“When fraud is discovered within an organisation it can have a devastating effect on staff morale because people feel let down by those they trusted. Managers are under pressure to show that they can deal with this as well as being aware that crime could be going on,” says Sally Longworth, a partner at the accountants Grant Thornton’s forensic and investigation services practice.

One of the biggest threats to company security is the theft of corporate data and other intellectual property. A survey published today by the database protection company Secerno suggests that managers give employees greater access to sensitive information than they need to. It claims that 41 per cent of staff can read and copy company records not related to their job and 56 per cent have no restrictions at all placed on the information they can view at work.

The risk is that employees can copy files to sell to a competitor or even criminal gangs. Personal information stolen in this way is being used to perpetrate identify theft, which the Home Office says is costing the UK economy £1.7 billion a year.

Research by Prefix IT, a PC security firm, indicates that 60 per cent of workers have wrongly removed items from the workplace and 11 per cent have taken or copied confidential documents.

“Naive managers who trust staff blindly are asking for trouble,” says Graeme Pitts-Drake, chief executive of Prefix IT. “Small companies can even lose their businesses altogether if the bosses do not keep on top of this problem. Securing company data is not about taking a Big Brother attitude. It is the same as locking your office door at night.”

Managers overseeing redundancies should be extra vigilant when it comes to preventing all kinds of staff fraud. The psychological contract a person has with an employer is shattered when they lose their job and, in their own minds, many people justify stealing from a company because they feel they have been betrayed.

One area where managers can disagree is how hard to crack down on staff using the internet at work for personal use. Many bosses say that employees are stealing company time if they book holidays, shop, contribute to blogs or send e-mails to friends from the office when they should be working. This may be true, but being too heavy-handed can cause tension, harm staff morale and damage the relationship with the management unless it is handled sensitively.

Karen Black, a partner and employment law expert at Boodle Hatfield, says that the revolution in workplace technology has meant a steep learning curve for most employers. “Covert checking is more controversial and although it may be a more successful way of tackling fraudulent activity this must be balanced against the risks of employers overstepping the mark. They could face employment challenges from aggrieved staff.”

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO