MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Grant's been overpaid, should he keep it?

springheeledjack

what about David's baguette?

MoneyLovesCompany

It may well have been holiday pay or catch up on the "week in hand".

However, taking the view that this really was an overpayment made in error, then Grant should inform his (ex-)employer at once as to not do so would be dishonest. Phil may well be asked to provide character references for a new employer and what better recommendation could there be than to speak highly of a person's integrity?

MoneyLovesCompany

expertlinguist wrote: »

It happened to me in 1981, when the Company (they shall remain nameless) I was working for changed from proper pay-packets (the ones with real money in) to BACS, they actually paid in my bank account my bank sort code 309977 rather than £68.

First thing I did was transfer £ 310,000 to my savings account, then told my Personnel Manager that I thought the Wages Department made a mistake, not specifying what the mistake was, I was assured that they would look into it, please bear in mind that my payslip was correct, yet it happened again the following week, I did the transfer again and reminded Personnel that wages were making a mistake....it went on for another fortnight.....goes without saying that I paid the money back using a personal cheque....the satisfaction of writing a cheque in the early eighties for close to one and a quarter million was amazing....

The beauty of it is that I got nearly £7,000 in interest which i used as the deposit on my first home!

Although I am not a lawyer, I believe this is called "obtaining a pecuniary advantage" and is an actual criminal offence under The Theft Act. You did at least declare the interest to the then Inland Revenue, one would hope?

MoneyLovesCompany

bunnyhop wrote: »

In response to carlw, I would take the money too. It is not for me to monitor my salary it is for payroll to take care of. If I were challenged I would say I did not keep much of an eye on my salary going into my bank (which I never do, I just assume it is correct) or the amount on the cheque, whatever, and I would offer to pay it back if they wanted me to. That way I would stand a good chance of getting a bit more pay and wouldn't seem dishonest if the mistake was realised. What am I meant to be, Glinda the Good Fairy?:p

You never check the amount going into your bank? I think you'd soon complain if you had been underpaid by a week's wages.

BTW, Glinda was a Witch not a Fairy. :-)

moggylover

No dilemma at all: just go and discuss it and see if the money is correct, and if not give it back now before it causes any hassle.