An empirical approach to determining employee deviance base rates

A four-stage survey mailing process was used to determine the incidence, amount, and types of employee deviance occurring within the fast food restaurants and supermarket stores. Employees from 341 fast food restaurants and from 234 supermarkets completed and returned anonymous questionnaires which asked them to indicate the types of on-the-job theft and counterproductive behaviors in which they have engaged. The results showed that many employees from both industries admitted to costly theft and other counterproductive work practices. The most common types of employee deviance were practices related to the theft of company cash and property, time theft, and general counterproductivity. Specifically, for fast food units, 62 percent of respondents admitted to some type of cash or property theft; for supermarket stores, 43 percent admitted to some type of cash or property theft. Implications of these findings to the measurement of base rates of employee deviance are discussed.Presented at the 97th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association at New Orleans, August 1989.Gratitude is extended to Dr. William Terris for his helpful contributions, and to Michael Boye, M.A. for his assistance in the data analyses and report preparations. The assistance of Dr. Jane Halpert and the DePaul University Center for Industrial and Organizational Psychology is gratefully acknowledged.