Working Time Fraud

One of the most common suspicions among clients of our Hamburg corporate investigations agency in the field of employee screening is fraud in the recording of actual working hours. Our detectives, as experienced surveillance specialists, are experts in providing court-admissible proof of this type of employee misconduct. Whether you are a private individual wishing to verify the reliability of a domestic employee or—more commonly—an entrepreneur seeking to investigate suspicious staff, the professional investigators of Aaden Detective Agency Hamburg are at your side to assess the loyalty of your employees: +49 40 4223 6960.

Consistent Surveillance in Field and Office Roles

White-collar crime is steadily increasing, and unfortunately, a significant proportion of offenders are found within the affected companies themselves (nearly 50%). Employees you trust may enrich themselves unlawfully in a variety of ways: through bribery and corporate espionage, expense fraud, false sick leave, or undeclared secondary employment, to name just a few. Many of these offences are perceived by employees as “minor infractions”—including working time fraud. For example, an external employee may record more hours than actually worked, which is difficult to prove as their workplace is outside company premises. Alternatively, an office-based employee may claim overtime despite being able to complete their workload within regular hours, using working time instead for private activities.

For many employees, such conduct does not constitute criminal behaviour—there is often a lack of awareness of wrongdoing. As a result, it can take time to identify these individuals as potential offenders: they typically show no obvious behavioural signs such as nervousness, startle responses, blushing, or pallor that might indicate a guilty conscience. Only when the discrepancy between recorded working hours and actual performance becomes too great do many employers become alert and engage Aaden Corporate Investigations Hamburg to examine the employee in question.

Not So Innocent? Aaden Detectives Hamburg Provide Proof

Whether dealing with suspicious field staff or employees working primarily on company premises, our detectives at Aaden Detective Agency Hamburg can provide you with court-admissible evidence to enforce necessary employment law consequences and, where applicable, hold the employee liable for damages. For field staff, targeted surveillance is the method of choice in four out of five cases when it comes to proving working time fraud. For office-based employees, the undercover-placement solution is often appropriate, whereby one of our Hamburg detectives is placed within your company as an employee. Our corporate investigators will be happy to explain which approach is best suited to your case in a personal consultation: +49 40 4223 6960.