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My
Cheating Boss
by Dr. Lynne
Curry
Question:
My boss cheats customers in small amounts daily. He tells
customers his billing rate is $35 per hour but he pads the hours
so he really makes $50 per hour. He tells long term customers that
he charges them $25 per hour but he pads their hours even more.
What should I do? I asked my brother but he said "let the
buyer beware" and that if customers were dumb enough to get
taken my boss was a shrewd businessman. Since I prepare the
invoices, could I get in trouble?
Answer:
Vote with your feet and get a new job. If your boss cheats
customers, he probably cheats employees as well. Individuals who
cheat rarely cheat in only one direction. You don’t mention how
your employer treats you. The odds are he doesn’t pay you as
much as you’re worth. Why? You’re working for someone who
makes sure the deal comes out best in his direction. In the long
run, when you hang around individuals like that, you get taken.
Small scams such
as the one you’re describing generally signal major problems
such as impending bankruptcies or litigation. Little businesses
sometimes steal from customers because their owners don’t know
how to make ends meet in any other way. These business owners
often spend so much time chasing one dollar bills they step over
twenty dollar bills.
The energy these
owners spend working small deals they should spend marketing,
merchandising and streamlining operations. These owners also
attract opportunist employees who themselves discover ways to
steal from their employers. Eventually, most honest employees
become fed up and leave.
Could you be in
trouble? That depends on your involvement in the scam. Employees
who stay with larger organizations that routinely defraud, such as
insurance companies that rig their claims processes or car
dealerships that roll back mileage, risk years of litigation and
even jail. For a personal answer in your specific situation, call
your state’s bar [attorney] association and ask for a referral
to an attorney who offers free or low cost legal advice.
You might also
ditch your brother as a career advisor. Scam artists do target
those who can’t fight back, the naïve, the elderly, the young,
the poor. That’s where the phrase "as easy as taking candy
from babies" comes from. Truly shrewd business people don’t
waste their time with these scams. Defrauding customers in small
ways rarely produces real success. Those who cheat customers lose
customers. My guess – your boss won’t succeed for long.
Don’t tie your fortune to his.
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