Management and employee theft, are there any Rights?

I'm an assistant manager at a store (I've been with the company going on 2 years) and we have a team of about 8 people: 3 managers, 5 part-timers. Someone is stealing from the store. We believe it has been going on since christmas (I've only been at this store since March). We have already had 2 bad inventories. At 3 bad inventories the entire staff is fired (if the theft goes unresolved), and our next inventory is to be scheduled soon. My question is: If we have this third bad inventory and the person(s) responsible do not come forward and the entire staff is fired, do I have any Rights as an employee? Will I have trouble getting another management job?
Answers:
install hidden cameras
walk around more often
make every employee show a receipt before leave the building with a package
no backpacks or large purses allowed to be brought to work unless inspected before they go home or out of the building
hire security

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You do have some rights as an employee, but unless you have an employment contract, in most states you do not have a right to keep a job in a situation like you have described.

In those state (which are called "right to work" states), an employer may discharge an employee for virtually any reason, even a bad one. They may not discharge you for a discriminatory reason (e.g., because you are a particular gender, race religion, age, etc. or in some of those states because you are a whistle blower), but if they fire the entire lot of you, those reasons do not seem to apply.

Sorry to say, but now might be a good time to start seeking another job.

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you could check out the company policies. but I'm thinking the store has the right to hire and fire whomever they choose without giving a reason

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As a manager, you should be able to figure out who is stealing. Are there cameras in the store? You and the other managers should count inventory more often to narrow down which shift the inventory is disappearing on.

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Sorry, as a manager this is one of your responsibilities. I know it sucks and I know that your employees live on bare to nothing. Trust me, retail managers loose their jobs a lot. You will be fine. It you decide to stay in this field, you have got to focus on your staff. Get to know them, every person that you hire is there for a reason. If relationships are built with your staff, theft will not be a surprise to you. My point, get to know your people. Also always remeber this theroy, Customer service is a shoplifters nitemare.

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it seems to me to fire the entire team is a bit overkill..

If you believe it is pilferage, how many of the people are new since this began?

I worked for an retail employer in my teens and twenties that gave all people but the owner polygraph tests once a year. It was a task for nearly 80 employees.

As a department manager of sporting goods, I had ten employees full and part time under me. We had guns, fishing equipment, camping, and athletic stuff. During seasonal periods I added 5 people to staff. Generally I found the seasonal flucuations of inventory pilferage increased with the seasonal employees. My regulars were trustworthy save one, but when I had seasonal's on duty I was either there or a couple of my trusted regulars. We also had security that I'd ask to watch our department a bit closer if we were busy and could pay as close of attention.

Pay close attention to stock items on each shift. you can narrow down the sale or theft in that manner.

I busted one of the seasonals who I had a suspicion of. I caught her in the act of ripping off a case of ammo for her boyfriend. While the value was small she was charged along with her boyfriend. The police on the suggestion found 30 case of 12 guage ammo, plus a couple of guns, and a large amount of fishing stuff we charged them both with theft and prosecuted. It wound up the amount put felony theft on their record.

Be vigilant. Inform management of your concerns. Ask if you can have them polygraph the people if you suspect pilferage. If it is shoplifting, that sucks too, all your people need to realize their job is stopping that and prosecuting. Many people now days turn a head to people stealing. Society is changing and not for the better.

And truthfully, in my view it shame on upper management if they wholesale dump employees because of one bad apple. That is not a healthy model of management.