MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Theo tell the boss about Wayne and Jermaine?

relaxtwotribes

wildthing01 wrote: »

this is a difficult one for me - i work for the public sector, so if this were happening in my organisation, i'd feel honour-bound to alert the boss, as it would be public money going to waste. however, i have less sympathy for large private companies, esp if they make enornous profits while paying their staff peanuts, so i might think, fair enough. if theo is just doing this as a 'job', ie he isn't on the career ladder, he should prob keep quiet, but, if he wants to aim for the top, he should tell, as he'll prob reap rewards later...

What you appear to be saying here is that your morals change depending on whether or not you like the organisation that has suffered the loss. Would you like to reconsider?

pjfromuk

This is theft..no if's, no buts. They need sacking and prosecuting too! It is no different to taking the money out of a till...

pjfromuk

MissMills81 wrote: »

W & J are the ones that are running the risk by not owning up to the overpayment, the chances are that the company will realise the error and take appropriate action.
Theo should keep out of the situation, there may be a part of him that generally doesn't want the company defrauded but i would bet there is a bigger part that is driven by the green eyed monster.
Plus there is also the negative impact it may have on his relationships with his colleagues in the future, rightly or wrongly he would be shunned if it was found out that he blew the whistle.
I think he should keep quiet and let the situation resolve itself.

I am afraid you are no better than they are! Honest people work hard for their money, whilst criminals are happy to steal from others.

raddyantic

I recall at a bank I worked for we were all temps there, and one lad would openly fiddle his timesheets adding several hours on extra or even additional days before faxing the timesheet off to his recruitment agency. I turned a blind eye to it and didn't care as I was a temp also but thought it was a bit comical and a bit cheeky.

But if I was a perm employee I don't think I would have whistleblown as it's not my problem, as I worked for private companies before banks, solicitors etc who are fleecing people anyway (e.g legal assistants at solicitors get paid a pittance and are exploited and can get paid as little as £15k!) so it'd be good to get one up on them. Also if the supervisor/boss who was in charge of the department was an idiot then also I definitley wouldn't tell - so the dynamics of the employee boss relationship would play a factor.

No way would I ring one of them whistleblowing lines employers have - who are we as an individual to take the moral highground as and when we please? as I'm sure we've all done little things that although do not directly hurt someone - but have not been 100% kosher.

TBagpuss

Hmm. I disagree with Radyantic - I think it *is* your problem - not least because when one dishonest employee is found out, it inevitably casts suspicion on all of the other, honest employees, (and probably more so on those seen as most like the dishonest one, whether that be temps, employees under 25, trainees or whatever) It also, as others have mentioned, does harm you as an employee in the monger term - losses through theft or dishonesty = lower profits, which is likely to affect pay rises, bonuses etc, plus when the scam is discovered, it's likey that the company would feel the need to spend time & money ensuring that it can't happen again, whereas if it is brought to their attention in a timely manner they may well that they DON'T need to sepnd a lot of money on new layers of protection or invasive chacks because the existing system worked to allow them to find out sooner rather than later.

So I would feel that there are pragmatic, as well as ethical, reasons to speak up.

So far as the original MMD is concerned, it is dishonest to knowingly take money you know you are not entitled to, so I have very little sympathy for W & J.

However, if Theo doesn't want to tell his employer specifically about W & J he can either let them know that there is an error in the system, (perhaps by saying that he has heard rumours that overpayments may have been made, and that they may want to check their system) or work some overtime himself then report the error on the basis of his own wageslip. That way, the comapany is made aware of the situation and can correct it, Theo hasn't accused his "friends", and he himself gets the benefit of being seen as an honest and trustworthy empoye, which certainly won't do hom any harm, whether in progressing in his current job, or when he comes to ask for a reference to move on to better things elsewhere. Theo also has the option of saying to his friend s that he has found out that keeping the money in this situation, knowing that it is an overpayment, is considered to be stealing, and advise them to go to management themselves rather than wait until they are found out.

For those saying they wouldn't tell anyone - I have to ask - how much are you comfortable watching someone steal?

How is staying silent in this situation morally any different to staying silent while you watch a thief reach into somone's home through an open window and take money or jewellery? In each case, someone is taking something which both they and you know is not theirs and they are not entitled to, in both cases the theft has (to some degree) been made possible by an error or carelessness on the part of the victim.