Employee credit card statements

Should I be concerned if I see that one my direct reports has begun receiving their personal credit card statements mailed to them here at work rather than home? My instincts tell me this may be a sign of problems, and could indicate the person is trying to hide spending from a spouse. We have a policy requiring our personal financial affairs be handled responsibly.

Your instincts could be right. Or they could be wrong too. I know that public opinion would probably agree with your instincts, but what if this person purchased a gift for their spouse and wanted to keep it a secret for some reason? You just don't know that. You don't have enough information to know. I think it's more important if your bank has a policy for receiving personal mail at the bank, it should be followed. Or if not, maybe a policy should be created.

There is nothing wrong with asking the employee about this either.

I had a conversation once with an employee about a similar situation.
Turned out that she was trying to get plans in order to leave an abusive relationship; to get things available so that when she was financially more independant, she could leave.
I was able to put her in contact with some support groups that could help, and she is now happily beginning her life again, on her own.
A simple conversation, held in private, shed a lot of light on the situation.

I never did this but I have worked with many people over the years who have their bills sent to their work address. It is where they spend most of their time.

I don't see a red flag and agree with Chicago Guy, the issue is whether it is appropriate to have personal correspondence delivered to the bank. Asking the employee "why" is the equivalent of asking what their personal phone calls are about.

In both cases, your emphasis should be on the fact that this is their workplace, not their home. If they don't want their mail to go to their home they can rent a P.O. box.

Having personal mail delivered to work sometimes slows down delivery of work items. If everyone had their personal mail delivered to their workplace, employers would have to hire more mailroom people. In addition, people that have bills delivered to their work place tend to pay their bills on company time. It is very annoying to be diligently working only to glance over and see a fellow employee writing checks to pay their personal bills. AND, guess who generally pays the postage for those personal bills?

of course, I'll put a different spin on it. I have a bank issued credit card, yet I also have a personal card that I use only for business purposes. I do this as it is a rewards card. I have the bill sent to my office, and I file for reimbursement...OMG...on company time. Since the card is used only for business purposes, it is easy to track expenditures. The bank is not overly happy that I use my card instead of theirs, but my personal limit is also higher than the limit on the bank issued card, and that has saved me more than once when traveling extensively.

Our policy does not permit the delivery of mail to the business address (other than the occasional package - particularly if the employee has a PO Box). If you have such a policy it may be worth a conversation with the employee. If they are moving, changing address from street to PO or vice versa, she may just have wanted to make sure she got it rather than it being forwarded which may have taken time and made her payment late....