My original question didn't get answered, so here's another stab at a chance for an answer.
I was reading somewhere that those who had servants would often play little tricks or cruel setups on servants to "test" how dutiful they were. One specific example was this (and if possible, I'd like some verification on this):
The owner (is that the correct term? Maybe master/mistress would be better, right?) would leave a small coin or other trinket underneath the carpet, and then call the maid to clean the house. If the maid found and kept the small article, she would be punished for being disloyal - if she found it and left it there, or missed it, she would be punished for missing it.
Thanks in advance!
Dismissal or prosecution. The Victorian period wasn't the dark ages, slavery was long gone, and so employer is more correct than 'owner'. Taking money would be considered theft, although I rather think dismissal would be more commonplace than prosecution- if you couldn't get another job you'd starve, and your reputation as a reliable housekeeper would be ruined so would be difficult to find other employment.
You could probably beat them either within the law, or the law wouldn't listen