Back in May 2019 WIEPER magazine did an exclusive interview with an employee of Detective agency Bayo. This can be read in the digital version of our magazine or hereunder. A brief summary of the first part of the interview can be found below. In part 2 we will discuss the piece “Engaged by your employer“.
In our magazine of last month you could read how a private investigator will find out if your partner is cheating on you and if your children are actually going to school. However, a private investigator is not only hired to catch your loved ones on a lie, also employers can hire a private investigator. For example when there is suspicious absenteeism or when the employer wants to check if the employee is actually doing his/her job. A private investigator of detective agency Bayo – who’s name will be kept confidential – is sharing exclusively with WIEPER magazine how he’s exposing employees.
WIEPER: WHATFOR CAN COMPANIES RELY ON YOUR SERVICES?
Private Detective BAYO: “Whether you’re hiring or working together with your employees in general, it’s always about mutual trust. You assume that the people you employ will make every effort to achieve the common goal of your company. You can make the best appointments with your personnel, but it doesn’t mean that everyone will follow up on these. I’m being asked a lot to verify how employees are actually spending their time during working hours, and if they’re not spending too much time on private matters. But I’m also hired before the employee actually starts, for example to check if the employee is really who he says he is. Is an ex-employee still honoring his non-competition clause or is he working with the competition? What if there is theft on a regular basis within a company and the employer doesn’t want to accuse anyone unfairly? Or maybe an employee is sick very often and/or for a very long time, but you are suspecting this is not legitimate? For all of these examples – and many more – you can reach out to Detective Agency Bayo.”
“Also before someone gets hired we can start an investigation. Not every applicant is who he says he is during a job interview.”
WIEPER: HOW CAN YOU VERIFY WHETHER AN EMPLOYEE IS ACTUALLY DOING HIS JOB?
BAYO: “ Whether the employee is working on other assignments, arranging private matters, surfing the internet, maybe arriving late and leaving too early,… all of these things cost time of which the employee is not actually working and of course that’s not the intention. Personnel whom are often on the road have more freedom and therefore not always easy to control. Sales reps are travelling a lot to visit or search for clients. This means that they are having more freedom to arrange private matters or meanwhile work for their own account, or worse – work for the competition. These types of employees are very easy for us to track and check. We verify if the employee meets his appointments, is doing the necessary for his job and is not investigating too much time in other affairs.”
WIEPER: APPOINTMENTS WITH CUSTOMERS ARE HAPPENING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, HOW DO YOU KNOW IF THE EMPLOYEE IS PUTTING IN THE NECESSARY EFFORT?
BAYO: “ Where there’s smoke, there’s 99% of the time fire. And this is not only the case when someone is suspecting his/her partner of cheating. When an employee never meets a deadline or reaches the sales limit, you know there has to be a reason why. Some time ago I was hired by an employer because one of his employees claimed to have complied with all the agreements, however the employee could never sell anything. I followed her and what turned out? She did actually drive to every appointment, but instead of having a conversation with the prospect, she simply handed out a flyer. The number of kilometers driven was correct and the prospects also stated that they had spoken to her. The employer could therefore not determine what the issue was. But because I saw her only handing out flyers or to see her leave after just a minute, we could determine that she never gave a full sales pitch. This showed insufficient effort and non-compliance with the agreement with the employer. Moreover, she was always home before noon and had already “finished work”. We made a detailed report – like we do for every case – and gave the report to the employer. That way, the employer knows why the employee only costs him money and yields none. Of course it is up to him what to do with that information.”
WIEPER: IN CASE OF SUSPECTED ABSENTEEISM, IS IT NOT ENOUGH TO SEND A CONTROL DOCTOR?
BAYO: “ A control doctor may only visit the patient during working hours. This is even harder to control when the general practitioner gives the patient permission to leave the house. On top of that, a control doctor is analyzing a snapshot and not what the employee is actually doing during his sick leave. In the past I investigated an employee who was on sick leave for a month. Given the sudden nature and long duration of his sick leave, the manager contacted our office. After our investigation it turned out that the employee was having a second, undeclared, job. So the employee was having his full wage paid by his employer due to his sickleave, and an additional month of salary from his undeclared job. You do not have to lie in bed all day during your sick leave, but you should be sick and therefore incapacitated to work.”
WIEPER: THANK YOU FOR THE CONVERSATION!