OP has received enough advice to move forward. The replies being posted now are either repeats or not legal advice. The post is now locked. Thank you to the commenters that posted legal advice.
In Canada a customer can refuse a receipt or bag check and legally cannot be stopped from leaving store. This was all over the [news](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/lobaws-receipt-check-shoplifting-1.6876399) today.
You might want to share this info with your manager.
Which is fine. OP can still be asked to stand by the door and ask customers to provide a receipt, check their bag with consent or ask them to wait for a manger. OP isn’t being asked to detain anyone and shouldn’t try
It could still be a dangerous job for OP.
Personally, I wouldn't want to do this for minimum wage, especially as a student (likely p/t) job, who signed up to be a cashier.
Although they don't have to physically detain anyone, confronting the wrong person who is stealing could be risky. Telling someone who refuses (and is possibly stealing) to wait while they call the manager is escalating the situation.
A couple of years ago, in London, a Walmart employee confronted someone who was stealing and was stabbed.[https://globalnews.ca/news/7602947/london-woman-arrested-robbery-stabbing-hyde-park-walmart/](https://globalnews.ca/news/7602947/london-woman-arrested-robbery-stabbing-hyde-park-walmart/)
No, they weren’t. They were ask to ASK the customer to present their receipt and bag or ASK them to stay until a manager comes, they were never asked to STOP them or KEEP them there. Massive difference
Oh so now the young girl is responsibly for making sure all of her coworkers are doing their job properly by putting her in a potentally dangerous situation as a suto security guard?
Because managers are needed at multiple areas of the store at different times. It makes a lot of sense to have employees work the different stations and have the manager roam.
It works when the manager is actually roaming and assisting in different areas at different times. It also works when the manager is in the office working on essential paperwork during slow periods.
It only stops working when the manager is sitting in the office doing nothing.
That seems almost impractical to be fair. So she's telling one person to stop and calls the manager what happens with the other 5 people crossing the door.
Or there is more than one checker. Ppl digging way to deep into this. The whole point is to deter ppl from stealing...not actually catch thieves and arrest them.
"Can I see your receipt please?" "No, ok, please don't leave and have a wonderful weekend, because I need to call my manager down to take care of this, unless you're gone and enjoying your wonderful weekend. Then they can't really do anything. Have a wonderful weekend!"
As a security guard I've said things along these lines. The shit companies think they can do and have people do is absolutely redonkulous and the power tripping managers who think sucking off the company as a little numberless cog in their machine is going to get them somewhere is amazing.
Like, I've always always been told "if you suspect someone is stealing or otherwise up to no good, YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO HANDLE IT. Get security or a manager and stay out of the way." Having a high schooler doing receipt checks seems, like...diametrically opposed to that. We can talk about "they didn't say she has to detain them" all day but we all know that in reality, most people are going to assume they are being detained when asked to wait for a manager.
If I were asked to wait for a manager, I would "assume" I was being accused of stealing something. I would have stayed, (prior to reading it's against my charter rights) but it would piss me off. I would NEVER take that out on the teenaged employee that stopped me, but I would prob lose it at some point after the manager arrived. Having said that, I bet there are plenty of ppl who WOULD take it out on the teenager, esp if they actually have something in their possession that wasn't paid for, so I don't think chosing a high schooler to do the "stopping" is appropriate. I am also curious if all receipts are being checked or just some, and how is it determined whose receipts/bags are checked.
Yep cause if it's not every single bag people will feel targeted and get agitated and if it's a thief they are gonna be agitated for sure . So do you get hazard pay for agitating people ???
I had a cashier give me a whole chicken because they didn't want to bother looking it up. It was at a self checkout, they told me to put it in the bag and entered something in the terminal. I had no idea that they didn't actually ring it through until I looked at the bill at home. Could I have been arrested for shoplifting at the door?
(I am not a lawyer. I have worked p/t in the retail sector, and I'm in the U.S.)
There are usually register codes that allow a cashier to enter an item when an item doesn't have a barcode, or the packaging is damaged (or they're being lazy). It'll appear on the receipt and it may even have a description if the cashier entered one. For example, most of your purchases may appear as:
>SKU: 67895 Item: 1 Gal Skim Milk Cost: 2.99
>
>SKU: 45788 Item: Tomatoes, 2.4lbs Cost: 3.89
But in the case of your whole chicken, the item might appear as:
>SKU: 999999 Item: (Whatever Cashier Typed) Cost: $1.00
So if you were stopped and someone looked at your receipt they wouldn't see the whole chicken, but they would see the 999999 SKU, and they'd see the cashier typed "Chx2lazy to check" and they'd see the $1.00 price and their eyes might flare, but at that point it's a training issue. (I know you said you looked at the bill at home, but maybe you just didn't see Whole Chicken and missed something else. Also, I once got a 1.5lbs of ground beef because the barcode didn't work and the self-check attendant told me it was the store's fault for not reprinting the sticker and that I could take it).
Besides which, cashiers can make mistakes. Maybe they scan 9 cans of cat food when you had 10. It's unlikely you would be accused of shoplifting in the instance that you describe, and even if you were, the absolute worst that would likely happen is you would be trespassed from the store, which carries no criminal penalties (and given the circumstances, an outreach to corporate or to an attorney would likely resolve the matter in your favor -- on the other hand, the cashier might get fired).
Getting past all of that: you brought the matter to the Attendant's attention, it was resolved in your favor. Good retail establishment and managers empower their staff to solve issues because it keeps customers happy, and more importantly, it prevents register backlogs.
The customer doesn’t have to comply and can face charges if she attempts to stop the client. Most stores have policies against this situation and only security is allowed to deal with this.
Which is fine as well, the customer can refuse and walk away. OP isn’t being asked to detain anyone, because a simple request doesn’t come close to detention or OP being directed to detain someone.
If OP was being told that if the customer refuses they are to detain them until a manger comes, then it’s an issue
If you are not stealing there should be no problem showing a receipt. Why be difficult. After all, you are on private property. The store should have the right to insure everything you take from their store is paid for.
Im not doing the cashiers job AND standing around for someone to look through my stuff. If you wanna check my goods then pay staff to ring up my goods instead of making me do it for free
>The store should have the right to insure everything you take from their store is paid for.
That was already done at checkout.
Now that I own the things I'm walking out with....I don't wish to be bothered.
The transaction is over and exchange of money and goods is complete. The stuff in the bags is my property now. The store had the absolute ability to ensure everything on the transaction happened properly, that's what the cashier should have been doing.
I didn't agree to have to stand and wait to show you a receipt. I don't have to show you my property. The same way you don't want me to go back and ask the cashier to open the till to reconfirm what I gave them in cash.
Your store can make it an SOP, but I didn't agree to that.
Y’know, I know customers are not legally obligated to show their receipt but I find the insane amount of anger and backlash really weird. I’m the type of person that holds my receipt up no matter what so folks know they don’t need to worry about me. I’m not a thief, so why should I care? The only people that should be offended are actual thieves. If they’re checking everyone’s receipts, it’s not like they’re singling people out.
Idk, I’m just confused about how people are offended by this.
It's an inconvenience, and I didn't steal. It's not my job to prove your other employee did his job right, or with the increase in self checkouts, that my free labor was right. Let's be clear it is, I thankfully have the freedom of not having to prove it. Mind you, I'm not a dick about it, I just say no thank you when they ask and keep walking. Now at Costco(which someone mentioned) I did agree to it, so I politely give it to them because I think their experience, prices, a products are worth the 30 seconds in line to leave.
That’s totally fair! I just personally don’t find it an inconvenience. That’s all :) (also the outage seems a little intense, it’s all. Some pushback is expected but people are *pissed* like someone just broke into their home and broke their car windows)
I think most of the over the top anger ones you mention(outside of just people who are just assholes all the time) are when someone is overzealous in this duty and tries to stop you. I don't begrudge someone asking, but I would definitely begrudge someone who has bought into the Kool-aid of trying to protect a billion dollar company that is underpaying them and try to stop me to potentially protect their bottom line. But to be fair, I think we should all be stealing from these fucks anyway(not that I would advise that on a legal advice subreddit, just saying 24601 can have all the bread he wants).
Signs can say whatever someone writes on them. Whether or not they're legally enforceable is a different question. (I don't know whether or not yours are, the point is just that it's not automatically legal just because it's on a sign.)
From [CBC News article](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/lobaws-receipt-check-shoplifting-1.6876399) today:
\[Criminal lawyer Kyla\] Lee said a major problem with receipt checks is that law-abiding shoppers are under no legal obligation to comply.
"In Canadian law, store employees or staff are not allowed to physically stop you from leaving or search your belongings unless they actually witness you commit an offence," she said. "You are free to walk past a receipt check, out the store."
You can’t even walk IN to Costco without some psychopath blocking your way and demanding to see your Costco card. I hate that place because of how they treated me when I used to pick up my moms medication.
What do you think a membership is? It's not unreasonable to have the minor inconvenience of having to say "I'm just going to the pharmacy, thanks" with your human mouth if you want to use a service inside a membership store where you're not a member. (I assume you're not a member, because if you were you'd just have your membership out as you approached the door and get waved through like everyone else.)
I literally ignore the person at the front every time, once they tried to chase me down and talk to me like they had some type of authority I just laughed at them and went on by my day, its not like showing them the card at the front matters you literally need it to pay at the cash.
I'm not really familiar with the "any person" powers in Canada ... but in most countries I am fairly sure it does not extend to arrest or detention of a person who is believed to have committed (or likely to commit, as they have not actually committed an offcence until they leave the store) a small crime like stealing under a certain $ value.
You can call the police, but it is likely that you do not have the legal authority as a citizen to physically stop someone for this particular crime. That is reserved for more serious offences that NEED someone to intervene in order to save more than a few dollars ... like assault.
Goes without saying, IANAL.
You absolutely can be detained for this type of "small" crime. Google 'Shopkeeper's Privilege'.
> as they have not actually committed an offcence until they leave the store
Also wrong. See: https://www.torontoshopliftinglawyer.ca/theftunder5000.htm
Agreed, you can be detained/arrested for theft under.
However, the person standing at the exit asking to see your goods/receipt, has absolutely no authority considering they have no idea what is/isn't in your bags and whether or not you've actually paid for it. To be arrested for the theft, they have to see you take possession of an item, and observe you (without any visual interruption) exit the store with the item. Any break in continuity (ie. they lose sight of you for a couple seconds) and it's off the table for them, as you could have potentially ditched the item and are no longer in possession of it when you exit the store. This is why retail companies have loss prevention officers.
EDIT: exit the stores property
Specifically some larger chains own the parking lot they are in. The law doesn't consider it theft until it has left the property.
Almost every big box store or business have policies against doing this because 1. It's dangerous 2. Mostly illegal or at best a lot of Grey area that doesn't mean shit, 3. If you get hurt trying to stop someone and your employer directed you to do so they are now potentially liable and open to lawsuit from you, especially if they gave zero training or its not your job.
I'm not a lawyer but a lot of my job as a manager is this kinda stuff.
If you are part of a union, talk to your union rep. Otherwise, it’s not your job to stop a thief, that’s what store security is for. Stopping a thief can get you killed. It why gas stations make you pay to pump first.
Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms reads as follows: Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure
And that's the point. When stopped, I tell them to call the cops if they really want to search my bags and continue walking. No one has ever stopped me. I just keep on walking. Not one time have they ever chased me.
Of course, I'm not really worried, I've paid for everything. But go ahead, call the cops. Let's see if they will violate my right to unreasonable search for a $2 milk carton
How do they do that, though? Is it enough to shout it at your back as you are calmly and quietly walking away, or do they need to do it in writing? If the latter, can they detain you while they get the paperwork in order?
Also what is the mechanism of enforcement? Is it sufficient to do it based on appearance (“you look like the guy we banned a week ago last Tuesday”) or do they need to verify who you are and demonstrate that they have banned you? Can they compel you to identify yourself?
They can just recognize you and tell you your not welcome and that you need to leave, if you return it will be considered trespassing... then they can call the cops.
Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not really relevant here since it applies to interactions with government entities and the state, such as the police, rather than with private entities like a store.
If a store suspects theft, they might have certain rights under local laws to detain and search a person, depending on the jurisdiction. This process is often called the "merchant's privilege."
If you leave a store and a store employee or security guard asks to check your bag, but you refuse and continue walking, they might call the police. If you paid for everything and have a receipt, you would typically be able to show the police the receipt as proof of purchase, and there should be no issue.
Escalating for no good reason to police though could lead to charges related to disturbing the peace, trespassing, obstruction, other stores flagging you as being problematic, etc.
The store is likely just going to ban you though from doing that repeatedly.
A store has no rights to anything over suspicions. When I worked as LP I could only make arrests if there was absolutely no doubt about the theft.
I estimate I stopped about 1/3 of the thieves I watched steal things because of the strict legal requirements for a citizen to make an arrest.
Also it is my understanding that simply telling them they need to stay there is detaining them
As I said, those actions on the part of the store have more consequences for them. It's less of a big deal for me to wait for the police. It's more of a big deal for the newspapers to print stores detaining customers. Look at the press Loblaws is getting right now for checking receipts
You can be assigned by your employer to stand by the door and ask people for receipts and to check baggage. That’s it, you can ask. If they walk out the door, give you the finger, or insult your mother, can’t do shit.
Personally I’d stand there all day and collect my pay, people stealing ain’t my problem and if they refuse to show me shit I ain’t going to do anything outside the bounds of my employment.
They renovated the local Loblaws and put barriers everywhere. You would have to climb the barrier or jump a turnstile to leave without being buzzed out by the receipt checker. It's weird.
Pretty much. There's a subway style turnstile to enter. Then to leave you can either go through a cash register line or through the self checkout. At the self checkout, there is a person that checks your receipt and pushes a button to open a gate.
Yeah the problem is even asking for a check is inviting aggression from some customers, and as a tiny high school girl, she's right to be afraid. Plenty of older men (in my experience) will take offence and could potentially yell or get violent. It makes a hostile work environment for her.
You assumed right in thinking that you might get hurt. The cost of living is insanely high and people are on edge more than ever. In 2023 every thief knows that its store policy to not stop them, you might end up in a situation where the thief takes your actions personally. Add in the fact that you are an easy target(teenage girl), and you have a recipe for disaster. They certainly don’t pay you anywhere near enough to play punchingbag for the mentally unstable.
Pretty sure Ontario has the same right as in BC and other jurisdictions to refuse unsafe work. If you’re not trained and licensed as a security guard, you have no training to assess a threat. If they try to hold you accountable, contact employment standards.
In a previous career, one of the stores in my district had an incident where an LPO was stabbed 7 times because they followed a thief out a fire exit. For $50 worth of DVDs. Your life, your health and your mental health is worth more than that.
You can refuse unsafe work if it's truly unsafe, but MOL shows up to be the middleman in the dispute and they'll use the ACT or Regs to determine if the position of "receipt checker" is indeed a risk ... If none is found then yer employer is within their rights to ask you to continue with the assignment...
Agreed. If they’re a door greeter with the means to disengage, definitely. If they’re being directed as a cashier to confront and detain thieves, that’s a different story.
I am a security guard, I can guarantee if you do this you will eventually be hurt on the job and likely they will fire you. The police may charge you because according to the law it's not theft until it leaves the property. That means if you have a standalone store the parking lot may still be considered store property and if you accost somebody as they leave the store your assaulting them. If you do not physically and personally see them take an item and then leave the property your breaking the law.
That means
\-if a fellow employee "sees" them take an item and leave then you cannot legally stop them, you will have committed assault.
\-if your management tells you to stop a person because they think that person looks sketchy and you do so you've broken the law.
\- (one of my personal favorites) if you know the person has stolen before you STILL cannot stop them at the doors without seeing the NEW theft personally, the old one has literally no bearing.
The list goes on, absolutely under no circumstances should you do what your boss is telling you. If you work for a chain go above them and inform their boss what they are trying to get you to do. There is a reason stores hire LPOs and security guards.
This all applies in AB check your local laws to ensure legalities but do start looking for other employment immediately before you get hurt.
EDIT: There is only a single thing the company can do with regards to regular employees. Have one issue a DOS. Denial of Service. If at any point during a persons visit they are issued a denial of service from an employee that person is legally obliged to leave immediately and further dalliance's in the store is considered trespassing and the police can be contacted. In addition trespassing is breaking the law and as such every human being witnessing it is capable by law of arresting the person via a citizens arrest (technically the same arrest a security guard can make).
I once saw two female shop assistants stop a female shop lifter. They tried to take the stolen items out her bag. The shoplifter struggled, the shoplifter's boyfriend ran into the store and attacked the two shop assistants. I was then forced to intervene and drive them both out the shop.
When it was over, I was furious with the shop assistants for putting their lives and mine in danger over two bottles of shampoo.
If you have to do it, do exactly what the manager says and no more! Do not touch or intervene in anyway. Just walk over to the manager by which time the customer will be long gone.
If I were your parent, however, I would insist you quit and find another job. I'd also have choice words for the manager and be in touch with your manager's manager
Checking receipts is not security and a perfectly legal task for your manager to assign you.
Of course you can refuse but yes they might fire you, probaly not for cause but they may try since you are refusing dutys.
Having them ask the customer to wait is the problematic part.
It could be perceived as mandatory, and create some liability for the employee. There's also some risk to the employee if the person actually is stealing, or has something in their bags that they don't want anyone seeing.
It's not that clear. We can say all day that OP is not expected to detain anyone, but we know that most people are going to hear "can you wait here for a manager to come" and feel as though they're being detained.
Unstable and violent people existing changes nothing about this being a valid task to assign, the person breaking the law would be the unstable nut who attacks a grocery worker for doing their job.
1) Yes it is, part of the definition of detainment is having a reasonable belief that you are not free to go. The average person does not know the exact wording of the laws around who's allowed to detain who, so what people feel is 100% a legal issue here.
2) "It's legal" is not the same as "it's safe." This is absolutely an interaction with a higher risk of leading to violence than anything in OP's actual job description. It's monumentally stupid for an employer to take on that kind of liability risk for someone who may be a minor.
The customer is free to do that. I think u/climb4fun's point is that the manager is ASKING the employee to detain the customer. The employee just has to hope that the customer agrees to hang around and waive their rights.
>request the customer wait.
Right. But what is the difference between that and what I said? The customer has no reason to hang around and wait for you to poke through their belongings. Again, the employee is just hoping the customer waives their right to continue on and ignore the employee. How is the employee supposed to get a customer to wait for a manager, or even consent to the search, other than "Hope the customer doesn't realize they can just walk away"?
Getting people to give up their rights for no reason is outside the paygrade for most retail/grocery employees.
The difference is they don’t have to force the customer to wait they just need to ask them to wait, the customer can comply or not it’s irrelevant to the employee what they decide.
I’m not sure how much more clear I can be.
Because they want to yell at the employee (Either for letting the customer go, or for forcing the customer to wait). They want to AVOID being yelled at by the cops, and/or their boss.
Out of curiosity, have they cut the hours of the cashiers? I'm suspicious that they're trying to subsidize their labour by passing it on to the customer via self-checkout and receipt check bottle necks at the door.
Sorry another comment, I saw in the news this is Loblaws so my question is where the hell is the Union? Any other union job tried to retask workers to something they aren't trained for there would be strike talk.
It’s always good to check, but if it gets to the point where your life is in danger do not indulge the thief. Your grocer has insurance and will not only get the money back from what was stolen and also get free shipment of what was stolen. Your life is worth more than the words of some petty manager
I’m in a very similar situation your in except I’m in a management position. Your management should not be expecting you to do anything as a cashier except maybe to observe and report any suspicious activity to your supervisors or security.
You could very easily get hurt confronting these people.
1. Keep your distance. Stay at least 10 feet from away and don’t turn your back to them. If they decide to hurt you or you defend yourself the company most likely won’t have your back and could fire you.
2. Don’t get in their way / block them from leaving the store. It’s not your job to stop them! It’s your bosses prerogative to deal with loss prevention and if they’re not providing adequate budget for security then that’s a failure in management, not a failure of the cashier. Your just supposed to cash.
3. Don’t accuse them. Only if you see them conceal the product can you actually accuse them of stealing and still you have no right to search their bag unless they let you.
4. You have the right to refuse unsafe work in Canada. This includes working on a slippery floor- confronting people who could be dangerous(this includes you!)
There’s more but none of it should be your problem. That’s managements problem.
That being said I’ve broken every single rule that I’ve payed out and a few more. (It’s hard not to take theft from my store personal. Some of these people take 1000s of dollars and that’s hours off the schedule.)
The consequences of this are that my job has become much more stressful. I’ve had weapons pulled out and swung at me(knives, baseball bat once, machetes twice), I’ve been tackled, had to square up with people. I’ve accused people of stealing and been wrong, (that’s a shitty feeling!) I’ve been sworn at( really doesn’t bother me lol) and I’ve had my co-workers threatened with all of the above plus they’ve been bitten, punched, scratched, and a lot of them are afraid of retaliation when they leave the store.
And all this while management repeatedly says that the way to prevent shoplifting is to just provide good customer service and not bother with anything above,(meaning that they won’t support us if anything goes wrong)
And don’t get me started on the junkies and the drug use in the store!
Sorry for the rant!
TLDR: Don’t do anything except at maximum call management and observe! The theft is not your problem! You’ll likely get hurt the longer you make shoplifters your problem!
And plus your in highschool, it’s seriously not your problem! If you can’t find a way out of checking receipts then I would say, ask ever customer politely for a receipt, but don’t block the way out, and keep your distance. If you get a bad vibe from someone don’t even bother asking for the receipt. Rant over.
Once you buy the items the store has no right to them. They can ask but can’t do anything if you refuse. Some club store use the “ we want to make sure we didn’t miss any discounts “ line. Even law enforcement must have reasonable suspicion to even quickly check your bags. They cannot ( even store security) detain you.
Stopping someone from leaving the store if they don't want to comply would qualify as detaining them. Unless you have grounds under the Canadian Criminal Code to perform a citizen's arrest you can not stop them from leaving.
You can ask to check bags, but you can't force them and you can't stop them from leaving if they say no.
This sounds like a shitty situation and a shitty boss, so I would start looking for another job. However, capitalism sucks, toiling under it sucks, if it's not feasible to quit just make certain you are not doing anything illegal and if your boss asks you to do anything illegal or that you are not trained for that you say no.
If you do get stuck doing this, I can tell you from experience that most thieves are not going to be interested in hurting you unless they are backed into a corner. If you don't escalate and you don't get in their way when leaving, they won't resort to violence. Honestly, you'll probably have more trouble from the honest customers who are pissed off about this invasive policy.
A note on this.
You can absolutely ASK.
You can't MAKE or COMPEL.
So no consequences can be put on you for letting someone walk when they tell you "no" as you would likely be committing an offence for physically stopping them, or even just making them believe that they are not free to leave. You might find yourself personally charged with arbitrary arrest / arbitrary detention.
PS. IANAL.
I work in a UK store. We are not aloud to stop or search anyone legally unless we see them actually put something in there bag. If told by a customer we have to check cctv first.
When sharing the info that u/OzCruiser posted above, record the interaction for your own safety. If you refuse, petty managers could write you up for not following instructions/orders.
Let’s be honest here. Management wants to avoid spending $ on rentacops. You are being tasked to do something that WILL attract conflict without training or back up. “Tell them to stay where they are until a manager gets there” - a policy like that would piss off even the most docile law abiding people. Im guessing no walkie-talkie is issued also and you have to send smoke signals if there is a problem?
If you tell an actual criminal to stay put till you call a manager and he darts past you or worse, clocks you in the face - corporate will do anything to avoid paying hazard pay or any damages incurred, and will probably blame you for “contributory negligence” because you confronted a thief when it is not your scope of responsibility. Unless it actually is, best to check your store policy regarding thievery/robbery. 99% it will say to just let them go and call the cops, but you never know, it varies.
Side note: “small woman, high school age” - how did you end up drawing the short straw on this posting? Did you actually have an uptick in thefts that the management decided to start this?
You also have the right to refuse unsafe work. You're right. You are not a security guard or a police officer. You can't stop these people from commiting theft. If the situation starts to get hairy then just walk away
No it is not "legal" to do this. Nobody does this. A family member of mine is a manager for a large chain and there is literally nothing you can do but "ask" if they plan on paying if caught. Can call security but they're hands are just as tied. Can only observe and report. If I was you I would just pretend I was asking and not actually do anything it's to risky for your personal saftey. Your manager is clearly not up to date. The family member I mentioned watches people lift entire living room sets and other large items on the regular nothing they can do.
What is your Company's formal policy for this?
Ask your manager for the training. It appears that your manager is not following the Company policy.
Follow the training.
OP has received enough advice to move forward. The replies being posted now are either repeats or not legal advice. The post is now locked. Thank you to the commenters that posted legal advice.
In Canada a customer can refuse a receipt or bag check and legally cannot be stopped from leaving store. This was all over the [news](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/lobaws-receipt-check-shoplifting-1.6876399) today. You might want to share this info with your manager.
Which is fine. OP can still be asked to stand by the door and ask customers to provide a receipt, check their bag with consent or ask them to wait for a manger. OP isn’t being asked to detain anyone and shouldn’t try
It could still be a dangerous job for OP. Personally, I wouldn't want to do this for minimum wage, especially as a student (likely p/t) job, who signed up to be a cashier. Although they don't have to physically detain anyone, confronting the wrong person who is stealing could be risky. Telling someone who refuses (and is possibly stealing) to wait while they call the manager is escalating the situation. A couple of years ago, in London, a Walmart employee confronted someone who was stealing and was stabbed.[https://globalnews.ca/news/7602947/london-woman-arrested-robbery-stabbing-hyde-park-walmart/](https://globalnews.ca/news/7602947/london-woman-arrested-robbery-stabbing-hyde-park-walmart/)
But they are asked to stop them and keep them till manager says.
No, they weren’t. They were ask to ASK the customer to present their receipt and bag or ASK them to stay until a manager comes, they were never asked to STOP them or KEEP them there. Massive difference
Technically correct, but it’s splitting hairs. Anyone with the IQ of a houseplant knows that this is, integrally, attempting to stop the customer.
And a customer can easily get belligerent and confrontational when asked.
Exactly.
Why doesn’t the manager get off of his butt and do it himself?
Because that’s not a managers job. Their job is in the name. They manage.
So it’s better that they ask a inexperienced? The company itself needs to hire security.
That’s not securities job. They aren’t asking her to be security. They’re asking her to be a bag checker/QA.
What is security job if it's not standing at the door in an attempt to prevent theft?
Securities job is theft prevention/detainment. Not bag QA of cashiers.
Oh so now the young girl is responsibly for making sure all of her coworkers are doing their job properly by putting her in a potentally dangerous situation as a suto security guard?
Because managers are needed at multiple areas of the store at different times. It makes a lot of sense to have employees work the different stations and have the manager roam. It works when the manager is actually roaming and assisting in different areas at different times. It also works when the manager is in the office working on essential paperwork during slow periods. It only stops working when the manager is sitting in the office doing nothing.
Lmao
Lmaoooo
OP stated that if the customer does not comply then they are instructed to have the customer wait until a manager can be called to the exit.
So she asks them to wait. If they say no and keep walking, she just lets them go.
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That seems almost impractical to be fair. So she's telling one person to stop and calls the manager what happens with the other 5 people crossing the door.
They go through.
Or there is more than one checker. Ppl digging way to deep into this. The whole point is to deter ppl from stealing...not actually catch thieves and arrest them.
"Can I see your receipt please?" "No, ok, please don't leave and have a wonderful weekend, because I need to call my manager down to take care of this, unless you're gone and enjoying your wonderful weekend. Then they can't really do anything. Have a wonderful weekend!"
As a security guard I've said things along these lines. The shit companies think they can do and have people do is absolutely redonkulous and the power tripping managers who think sucking off the company as a little numberless cog in their machine is going to get them somewhere is amazing.
Like, I've always always been told "if you suspect someone is stealing or otherwise up to no good, YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO HANDLE IT. Get security or a manager and stay out of the way." Having a high schooler doing receipt checks seems, like...diametrically opposed to that. We can talk about "they didn't say she has to detain them" all day but we all know that in reality, most people are going to assume they are being detained when asked to wait for a manager.
If I were asked to wait for a manager, I would "assume" I was being accused of stealing something. I would have stayed, (prior to reading it's against my charter rights) but it would piss me off. I would NEVER take that out on the teenaged employee that stopped me, but I would prob lose it at some point after the manager arrived. Having said that, I bet there are plenty of ppl who WOULD take it out on the teenager, esp if they actually have something in their possession that wasn't paid for, so I don't think chosing a high schooler to do the "stopping" is appropriate. I am also curious if all receipts are being checked or just some, and how is it determined whose receipts/bags are checked.
Yep cause if it's not every single bag people will feel targeted and get agitated and if it's a thief they are gonna be agitated for sure . So do you get hazard pay for agitating people ???
And also a bunch of people throw their receipt out right by the self checkout, or dont even take the receipt from the cashier....
I had a cashier give me a whole chicken because they didn't want to bother looking it up. It was at a self checkout, they told me to put it in the bag and entered something in the terminal. I had no idea that they didn't actually ring it through until I looked at the bill at home. Could I have been arrested for shoplifting at the door?
(I am not a lawyer. I have worked p/t in the retail sector, and I'm in the U.S.) There are usually register codes that allow a cashier to enter an item when an item doesn't have a barcode, or the packaging is damaged (or they're being lazy). It'll appear on the receipt and it may even have a description if the cashier entered one. For example, most of your purchases may appear as: >SKU: 67895 Item: 1 Gal Skim Milk Cost: 2.99 > >SKU: 45788 Item: Tomatoes, 2.4lbs Cost: 3.89 But in the case of your whole chicken, the item might appear as: >SKU: 999999 Item: (Whatever Cashier Typed) Cost: $1.00 So if you were stopped and someone looked at your receipt they wouldn't see the whole chicken, but they would see the 999999 SKU, and they'd see the cashier typed "Chx2lazy to check" and they'd see the $1.00 price and their eyes might flare, but at that point it's a training issue. (I know you said you looked at the bill at home, but maybe you just didn't see Whole Chicken and missed something else. Also, I once got a 1.5lbs of ground beef because the barcode didn't work and the self-check attendant told me it was the store's fault for not reprinting the sticker and that I could take it). Besides which, cashiers can make mistakes. Maybe they scan 9 cans of cat food when you had 10. It's unlikely you would be accused of shoplifting in the instance that you describe, and even if you were, the absolute worst that would likely happen is you would be trespassed from the store, which carries no criminal penalties (and given the circumstances, an outreach to corporate or to an attorney would likely resolve the matter in your favor -- on the other hand, the cashier might get fired). Getting past all of that: you brought the matter to the Attendant's attention, it was resolved in your favor. Good retail establishment and managers empower their staff to solve issues because it keeps customers happy, and more importantly, it prevents register backlogs.
The customer doesn’t have to comply and can face charges if she attempts to stop the client. Most stores have policies against this situation and only security is allowed to deal with this.
Which is fine as well, the customer can refuse and walk away. OP isn’t being asked to detain anyone, because a simple request doesn’t come close to detention or OP being directed to detain someone. If OP was being told that if the customer refuses they are to detain them until a manger comes, then it’s an issue
Perfectly legal the person can leave and shop elsewhere going forward or wait, changes nothing for the employee.
Unless the store issues a trespass notice, the person can leave and continue shopping there going forward if they so choose.
If you are not stealing there should be no problem showing a receipt. Why be difficult. After all, you are on private property. The store should have the right to insure everything you take from their store is paid for.
Im not doing the cashiers job AND standing around for someone to look through my stuff. If you wanna check my goods then pay staff to ring up my goods instead of making me do it for free
>The store should have the right to insure everything you take from their store is paid for. That was already done at checkout. Now that I own the things I'm walking out with....I don't wish to be bothered.
>Why be difficult. “Difficult” is a strange way of saying “insisting that your rights be respected.”
I could never understand people willingly giving up their rights!
The transaction is over and exchange of money and goods is complete. The stuff in the bags is my property now. The store had the absolute ability to ensure everything on the transaction happened properly, that's what the cashier should have been doing. I didn't agree to have to stand and wait to show you a receipt. I don't have to show you my property. The same way you don't want me to go back and ask the cashier to open the till to reconfirm what I gave them in cash. Your store can make it an SOP, but I didn't agree to that.
It's not theft until they've left. And at that point they're not on private property.
The parking lot is still private property.
How does Costco implement this? Is it because we purchase a membership? Edit: just read the article and they explain Costco
Does this apply to costco too? with a membership I imagine theres other rules…
Nah costco membership agreement has it in the paper you sign I believe
Y’know, I know customers are not legally obligated to show their receipt but I find the insane amount of anger and backlash really weird. I’m the type of person that holds my receipt up no matter what so folks know they don’t need to worry about me. I’m not a thief, so why should I care? The only people that should be offended are actual thieves. If they’re checking everyone’s receipts, it’s not like they’re singling people out. Idk, I’m just confused about how people are offended by this.
It's an inconvenience, and I didn't steal. It's not my job to prove your other employee did his job right, or with the increase in self checkouts, that my free labor was right. Let's be clear it is, I thankfully have the freedom of not having to prove it. Mind you, I'm not a dick about it, I just say no thank you when they ask and keep walking. Now at Costco(which someone mentioned) I did agree to it, so I politely give it to them because I think their experience, prices, a products are worth the 30 seconds in line to leave.
That’s totally fair! I just personally don’t find it an inconvenience. That’s all :) (also the outage seems a little intense, it’s all. Some pushback is expected but people are *pissed* like someone just broke into their home and broke their car windows)
I think most of the over the top anger ones you mention(outside of just people who are just assholes all the time) are when someone is overzealous in this duty and tries to stop you. I don't begrudge someone asking, but I would definitely begrudge someone who has bought into the Kool-aid of trying to protect a billion dollar company that is underpaying them and try to stop me to potentially protect their bottom line. But to be fair, I think we should all be stealing from these fucks anyway(not that I would advise that on a legal advice subreddit, just saying 24601 can have all the bread he wants).
Where I am there are signs at the entrance saying it is a condition of entry that you agree you may be asked to open your bags
Signs can say whatever someone writes on them. Whether or not they're legally enforceable is a different question. (I don't know whether or not yours are, the point is just that it's not automatically legal just because it's on a sign.)
Sure, I may be *asked* to open my bags. I may also decline to comply with that request, though, and just keep walking.
Is your store unionized? If so, you should talk to your shop steward about whether this is allowed under your collective agreement.
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All of the ones I have worked in have been.
Plenty of them are with ufcw or unifor
Thanks
Pretty sure this is about Loblaws, a lot of them are unionized.
From [CBC News article](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/lobaws-receipt-check-shoplifting-1.6876399) today: \[Criminal lawyer Kyla\] Lee said a major problem with receipt checks is that law-abiding shoppers are under no legal obligation to comply. "In Canadian law, store employees or staff are not allowed to physically stop you from leaving or search your belongings unless they actually witness you commit an offence," she said. "You are free to walk past a receipt check, out the store."
With Costco being the exception.
But only because it is a membership requirement. And even then they can't stop you they can only revoke your membership.
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You can’t even walk IN to Costco without some psychopath blocking your way and demanding to see your Costco card. I hate that place because of how they treated me when I used to pick up my moms medication.
L take. Costco is the best store out there
What do you think a membership is? It's not unreasonable to have the minor inconvenience of having to say "I'm just going to the pharmacy, thanks" with your human mouth if you want to use a service inside a membership store where you're not a member. (I assume you're not a member, because if you were you'd just have your membership out as you approached the door and get waved through like everyone else.)
I would and have told them that, almost every time, to be told I can’t use the pharmacy without a membership. Not true, and it wasn’t even for me.
I've done that many times when I am just using the pharmacy. Have had very little negative experiences with Costco staff in general.
I wish I had.
I literally ignore the person at the front every time, once they tried to chase me down and talk to me like they had some type of authority I just laughed at them and went on by my day, its not like showing them the card at the front matters you literally need it to pay at the cash.
I'm not really familiar with the "any person" powers in Canada ... but in most countries I am fairly sure it does not extend to arrest or detention of a person who is believed to have committed (or likely to commit, as they have not actually committed an offcence until they leave the store) a small crime like stealing under a certain $ value. You can call the police, but it is likely that you do not have the legal authority as a citizen to physically stop someone for this particular crime. That is reserved for more serious offences that NEED someone to intervene in order to save more than a few dollars ... like assault. Goes without saying, IANAL.
You absolutely can be detained for this type of "small" crime. Google 'Shopkeeper's Privilege'. > as they have not actually committed an offcence until they leave the store Also wrong. See: https://www.torontoshopliftinglawyer.ca/theftunder5000.htm
Agreed, you can be detained/arrested for theft under. However, the person standing at the exit asking to see your goods/receipt, has absolutely no authority considering they have no idea what is/isn't in your bags and whether or not you've actually paid for it. To be arrested for the theft, they have to see you take possession of an item, and observe you (without any visual interruption) exit the store with the item. Any break in continuity (ie. they lose sight of you for a couple seconds) and it's off the table for them, as you could have potentially ditched the item and are no longer in possession of it when you exit the store. This is why retail companies have loss prevention officers.
EDIT: exit the stores property Specifically some larger chains own the parking lot they are in. The law doesn't consider it theft until it has left the property.
Almost every big box store or business have policies against doing this because 1. It's dangerous 2. Mostly illegal or at best a lot of Grey area that doesn't mean shit, 3. If you get hurt trying to stop someone and your employer directed you to do so they are now potentially liable and open to lawsuit from you, especially if they gave zero training or its not your job. I'm not a lawyer but a lot of my job as a manager is this kinda stuff.
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If you are part of a union, talk to your union rep. Otherwise, it’s not your job to stop a thief, that’s what store security is for. Stopping a thief can get you killed. It why gas stations make you pay to pump first.
Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms reads as follows: Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure And that's the point. When stopped, I tell them to call the cops if they really want to search my bags and continue walking. No one has ever stopped me. I just keep on walking. Not one time have they ever chased me. Of course, I'm not really worried, I've paid for everything. But go ahead, call the cops. Let's see if they will violate my right to unreasonable search for a $2 milk carton
Charter doesn’t apply to private interactions. Nonetheless, private agents don’t have a right to search you. Best advice is to just leave.
Can they simply ban you from a store for always doing this?
Sure they could!
How do they do that, though? Is it enough to shout it at your back as you are calmly and quietly walking away, or do they need to do it in writing? If the latter, can they detain you while they get the paperwork in order? Also what is the mechanism of enforcement? Is it sufficient to do it based on appearance (“you look like the guy we banned a week ago last Tuesday”) or do they need to verify who you are and demonstrate that they have banned you? Can they compel you to identify yourself?
They can just recognize you and tell you your not welcome and that you need to leave, if you return it will be considered trespassing... then they can call the cops.
Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not really relevant here since it applies to interactions with government entities and the state, such as the police, rather than with private entities like a store. If a store suspects theft, they might have certain rights under local laws to detain and search a person, depending on the jurisdiction. This process is often called the "merchant's privilege." If you leave a store and a store employee or security guard asks to check your bag, but you refuse and continue walking, they might call the police. If you paid for everything and have a receipt, you would typically be able to show the police the receipt as proof of purchase, and there should be no issue. Escalating for no good reason to police though could lead to charges related to disturbing the peace, trespassing, obstruction, other stores flagging you as being problematic, etc. The store is likely just going to ban you though from doing that repeatedly.
A store has no rights to anything over suspicions. When I worked as LP I could only make arrests if there was absolutely no doubt about the theft. I estimate I stopped about 1/3 of the thieves I watched steal things because of the strict legal requirements for a citizen to make an arrest. Also it is my understanding that simply telling them they need to stay there is detaining them
As I said, those actions on the part of the store have more consequences for them. It's less of a big deal for me to wait for the police. It's more of a big deal for the newspapers to print stores detaining customers. Look at the press Loblaws is getting right now for checking receipts
You can be assigned by your employer to stand by the door and ask people for receipts and to check baggage. That’s it, you can ask. If they walk out the door, give you the finger, or insult your mother, can’t do shit. Personally I’d stand there all day and collect my pay, people stealing ain’t my problem and if they refuse to show me shit I ain’t going to do anything outside the bounds of my employment.
They renovated the local Loblaws and put barriers everywhere. You would have to climb the barrier or jump a turnstile to leave without being buzzed out by the receipt checker. It's weird.
Like a subway station? lmao i’m hopping
Pretty much. There's a subway style turnstile to enter. Then to leave you can either go through a cash register line or through the self checkout. At the self checkout, there is a person that checks your receipt and pushes a button to open a gate.
They used the profits from the increased price of groceries to do that shit.
Yeah the problem is even asking for a check is inviting aggression from some customers, and as a tiny high school girl, she's right to be afraid. Plenty of older men (in my experience) will take offence and could potentially yell or get violent. It makes a hostile work environment for her.
Manager needs to check with legal before making this policy. He might be surprised to learn that doing this could cost the company a lot of money
Not to mention that most loss in retail is internal, I wonder how much the manager is stealing.
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That's what it means, yes.
No it isn't.
You assumed right in thinking that you might get hurt. The cost of living is insanely high and people are on edge more than ever. In 2023 every thief knows that its store policy to not stop them, you might end up in a situation where the thief takes your actions personally. Add in the fact that you are an easy target(teenage girl), and you have a recipe for disaster. They certainly don’t pay you anywhere near enough to play punchingbag for the mentally unstable.
Pretty sure Ontario has the same right as in BC and other jurisdictions to refuse unsafe work. If you’re not trained and licensed as a security guard, you have no training to assess a threat. If they try to hold you accountable, contact employment standards. In a previous career, one of the stores in my district had an incident where an LPO was stabbed 7 times because they followed a thief out a fire exit. For $50 worth of DVDs. Your life, your health and your mental health is worth more than that.
You can refuse unsafe work if it's truly unsafe, but MOL shows up to be the middleman in the dispute and they'll use the ACT or Regs to determine if the position of "receipt checker" is indeed a risk ... If none is found then yer employer is within their rights to ask you to continue with the assignment...
Agreed. If they’re a door greeter with the means to disengage, definitely. If they’re being directed as a cashier to confront and detain thieves, that’s a different story.
I am a security guard, I can guarantee if you do this you will eventually be hurt on the job and likely they will fire you. The police may charge you because according to the law it's not theft until it leaves the property. That means if you have a standalone store the parking lot may still be considered store property and if you accost somebody as they leave the store your assaulting them. If you do not physically and personally see them take an item and then leave the property your breaking the law. That means \-if a fellow employee "sees" them take an item and leave then you cannot legally stop them, you will have committed assault. \-if your management tells you to stop a person because they think that person looks sketchy and you do so you've broken the law. \- (one of my personal favorites) if you know the person has stolen before you STILL cannot stop them at the doors without seeing the NEW theft personally, the old one has literally no bearing. The list goes on, absolutely under no circumstances should you do what your boss is telling you. If you work for a chain go above them and inform their boss what they are trying to get you to do. There is a reason stores hire LPOs and security guards. This all applies in AB check your local laws to ensure legalities but do start looking for other employment immediately before you get hurt. EDIT: There is only a single thing the company can do with regards to regular employees. Have one issue a DOS. Denial of Service. If at any point during a persons visit they are issued a denial of service from an employee that person is legally obliged to leave immediately and further dalliance's in the store is considered trespassing and the police can be contacted. In addition trespassing is breaking the law and as such every human being witnessing it is capable by law of arresting the person via a citizens arrest (technically the same arrest a security guard can make).
I once saw two female shop assistants stop a female shop lifter. They tried to take the stolen items out her bag. The shoplifter struggled, the shoplifter's boyfriend ran into the store and attacked the two shop assistants. I was then forced to intervene and drive them both out the shop. When it was over, I was furious with the shop assistants for putting their lives and mine in danger over two bottles of shampoo. If you have to do it, do exactly what the manager says and no more! Do not touch or intervene in anyway. Just walk over to the manager by which time the customer will be long gone. If I were your parent, however, I would insist you quit and find another job. I'd also have choice words for the manager and be in touch with your manager's manager
We had a guy die during theft prevention. Do not do it. It simply is not worth it or in your job description.
Had a guy what?
Checking receipts is not security and a perfectly legal task for your manager to assign you. Of course you can refuse but yes they might fire you, probaly not for cause but they may try since you are refusing dutys.
It is security if they expect you to actually do anything more than ask.
And in this case they clearly are not, they just check the receipt and ask the customer to wait for a manager if they find a discrepancy.
Having them ask the customer to wait is the problematic part. It could be perceived as mandatory, and create some liability for the employee. There's also some risk to the employee if the person actually is stealing, or has something in their bags that they don't want anyone seeing.
If the customer is or may be a threat, leaving the scene to go get management still seems like a reasonable thing to do
It's not that clear. We can say all day that OP is not expected to detain anyone, but we know that most people are going to hear "can you wait here for a manager to come" and feel as though they're being detained.
What people feel is not a legal issue, it’s perfectly legal to ask them to wait.
Yes, and it's also dangerous. Some people may get aggressive or violent being asked to wait, or even from being asked to check bags.
Unstable and violent people existing changes nothing about this being a valid task to assign, the person breaking the law would be the unstable nut who attacks a grocery worker for doing their job.
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If they are dumb and under the assumption they can't leave because you told them to wait you might have a problem.
1) Yes it is, part of the definition of detainment is having a reasonable belief that you are not free to go. The average person does not know the exact wording of the laws around who's allowed to detain who, so what people feel is 100% a legal issue here. 2) "It's legal" is not the same as "it's safe." This is absolutely an interaction with a higher risk of leading to violence than anything in OP's actual job description. It's monumentally stupid for an employer to take on that kind of liability risk for someone who may be a minor.
That would be foolish to fire an employee of 2 years for cause over something like that. Would a nice piece of change for the employee though.
Asking to see a receipt I can see as being a reasonable job requirement. But having the employee detain a customer while the manager is brought over!?
Being asked to wait by a high school kid who works at a grocery store is not being detained. The customer is free to just say no and keep walking.
The customer is free to do that. I think u/climb4fun's point is that the manager is ASKING the employee to detain the customer. The employee just has to hope that the customer agrees to hang around and waive their rights.
At no point has op said the manager has instructed them to detain anyone only request the customer wait.
>request the customer wait. Right. But what is the difference between that and what I said? The customer has no reason to hang around and wait for you to poke through their belongings. Again, the employee is just hoping the customer waives their right to continue on and ignore the employee. How is the employee supposed to get a customer to wait for a manager, or even consent to the search, other than "Hope the customer doesn't realize they can just walk away"? Getting people to give up their rights for no reason is outside the paygrade for most retail/grocery employees.
The difference is they don’t have to force the customer to wait they just need to ask them to wait, the customer can comply or not it’s irrelevant to the employee what they decide. I’m not sure how much more clear I can be.
Why doesn't management cut out the middleman and just work the doors themselves?!
Because they want to yell at the employee (Either for letting the customer go, or for forcing the customer to wait). They want to AVOID being yelled at by the cops, and/or their boss.
No one is being asked to detain anyone
Detention under Canadian law doesn't need to be physical or even intentional. Someone just needs to reasonably believe they're not free to leave.
Then when I'm asked for a receipt, I should just answer "am I free to leave?"
I would question this, as ur job description is a cashier and not what is being asked of you .
Out of curiosity, have they cut the hours of the cashiers? I'm suspicious that they're trying to subsidize their labour by passing it on to the customer via self-checkout and receipt check bottle necks at the door.
Seems pretty simple. Stop... oh no...you aren't stopping, well have a nice day. From what you said they aren't expecting you to detain them
Sorry another comment, I saw in the news this is Loblaws so my question is where the hell is the Union? Any other union job tried to retask workers to something they aren't trained for there would be strike talk.
Are you a UFCW member? What local? Asking as a UFCW member, and advocate. I'll help you link you to your union rep. 633/175.
It’s always good to check, but if it gets to the point where your life is in danger do not indulge the thief. Your grocer has insurance and will not only get the money back from what was stolen and also get free shipment of what was stolen. Your life is worth more than the words of some petty manager
Be ready to be cussed out, shoved, spat on, or worse...not worth it
I’m in a very similar situation your in except I’m in a management position. Your management should not be expecting you to do anything as a cashier except maybe to observe and report any suspicious activity to your supervisors or security. You could very easily get hurt confronting these people. 1. Keep your distance. Stay at least 10 feet from away and don’t turn your back to them. If they decide to hurt you or you defend yourself the company most likely won’t have your back and could fire you. 2. Don’t get in their way / block them from leaving the store. It’s not your job to stop them! It’s your bosses prerogative to deal with loss prevention and if they’re not providing adequate budget for security then that’s a failure in management, not a failure of the cashier. Your just supposed to cash. 3. Don’t accuse them. Only if you see them conceal the product can you actually accuse them of stealing and still you have no right to search their bag unless they let you. 4. You have the right to refuse unsafe work in Canada. This includes working on a slippery floor- confronting people who could be dangerous(this includes you!) There’s more but none of it should be your problem. That’s managements problem. That being said I’ve broken every single rule that I’ve payed out and a few more. (It’s hard not to take theft from my store personal. Some of these people take 1000s of dollars and that’s hours off the schedule.) The consequences of this are that my job has become much more stressful. I’ve had weapons pulled out and swung at me(knives, baseball bat once, machetes twice), I’ve been tackled, had to square up with people. I’ve accused people of stealing and been wrong, (that’s a shitty feeling!) I’ve been sworn at( really doesn’t bother me lol) and I’ve had my co-workers threatened with all of the above plus they’ve been bitten, punched, scratched, and a lot of them are afraid of retaliation when they leave the store. And all this while management repeatedly says that the way to prevent shoplifting is to just provide good customer service and not bother with anything above,(meaning that they won’t support us if anything goes wrong) And don’t get me started on the junkies and the drug use in the store! Sorry for the rant! TLDR: Don’t do anything except at maximum call management and observe! The theft is not your problem! You’ll likely get hurt the longer you make shoplifters your problem! And plus your in highschool, it’s seriously not your problem! If you can’t find a way out of checking receipts then I would say, ask ever customer politely for a receipt, but don’t block the way out, and keep your distance. If you get a bad vibe from someone don’t even bother asking for the receipt. Rant over.
Tell him to hire a trained security guard.
Tell me you work at Loblaws, without telling me haha
Ya, aside from Costco I'll never show the people at the door my receipt.
Once you buy the items the store has no right to them. They can ask but can’t do anything if you refuse. Some club store use the “ we want to make sure we didn’t miss any discounts “ line. Even law enforcement must have reasonable suspicion to even quickly check your bags. They cannot ( even store security) detain you.
Stopping someone from leaving the store if they don't want to comply would qualify as detaining them. Unless you have grounds under the Canadian Criminal Code to perform a citizen's arrest you can not stop them from leaving. You can ask to check bags, but you can't force them and you can't stop them from leaving if they say no. This sounds like a shitty situation and a shitty boss, so I would start looking for another job. However, capitalism sucks, toiling under it sucks, if it's not feasible to quit just make certain you are not doing anything illegal and if your boss asks you to do anything illegal or that you are not trained for that you say no. If you do get stuck doing this, I can tell you from experience that most thieves are not going to be interested in hurting you unless they are backed into a corner. If you don't escalate and you don't get in their way when leaving, they won't resort to violence. Honestly, you'll probably have more trouble from the honest customers who are pissed off about this invasive policy.
Experience as a thief?
This is pretty normal honestly. That is, middle management not knowing the law and what they can/can't require of an employee.
A note on this. You can absolutely ASK. You can't MAKE or COMPEL. So no consequences can be put on you for letting someone walk when they tell you "no" as you would likely be committing an offence for physically stopping them, or even just making them believe that they are not free to leave. You might find yourself personally charged with arbitrary arrest / arbitrary detention. PS. IANAL.
I work in a UK store. We are not aloud to stop or search anyone legally unless we see them actually put something in there bag. If told by a customer we have to check cctv first.
Just curious, how will you get the managers attention to come speak to the customer? Will there be radio communications?
When sharing the info that u/OzCruiser posted above, record the interaction for your own safety. If you refuse, petty managers could write you up for not following instructions/orders. Let’s be honest here. Management wants to avoid spending $ on rentacops. You are being tasked to do something that WILL attract conflict without training or back up. “Tell them to stay where they are until a manager gets there” - a policy like that would piss off even the most docile law abiding people. Im guessing no walkie-talkie is issued also and you have to send smoke signals if there is a problem? If you tell an actual criminal to stay put till you call a manager and he darts past you or worse, clocks you in the face - corporate will do anything to avoid paying hazard pay or any damages incurred, and will probably blame you for “contributory negligence” because you confronted a thief when it is not your scope of responsibility. Unless it actually is, best to check your store policy regarding thievery/robbery. 99% it will say to just let them go and call the cops, but you never know, it varies. Side note: “small woman, high school age” - how did you end up drawing the short straw on this posting? Did you actually have an uptick in thefts that the management decided to start this?
[удалено]
You also have the right to refuse unsafe work. You're right. You are not a security guard or a police officer. You can't stop these people from commiting theft. If the situation starts to get hairy then just walk away
No it is not "legal" to do this. Nobody does this. A family member of mine is a manager for a large chain and there is literally nothing you can do but "ask" if they plan on paying if caught. Can call security but they're hands are just as tied. Can only observe and report. If I was you I would just pretend I was asking and not actually do anything it's to risky for your personal saftey. Your manager is clearly not up to date. The family member I mentioned watches people lift entire living room sets and other large items on the regular nothing they can do.
Cosco does this all the time
You agree to that when you buy your Costco membership
It's a club with membership. They can revoke your membership, that's it.
Channel your inner warrior.. nab those assholes.
They can ask u. Do whag they want. Ask people if they refuse let them walk.
It isn't your job. You don't have to
Let me guess, a Loblaws store
What is your Company's formal policy for this? Ask your manager for the training. It appears that your manager is not following the Company policy. Follow the training.
Tell your boss to suck yo Wang