I've met too many people who feel genuinely guilty, over mistakes that left the register short. I've been told too many times, at too many different companies, that the right thing to do is to replace the money out of your own pocket.
A year and a half ago, I had coworkers pressuring me to put in my own money. They kept saying it was only a nickel. They told me other employees had replaced it out of ther own pockets. Told me one employee even had to put in $10 once. Everyone had to do it, when I happened.
So I hung up. I called our immediate superior, who was the DM. I asked him if their was a contingency for missing money from the register. Obviously, he said yes.
The next day, the money was magically found when the person pushing me the most, was at that location. I did try to tell them, they just wouldn't listen.
But I was reminded the other night. A transaction didn't go through as my coworker thought it did, so she walked around to the front of the register, saying she'd pay for it. I stopped her. I actually had to be pretty sharp about it, because she “felt bad.”
I called over the supervisor, and had the coworker come around and look while the supervisor showed her how to account for it in the system.
I know to a lot of us, this is pretty obvious. But please remember to have your coworkers' backs in letting them know that companies have plans in place for this- and it's not to take the money from the employee. Even if they're being monumentally stupid about it. For a company to remain in business, particularly a big company, they have to have contingencies for that money.
Though obviously, if your coworkers double down on their stupidity, and try to take it out of your pocket, you tried.
Yeah, it's just a nickel. But I'll feel that lost nickel, being paid $12/hr, far more than an international company.