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Blog SME When employees commit criminal acts

When employees commit criminal acts

16.05.2024 | Simon Gantner

You hope it never happens: one of your own employees breaks the law. But the statistics show that criminal behaviour often occurs in companies as well. Helvetia explains how SMEs can protect themselves from it.

Blog SME When employees commit criminal acts

When employees commit criminal acts

16.05.2024 | Simon Gantner

You hope it never happens: one of your own employees breaks the law. But the statistics show that criminal behaviour often occurs in companies as well. Helvetia explains how SMEs can protect themselves from it.

Offences against property are the most common

‘Surveillance camera reveals theft by female employee’, ‘Head of retirement home misappropriates funds’, ‘Ex-employee embezzles hundreds of thousands of francs’. Headlines like these are not uncommon in the Swiss media.

Police crime statistics confirm that offences against property account for a significant proportion, with around 350,000 cases in 2023.

Prevention over cure

Whether large corporation or small company, white-collar crime can affect businesses of all sizes. But preventing offences from occurring in the first place is better than dealing with them after they have occurred. Modern control and protection measures – known in technical parlance as ‘compliance’ – are decisive in this regard. Let experts advise you on which specific measures can contribute to greater security.

Equally important is a corporate culture in which mistakes are discussed. Otherwise, employees might try to cover up errors, which could eventually lead to criminal acts. Make it clear that your culture does not tolerate criminal behaviour. This can act as a deterrent and lead to suspected cases being reported.

Insurance for when preventive measures don’t work

Despite appropriate preventive measures, employees may still behave in a criminal way and harm your company. You can protect yourself by integrating the right insurance coverage into your commercial and professional indemnity insurance.

Financial loss to your company caused by persons in positions of trust (employees and external service providers)

Liability damage, i.e. damage caused by other persons or companies

Loss determination and prosecution costs

Specific examples in which the insurance offers protection

An HR employee posts special payments totalling CHF 85,000 to her own account, and this goes unnoticed due to flaws in the control system.

A key account manager misappropriates sponsorship funds amounting to CHF 50,000 by forging sponsorship contracts.

A car garage employee forges a contract: he fails to declare that a vehicle was involved in an accident, so that he can sell it for a higher price. The new owner later realises that she has paid too much for the car and decides to claim the financial loss from the garage.

A municipal employee who manages the cash box for expenses regularly forges receipts and steals the amounts from it.

Clever combined. Business insurance for SMEs.

Whether for company founders, self-employed workers or business owners, business insurance for SMEs offers tailored solutions for every company. Combine up to eight insurance contracts and benefit from our SME combination discount. We would be pleased to advise you.