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Companies cutting down on sick day Fraud by Hiring Detectives?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40536366/ns/business-bloomberg_businessweek/
12/10/10
Rick Raymond parked his black Kia SUV behind a row of trees and peered out at his target. It was 4 a.m. on a recent morning, and Raymond — a seasoned private detective who has worked roughly 300 cases, from thieves to philandering spouses — was closing in on a different sort of prey. Recently, Raymond has come to occupy a new and expanding niche in the surveillance universe.
Corporations pay him to spy on workers who take "sick days" when they may not, in fact, be sick. Such suspicion has led Raymond to bowling alleys, pro football games, weddings, and even funerals. On this morning it has taken him to a field outside the home of an Orlando repairman whose employer is doubtful about his slow recovery from a car accident. Although Raymond tries to be impartial about his subjects, "80 to 85 percent of the time," he says, "there's definitely fraud happening."
Playing hooky without getting caught — as immortalized in the cat-and-mouse skirmish between Ferris Bueller and Principal Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off — used to be an adolescent rite of passage. Now it has given rise to a thriving industry, with stern legal precedent to back it up.
Businessweek.com: How to skip work by faking disease
In 2008, Raybestos Products, a car parts manufacturer in Crawfordsville, Ind., hired an off-duty police officer to track an employee suspected of abusing her paid medical leave. When the employee, Diana Vail, was fired after the cop produced substantial evidence that she was exploiting her benefits, she sued Raybestos. In what became the landmark case for corporate snooping, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed her lawsuit. A panel of judges declared that while surveillance "may not be preferred employer behavior," it wasn't unlawful. According to Susan W. Kline, a partner at the Baker & Daniels law firm in Indianapolis, the case "encouraged [companies] to consider hiring their own private detectives." It also set a precedent, she says, that "reasonable suspicion" is sufficient justification for employer spying.
Such techniques have become permissible at a time when workers are more likely to play hooky. Kronos, a workforce productivity firm in Chelmsford, Mass., recently found that 57 percent of U.S. salaried employees take sick days when they're not really sick — a nearly 20 percent increase from statistics gathered between 2006 and 2008. Taking such risks amid an economic meltdown, suggests Kronos Senior Director Joyce Maroney, has less to do with foolish confidence than a general lack of enthusiasm for work.
"People are staying in jobs they don't like because of a fear that there won't be another job out there," she says. "With less job satisfaction, there's a greater propensity for sick-time abuse."
That's great news for the corporate surveillance business. Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group, a private investigation firm in Clifton Park, N.Y., with experience in corporate sleuthing, charges $75 per hour per investigator. And those hours add up. According to Alliance Chief Executive Officer and founder Mario Pecoraro Jr., successful surveillance requires establishing a pattern of activity that, he says, "can sometimes require multiple days, or even weeks."
Businessweek.com: The role of employee engagement in the return to growth
Perhaps this is because workers have become increasingly inventive with their sick-day tomfoolery. This summer, Middletown (Pa.) schoolteacher Leslie Herneisey — a three-time Teacher of the Year nominee — was arrested and charged with lying to colleagues about having an inoperable brain tumor so she could take extended sick leave. In 2009 four firefighters in Haverhill, Mass., were suspended after a private investigator, hired by the mayor, caught them attending hockey games and engaging in other blatantly non-sick-day activities.
They are not alone in their ambition. Earlier this year, Raymond investigated an employee at a Florida health organization who called in sick with the flu for three days. As Raymond discovered, she was actually visiting the Universal Studios theme park. "On some of those roller coasters, they take your picture at a really sharp turn, and then you can buy it at a kiosk," Raymond recalls. "She went on three rides, and I bought all three of her pictures, which had the date at the bottom." When confronted with the evidence by her employers, Raymond says her first response was, "That's not me!" After they played Raymond's video of her volunteering at the theme park's animal show, her only defense was, "I don't even remember that!" She was fired.
12/10/10
Rick Raymond parked his black Kia SUV behind a row of trees and peered out at his target. It was 4 a.m. on a recent morning, and Raymond — a seasoned private detective who has worked roughly 300 cases, from thieves to philandering spouses — was closing in on a different sort of prey. Recently, Raymond has come to occupy a new and expanding niche in the surveillance universe.
Corporations pay him to spy on workers who take "sick days" when they may not, in fact, be sick. Such suspicion has led Raymond to bowling alleys, pro football games, weddings, and even funerals. On this morning it has taken him to a field outside the home of an Orlando repairman whose employer is doubtful about his slow recovery from a car accident. Although Raymond tries to be impartial about his subjects, "80 to 85 percent of the time," he says, "there's definitely fraud happening."
Playing hooky without getting caught — as immortalized in the cat-and-mouse skirmish between Ferris Bueller and Principal Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off — used to be an adolescent rite of passage. Now it has given rise to a thriving industry, with stern legal precedent to back it up.
Businessweek.com: How to skip work by faking disease
In 2008, Raybestos Products, a car parts manufacturer in Crawfordsville, Ind., hired an off-duty police officer to track an employee suspected of abusing her paid medical leave. When the employee, Diana Vail, was fired after the cop produced substantial evidence that she was exploiting her benefits, she sued Raybestos. In what became the landmark case for corporate snooping, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed her lawsuit. A panel of judges declared that while surveillance "may not be preferred employer behavior," it wasn't unlawful. According to Susan W. Kline, a partner at the Baker & Daniels law firm in Indianapolis, the case "encouraged [companies] to consider hiring their own private detectives." It also set a precedent, she says, that "reasonable suspicion" is sufficient justification for employer spying.
Such techniques have become permissible at a time when workers are more likely to play hooky. Kronos, a workforce productivity firm in Chelmsford, Mass., recently found that 57 percent of U.S. salaried employees take sick days when they're not really sick — a nearly 20 percent increase from statistics gathered between 2006 and 2008. Taking such risks amid an economic meltdown, suggests Kronos Senior Director Joyce Maroney, has less to do with foolish confidence than a general lack of enthusiasm for work.
"People are staying in jobs they don't like because of a fear that there won't be another job out there," she says. "With less job satisfaction, there's a greater propensity for sick-time abuse."
That's great news for the corporate surveillance business. Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group, a private investigation firm in Clifton Park, N.Y., with experience in corporate sleuthing, charges $75 per hour per investigator. And those hours add up. According to Alliance Chief Executive Officer and founder Mario Pecoraro Jr., successful surveillance requires establishing a pattern of activity that, he says, "can sometimes require multiple days, or even weeks."
Businessweek.com: The role of employee engagement in the return to growth
Perhaps this is because workers have become increasingly inventive with their sick-day tomfoolery. This summer, Middletown (Pa.) schoolteacher Leslie Herneisey — a three-time Teacher of the Year nominee — was arrested and charged with lying to colleagues about having an inoperable brain tumor so she could take extended sick leave. In 2009 four firefighters in Haverhill, Mass., were suspended after a private investigator, hired by the mayor, caught them attending hockey games and engaging in other blatantly non-sick-day activities.
They are not alone in their ambition. Earlier this year, Raymond investigated an employee at a Florida health organization who called in sick with the flu for three days. As Raymond discovered, she was actually visiting the Universal Studios theme park. "On some of those roller coasters, they take your picture at a really sharp turn, and then you can buy it at a kiosk," Raymond recalls. "She went on three rides, and I bought all three of her pictures, which had the date at the bottom." When confronted with the evidence by her employers, Raymond says her first response was, "That's not me!" After they played Raymond's video of her volunteering at the theme park's animal show, her only defense was, "I don't even remember that!" She was fired.
Barb, I too worked in a situation where my bosses chose when I could vacation, and it didnt always work with the rest of the family. That is a bad situation. It doesnt do a thing for morale..... really, just cut me a check for those days and let me work. 2 weeks additional pay would be awesome, and I'd be willing to work in anotehr department, do janitorial work, filing...whatever.
We are allowed to use our sick days for things other than being sick. If I have a doctor's appt, lab tests, etc, I use sick time, because it's health related - usually only a couple hours at a time; if I take Auntie to tests, treatment or doctor, which is always an all day affair, I also often have to use sick time - health related, just not my health. While I've had to use my sick time quite a bit this year, for both myself and Auntie, I've not stayed home sick (as in having the flu, cold, etc) in over a year - or even just waking up and saying "I don't feel like working today" and calling in sick.
I earn vacation time every year, but my employer "forces" me to use it for certain things -- like a 2 week Christmas break, when I would never choose to take vacation at Christmas time. I am also forced to use a week of my vacation during spring break - another time I would never choose to take vacation. Of my "earned" vacation hours, I get to use approx 30-40 of them, the way I choose, the rest are employer mandated.
This often means that I have to use sick days for other things in order to save vacation time to cover the mandated times off. In the event that I run short of vacation time to cover the "mandated" time off, I have to use sick leave, as I'm not allowed to take these times without pay unless, I've used up all my sick leave and vacation time.
Don't think they better be sending a PI after me any time soon.
I earn vacation time every year, but my employer "forces" me to use it for certain things -- like a 2 week Christmas break, when I would never choose to take vacation at Christmas time. I am also forced to use a week of my vacation during spring break - another time I would never choose to take vacation. Of my "earned" vacation hours, I get to use approx 30-40 of them, the way I choose, the rest are employer mandated.
This often means that I have to use sick days for other things in order to save vacation time to cover the mandated times off. In the event that I run short of vacation time to cover the "mandated" time off, I have to use sick leave, as I'm not allowed to take these times without pay unless, I've used up all my sick leave and vacation time.
Don't think they better be sending a PI after me any time soon.
One of the changes both my organization and my husbands company have made is switching sick days to personal days. It used to be that you were given .5 sick days a month which could be accumulated over the course of the year. Anything more then that required a Dr's note.
Now, we get the same amount of time, but they call it personal days instead. So, if you are needing a day because of a sick child or whatever, you can use it the same way. It's great actually as we all have things that come up that aren't really sick days...could be a Dr.'s appointment with a specialist, a sick child, whatever the case may be. Many companies are doing this here, and it really cuts down on the fraudulent sick days. Life happens, and sometimes we have to take a day. I think this is a positive, and I know in our organization people seem to be that much more productive.
Now, we get the same amount of time, but they call it personal days instead. So, if you are needing a day because of a sick child or whatever, you can use it the same way. It's great actually as we all have things that come up that aren't really sick days...could be a Dr.'s appointment with a specialist, a sick child, whatever the case may be. Many companies are doing this here, and it really cuts down on the fraudulent sick days. Life happens, and sometimes we have to take a day. I think this is a positive, and I know in our organization people seem to be that much more productive.
Neither my wife or myself would call in sick if we werent. In fact, and I know it isnt healthy for anyone, but I have gone to work on days that I should not have been out of bed.
Some business's have a policy that says use your sick days or lose them. That is almost encouraging people to call in sick. On the other hand, some places pay employees for sick days not used, or allow them to accumulate over a period of time.
Geez, there are so many things that can be improved upon in the work place, but part of it isnt with the employers.... it is with the employee's themselves. This new found entitlement thing going around in the work place is something else.
Some business's have a policy that says use your sick days or lose them. That is almost encouraging people to call in sick. On the other hand, some places pay employees for sick days not used, or allow them to accumulate over a period of time.
Geez, there are so many things that can be improved upon in the work place, but part of it isnt with the employers.... it is with the employee's themselves. This new found entitlement thing going around in the work place is something else.
It used to be if you missed three days in a year, without a doctors excuse, you were fired. Man have times changed! But to hire truancy officers?
While some employees may be less engaged in their jobs, many are increasingly interested in new and creative ways to get out of work. "It's all about technology these days," says Frank M. Ahearn, a New York-based equal opportunity "privacy consultant" who has helped employers "catch people who were supposed to be at work" and advised others on eluding their bosses. "If you understand how to use technology effectively, you can appear to be anywhere," he says. Ahearn once had a client who issued each of his employees a cell phone with a GPS tracking system. "He thought it was foolproof," Ahearn says. That was until the boss learned one employee had 'FedExed' his phone to a hotel where he was supposed to be staying on a business trip. Instead, the worker opted for an exotic vacation. "It's a duel between bosses and their employees," Ahearn says. "Whoever has better technology usually wins."
One popular toy among the adult Ferris Bueller set is the SpoofCard. Sold on the Internet by Toms River, N.J.-based TelTech Systems, a SpoofCard allows users to select any 10-digit number to appear on the phone of the person they're calling. When their customer calls in sick, the boss will see this number on the caller ID and assume the employee is at home in bed when he may actually be on line at the Matterhorn, or on the beach in Hawaii. Meir Cohen, president of TelTech Systems, insists SpoofCards don't pose any ethical dilemma. "We've had people misuse the technology occasionally for illegal purposes," he says, "but the majority of people use it to protect their privacy. If you have a boss that's prying into your personal life, this is a great tool."
Cohen also offers a chance to offset the SpoofCard with a new TelTech product, LiarCard, which uses voice analysis to determine if a caller is being dishonest. "We have companies that use the LiarCard for HR purposes," he says, "to find out if their employees are lying to them." Cohen doesn't mind selling a service to one customer that's designed to entrap another. "We want to help everyone," he says.
Businessweek.com: The tragic decline of business casual
Cohen may have a point — sometimes even corporate surveillance experts need watching. When he was working as a training director for a large detective firm, Rick Raymond once sent a rookie investigator and a seasoned veteran out on a routine job. Instead, the two opted to get drunk and watch football at a nearby Outback Steakhouse. Later that day, a secretary from Raymond's firm went to lunch at the same Outback and witnessed both detectives drinking beers and eating cheese fries. "They were there before she showed up," he says, "and they were still there, watching football and drinking beer, two hours later." When the pair submitted their surveillance logs for the week, both failed to mention their afternoon-long repast. Both were immediately fired.
As the sun rises over Orlando, Raymond's still sitting in his SUV, watching his repairman. He's now come to appreciate the employer-employee relationship. "I remember one worker who created an elaborate hoax to go on a cruise when he was supposed to be sick," Raymond says. "When he was shown the video surveillance I'd done, he actually said to his boss, 'I can't believe you'd be so sneaky.' The hypocrisy is amazing!" And it's great for business.
Copyright © 2010 Bloomberg L.P.All rights reserved.
One popular toy among the adult Ferris Bueller set is the SpoofCard. Sold on the Internet by Toms River, N.J.-based TelTech Systems, a SpoofCard allows users to select any 10-digit number to appear on the phone of the person they're calling. When their customer calls in sick, the boss will see this number on the caller ID and assume the employee is at home in bed when he may actually be on line at the Matterhorn, or on the beach in Hawaii. Meir Cohen, president of TelTech Systems, insists SpoofCards don't pose any ethical dilemma. "We've had people misuse the technology occasionally for illegal purposes," he says, "but the majority of people use it to protect their privacy. If you have a boss that's prying into your personal life, this is a great tool."
Cohen also offers a chance to offset the SpoofCard with a new TelTech product, LiarCard, which uses voice analysis to determine if a caller is being dishonest. "We have companies that use the LiarCard for HR purposes," he says, "to find out if their employees are lying to them." Cohen doesn't mind selling a service to one customer that's designed to entrap another. "We want to help everyone," he says.
Businessweek.com: The tragic decline of business casual
Cohen may have a point — sometimes even corporate surveillance experts need watching. When he was working as a training director for a large detective firm, Rick Raymond once sent a rookie investigator and a seasoned veteran out on a routine job. Instead, the two opted to get drunk and watch football at a nearby Outback Steakhouse. Later that day, a secretary from Raymond's firm went to lunch at the same Outback and witnessed both detectives drinking beers and eating cheese fries. "They were there before she showed up," he says, "and they were still there, watching football and drinking beer, two hours later." When the pair submitted their surveillance logs for the week, both failed to mention their afternoon-long repast. Both were immediately fired.
As the sun rises over Orlando, Raymond's still sitting in his SUV, watching his repairman. He's now come to appreciate the employer-employee relationship. "I remember one worker who created an elaborate hoax to go on a cruise when he was supposed to be sick," Raymond says. "When he was shown the video surveillance I'd done, he actually said to his boss, 'I can't believe you'd be so sneaky.' The hypocrisy is amazing!" And it's great for business.
Copyright © 2010 Bloomberg L.P.All rights reserved.
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