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Employers Burdened When Employees Fall Victim to Identity Theft
Identity theft is becoming the leading crime problem in the United States. Either a crime of opportunity, such as credit card fraud or forged checks, or an organized crime where an individual’s identity information and data, such as social security and driver’s license numbers, are sold on the black market, it touches one in eight Americans every year. An unintended consequence of this crime, which rarely makes the news, is when employers suffer lost productivity, employee absences and workplace distractions due to an employee or employees, victims of identity theft, who need to take the steps required to restore a stolen identity. In response, many employers today are including pre–paid legal services and identity–theft protection plans in employee benefits packages. These services and plans help reduce the employer’s burden when an employee is victimized.
When identity theft strikes an employee, his or her employer suffers consequences in the form of lost productivity and delays in finishing work assignments as the employee devotes time from the job during standard business hours to attend to the details that restore the employee’s identity. “The time away from work an employee needs to fix the problems associated with identity theft can be substantial, as there are no quick answers to efficiently resolve the problem if the employee is on his or her own to fix it,” says David Carlisle, an independent associate of Pre–Paid Legal Services Inc. “Frequently, a victim spends hundreds of hours attempting to comprehend the extent of the damage and then taking the steps to rectify the situation. The employee feels the stress of paying legal fees, if they are required, which are clearly an unforeseen expense. The employee’s time off and distractions while at work take a toll on the employer, too.”
Including identity theft protection in an employee benefits packages is a proactive step in informing employees about the impact of identity theft and the protection that the employer offers in the event that it happens.
An employee’s out–of–pocket payments for legal fees involved in restoring his or her good name and credit rating can equal or surpass the amount of money for a trip to the hospital owed by someone with no medical insurance.
In addition, some employers have already enacted anti–identity theft and information security measures within their organizations. This is an emerging trend in business self–preservation. The employer’s liability to fail to enact such precautions is tremendous in the event a disgruntled employee uses or sells company information that is used to perpetrate identity–theft crimes.
“Identity theft awareness grows daily and law enforcement is in pursuit of the criminals,” Carlisle says. “But employee theft of information is becoming more frequent because of the sheer street value and demand for personal identity information. Perpetrators are becoming sophisticated, and their crimes can impact employers directly or indirectly if employers fail to take proactive action.”
Source: Kroll Worldwidewww.krollworldwide.com