Here are 8 Signs of a Potential Dangerous Person In the Workplace. This is in no way an exhaustive list, merely a few common red flags to watch out for:
1. A Controlling Nature
This person is not the industrious take-charge type, but a true threat when it comes to controlling others. Change unravels this type of person.
2. Violent Opinions
These people tend to blame victims and are particularly interested in news about the latest school or workplace shooting, bombing, etc. It could be a red-flag if the individual often talks about, or expresses interest in, violent and odd topics.
3. Obsession With Power
This point has some overlap with number one, but this type of individual may have a gun collection, subscriptions to ammo or paramilitary magazines, or be active on online communities for firearms. He or she might also be obsessed with law enforcement.4. Assume Others are Out to Get Them
Employees who seem hyper-vigilant, or even paranoid, may be under the impression that others are out to get them. A signal could be something as simple as a comment saying, “somebody is poisoning this coffee.” Paranoid thoughts, and expressions of those thoughts, are a red-flag for potential violent behavior in the future.
5. Frequent use of malicious references
These people are likely to say things like: “She had it coming,” or, “Karma is a great thing and will come back to bite him.”
6. A Generally Weird Personality
They generally are the oddballs, the ones who stand out. They don’t get invited to parties coworkers throw. Although there are tons of harmless people with odd personalities, this is a potential red-flag.
7. Lifestyle is Not Health-Conscious
Not very many of us have the discipline to live a completely health-conscious lifestyle. That is not uncommon. However, at the extreme end of the spectrum: people often smoke and/or drink, rely on pain pills all the time, are hooked on sleeping pills, eat junk-food constantly, and are the last people you’ll see at the gym performing lifts or taking a high-impact aerobics class.
8. Ongoing Anger
These types of people are frequently irate, and they often blame others for this anger. These are the people, that at some point, will reach boiling point.
Workers’ compensation is an insurance program that is designed to assist employees who become injured on the job or suffer a job-related illness. Unfortunately, not every claim that is filed is legitimate and the business is often the one that pays the price. In fact, more than 1 in 10 employers are concerned that a worker will fake an illness or injury in order to fraudulently collect workers’ comp benefits. Let’s take a closer look at the different types of workers’ comp fraud and what you can do to protect your company from becoming a victim.
Types of Workers’ Comp Fraud
False Claim – This occurs when an employee is never injured at all, but claims he or she was on the job in order to collect insurance payments. In some cases, a worker may actually go to the extent of injuring him or herself (usually by staging an accident) to bolster their claim.
Working While Collecting – Another costly form of workers’ comp fraud occurs when someone who may or may not be legitimately injured and is subsequently collecting benefits stating he or she is unable to work, but is actually working elsewhere at another job.
Exaggerated Claim – These are cases in which an employee legitimately sustained an injury, but is exaggerating its severity in order to extend the amount of time off and benefits he or she can collect.
Employer Fraud – In some cases, the business itself may be engaging in behavior that is classified as workers’ comp fraud. This is typically done through employee misclassification. In other words, a company will erroneously list a full time worker as a contractor to avoid having to pay higher premiums.
Not sure which, if any, of these types of workers’ comp fraud are occurring? Here are 10 warning signs to watch for.
How a Private Investigator Can Help
If a business suspects that one or more employees are engaging in workers’ comp fraud activities, it can be wise to enlist the help of an experienced private investigator. This professional can then do the following in order to identify areas of legitimate fraud and also build a case against the offender:
Gather evidence. This may include conducting surveillance of the employee in question and capturing evidence of dishonesty. For example, the investigator may take video or pictures of the offender working at another company on the side or engaging in physical activity that is not consistent with the supposed injury or illness.
Conduct background investigation. In many cases, a person who commits workers’ comp fraud has a long history of similar claims. A thorough background investigation can reveal patterns that may raise suspicion and concern and can also help build a stronger case against the offender.
Documentation. Once all of the necessary evidence is collected and a detailed background check has been performed, the final step in the workers’ comp fraud investigation will be compiling all the documentation needed to pursue the case.
Could workers’ comp fraud be costing your business money? Don’t take chances. Trust the experienced team at Lauth Investigations International, Inc. to handle your case swiftly and efficiently. We can help you get the evidence you need to mitigate your damages and avoid becoming a victim again in the future. Call us today to learn more.
Despite your best efforts, complaints and internal issues will sometimes arise in the workplace. In these instances, a thorough investigation of the situation can vastly improve the chances of a favorable outcome for your company. For instance, the information you uncover can help build a case and/or protect your firm’s hard-earned reputation. If you’re dealing with a potential problem, such as employee theft, fraud or drug abuse, here are 7 steps to conducting a successful workplace investigation.
Identify areas of concern. Everyone in management should understand what the signs of potential problems are so they can notify the appropriate parties and action can be taken. For minor issues for which employees all agree that what occurred isn’t of significant concern, a full-blown workplace investigation may not be necessary. In most cases, however, it’s usually better to err on the side of caution.
Act swiftly. The moment a potential internal problem is identified, it should be addressed. Waiting to conduct a workplace investigation could cause further issues. For example, not properly looking into reports of potential employee drug use or theft could result in everything from a decrease in morale and higher turnover to loss of revenue.
Enlist the help of an experienced investigator. Unless your business employs an individual or team that is specifically dedicated to internal investigations, enlisting the help of a trained, experienced professional to conduct the workplace investigation may be the wisest choice.
Plan the investigation. Having a well-thought-out plan of action in place beforehand can do wonders for ensuring that a workplace investigation goes as smoothly as possible. Obviously you can’t plan for everything, but you should at least have a framework from which to work. If you’ve hired a private investigator, this will likely be part of his or her initial investigation process.
Gather and evaluate evidence. While your goal should always be achieving a resolution without the need to go to court, sometimes litigation is unavoidable. That’s why gathering adequate evidence is so important, whether it’s documentation, photographs or sworn statements. The more legwork you do to bolster your case, the better the outcome will likely be.
Document everything. Each step of a workplace investigation should be well-documented. This, in effect, will cover your business should any questions arise down the road, particularly if the case ends up in front of a judge. A strong case will have all the documentation needed to back it up.
Follow up. The actual follow-up needed after a workplace investigation is conducted will vary based on the situation, but it should always be a part of the overall process. For instance, in the case of employee drug abuse, follow-up should be done to ensure that the situation has been resolved and that other team members are satisfied with the outcome.
Do you need assistance with an internal workplace investigation? Give us a call and let’s discuss how one of our experienced private investigators can help.
Here are 8 Signs of a Potential Dangerous Person In the Workplace. This is in no way an exhaustive list, merely a few common red flags to watch out for:
