One of the most common types of theft is theft by employees. Employers are robbed to the tune of billions of dollars per year in the United States alone. Believe me, US employers are not alone.

Facing a wave of employee theft, retailers across the country have helped amass vast databases of workers accused of stealing and are using that information to keep employees from working again in the industry. Information included in these databases contains scant details about suspected thefts and routinely do not involve criminal charges. Still, the information can be enough to scuttle a job candidate’s chances. As reported in www.nytimes.com.

The databases, which have tens of thousands of subscribers and are used by major retailers like Target, CVS and Family Dollar, are aimed at combating employee theft, which accounts for a large swath of missing merchandise.

According to the National Retail Federation in 2011, employee theft accounted for about 44 percent of missing merchandise, valued at about $15 billion.

The question is, why wouldn’t all retailers subscribe to this service? I think retailers also should give each one of its employees an 8-hour online stop theft class. It certainly could not hurt. I would welcome your input on this subject. After all, employee theft costs all of us.