# Interest group forums > Food Industry Forum > [Question] Cashiers and Shortages

## AmithS

Would it be fair\unfair to share the shortages on a till if i only have 1 till but need situation makes it that more than 1 person works on it.

like when 1 person goes on lunch or is busy receiving a delivery?

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## Justloadit

I think you would create a major problem here. The way to do it is to cash up and load a new float for the lunch time trading. You can then hold each operator responsible for their working period. With sharing a till this will create problems, as the honest worker will be penalized. Let me give you an example, one operator takes R500, so you force each one to pay R250, the thief is better off, as he made R250 for nothing, however the other operator lost R250, so next time the honest operator will also steal to make up for lost money.

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## Dave A

Observing what goes on at my local supermarket, what you probably need is for each operator to have their own money tray. When they log out of the cash register, they take their tray out and lock it away. The next operator puts their own tray in when they log into the cash register. I guess the register keeps track of each operator's sales separately.

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## tec0

I stand to be corrected but it is actually illegal to penalise your workers for any losses. I would work this on a bonus system. If the money works out then they get a bonus whenever you feel like giving it and if not then they lose that bonus and you cash it towards your losses. 

Make it a rule for the worker to flash the notes under the black light twice, meaning count it once flash it under the black light, flip the notes and repeat the procedure. A small camera can be mounted close to the black light and you can record the notes, time and reference it to the times of the till. This will show you when the miscalculation occurs AND you say it is to avoid counterfeiting Well it is... But it has an added benefit.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

Having two floats will also help.  If you think the small camera is a bit over the top I can say with confidence it is not. I actually know of two stores that is using this system one of them happen to be a jewellery store.  :Wink:

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## adrianh

Difficult to deal with in a take away where you need somebody on the till at all times. Staff need to take a leak, have a break, etc. I think that a certain degree of inaccuracy is ok - mistakes are made - I find it difficult at times to tell the difference between our 10c & 20c coins.  Keep an eye on it though, and measure the discrepancies in relation to the particular staff members. You should be able to work out fairly quickly who is the culprit by rotating the staff.

An interesting aside: a family memeber ran a pharmacy for a while. They employed a youngish girl to run the till and strangely te till was always over. They questioned her about this one day and she said that she grew up working in her uncle's cafe. The old guy taught her how to cheat on change and she just always did it without thinking.

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## AmithS

is it really illegal to deduct till shortages from employees ?

Almost every store i know does this?

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## Justloadit

> is it really illegal to deduct till shortages from employees ?
> 
> Almost every store i know does this?


I somehow do not think so, if you are collecting cash, the amount must match the till slip totals, if not, then you must correct the error, after all you were employed to collect money - no mistakes! I reckon if it is a  couple of Rands then there can be some leniency, but what happens if it is a R50, R100 or R200 on a regular basis?

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## Mark Atkinson

> is it really illegal to deduct till shortages from employees ?
> 
> Almost every store i know does this?


I'm quite sure it's not illegal. Employees need to be accountable for the money going through their hands and held responsible for losses. 

That said, it would be ridiculous to share a loss between all cashiers (this I'm guessing would be _illegal_ - more so than the above anyway). You need to find a way to isolate the money from each cashier. I think Dave's idea is probably your best option. Isolation of responsibility is an extremely important control within a business in order to be able make employees be accountable for their actions.

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## AmithS

Sorry for the late replies, i have been internet less for a while.  Thanks for all the input guys & gals.  It does get abit tricky when you are a small business and have limited resources.  So i am going to try out a few things and see what goes the best. Thanks again

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## Dave A

I suggest focus on traceability. If you can pin down and prove any losses to each person individually, you'll be in a stronger position. And the problem might even go away.

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