There is a fine distinction between trapping an employee in the act of wrongdoing, and crossing the line into entrapment, where one coerces an employee into committing a crime they might not otherwise have carried out. Nikki Viljoen illustrates the distinction for us in this article.

Last week we had a look at what is considered legal (trapping) and what is considered illegal (entrapment).

Just to make sure that you are really clear on the difference, because it is really easy to get confused between the two. I am going to tell a story, so let’s bring in the protagonists. Mike owns a small retail stand outlet in a busy square and George is one of the sales staff. Mike’s store sells sweets and cold drinks, as well as biltong and dry wors and some burgers and sandwiches. Mike is experiencing a huge shrinkage problem that only started when George started working at the stand. Mike suspects that George is giving stock to clients without ringing it up, or helping himself to stock for his own consumption, or taking it home. Mike hires a new staff member (let’s call him Tim) who is an ex-policeman. Tim will pose as the new employee and who will keep an eye on what George is doing, while “learning” from him.

Tim watches what George is doing and thinks that he can see that stock is sold to clients without being rung up on the till. Tim also watches to see if George consumes biltong, dry wors, sandwiches or burgers without paying for them. Tim, still pretending to be “learning” from George, asks George to show him how to serve the customers without putting it through the till. George refuses. Tim then makes himself a burger and also one for George and does not pay. Both men eat the burgers. Tim then reports this to Mike and George is disciplined for theft and summarily dismissed.

In this case, Mike (through Tim’s actions) had set up a situation where George was pressured into eating a burger that was not paid for. Although George may have helped himself to a burger without paying for it, without Tim’s encouragement he may not have taken it at that time. Mike would be found guilty of entrapment in this case.

Trapping an employee is, however, perfectly legal. In the above case, if George had agreed to show Tim how to serve a customer without putting it through the till, and even shown him how to do it with the next customer that came in, this would have been considered as legal trapping; but because George helped himself to the burgers and ate one himself that the line has been crossed.

It reminds me of a TV program that I once watched where a policeman was under “deep cover” in the mob, and he was called upon to kill someone by the mob boss as a token of his loyalty. He was in a really bad space because if he did kill the person, anything that he (or the police) tried to pin on the mob boss would be considered entrapment.

So be clear on what it is that you are doing when you set up the trap for the employee, as the lines can often be quite blurred; if you are in any kind of doubt, seek professional assistance.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

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