According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, employee theft costs businesses around $40 billion a year—and it’s rising by 15% annually. That figure doesn’t even include the “softer” forms of theft: cyber-loafing, time theft, fake sick days, or the ever-popular art of showing up physically while mentally scrolling Instagram (a.k.a. presenteeism).
So what’s an employer to do? The polygraph has been off the table for decades, and spotting a dishonest worker isn’t as easy as scanning for shifty eyes, a gold tooth, and a villainous moustache. Your next hire probably won’t lean back in the chair, stroke a cat, and confess, “My greatest achievement? Defeating Mr. Bond.” If only it were that obvious.
Research shows that honesty testing in the workplace works. In fact, studies by Ones, Viswesvaran, and Schmidt (1993) found that companies using honesty tests saw dramatic drops in theft and other dishonest behaviors. Integrity test scores are also strongly linked to overall job performance.
And how common is dishonesty at work? More than most employers would like to believe. In our own study, we found:
- 49% of people work in a position where colleagues and/or managers are consistently and purposely unproductive—long breaks, leaving early, intentionally working slowly—classic cases of “time theft.”
- 21% admit to spending at least an hour surfing the internet for fun while on the clock.
- 13% confess they’d work harder (and take fewer breaks) if they knew a camera was filming them.
- 28% admit to stealing small items from work—food, office supplies.
- 30% admit to lying to get out of trouble at work.
When asked what they’d do if a colleague stole a large amount from petty cash:
- 37% said they’d report it,
- 41% would encourage their colleague to confess, and
- 6% said they’d lie to cover for their colleague.
So, do honesty tests actually work? The answer is: it depends on how you define “work.”
Can they predict exactly who will steal, lie, or cheat? No—no test can do that with absolute certainty. What they can do is assess a person’s general attitude toward rules and dishonest behavior, and estimate their likelihood of crossing the line.
Do attitudes predict behavior? Yes—but not always. Attitudes are complex, and many factors influence whether they translate into action.
That said, employee integrity tests are a valuable tool. They highlight risk factors, reveal attitudes toward rules, and help you spot potential red flags before they become workplace problems.
Want to see how this works in practice? Get a free trial of WINS (Work Integrity Screening) or WINT-R3 (Work Integrity Test).