuse that either. I would definitely not take any action until I had a discussion with my manager.

Gary Esposito
Animal Pantry, Brooklyn, NY

Talk to him about the situation and give him a second chance, but monitor his register throughout the days he is checking out customers.

Margaret Bliven
Naylor’s Farm & Ranch Supply, Corpus Christi, TX

I would talk to Jason and remind him that the discount is for employees only, and give him a second chance. We are a small business with three owners (family), and there’s usually at least two of us here. Employee purchases are rung up by owners only. We started that when we had a similar situation.

Kim Willis
Kustom K9 Training, Chesapeake, VA

He appears to be an asset. Tell him he is busted and charges could be pressed. That many theft charges would cost him a lot, and you a loss … so you both lose. Let him stay, but his discount will be removed and he has to pay back the loss at a certain percentage each paycheck. I would think that would be better than so many theft charges. Once that is paid back, he can have his discount back, but it will be reviewed daily. His discount is on probation. If he violates again, his discount will be removed permanently and at that point fired — or not, depending on how all of it goes.

Doug Staley
Pet Palace, New City, NY

Been down this road before except with a different twist: Employees buying at discount and reselling to customers at half discount. Jan should have been more proactive, checking daily sales to see what discounts were given out. She would have stopped the loss sooner. Should the manager be fired and prosecuted? That’s a bit extreme, especially if no malice was intended and the young man did it to increase the business. Should Jan call a staff meeting and present the situation to the whole team? Absolutely, and reaffirm that employee pricing is only for employees unless otherwise specified by the owner. Should the manager be reprimanded for it? Yes, and given a warning if it happens again without approval, and he is subject to losing his discount and or face termination for his actions. Good employees are hard to find and sometimes just need more oversight to become great employees. Explain why giving away the store impacts profitability as well as the chance of raises if there is little profit after all those fat discounts.