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

carlw

Hi

It looks like i am alone, but i would not say a thing. Its not your job to correct their mistakes and if they notice they have made the mistake later down the line they would not blame you for not saying anything, who is to even know you noticed. They will blame the payroll manager for paying out the wrong salary and rightly so.

paul_mounter

Since Grant knows that he has only worked three week and has been paid four week it is his moral duty to ask [is my money is right] It would be then up to the company to check and to say yes or no. If he did not do that he would be stealing. What would he expect if it was the other way round. Just be honest

wurley

I was told as a teenager.....You are putting a value on your job of what ever you nick. So is the job only worth a weeks wage?

bagpuss

To be truthful this did happen to me when I worked for a large organisation and my attitude with them was that they could afford to absorbe their mistake! However as this is a small concern and they have been friends then I say he should own up.

ceebeeby

... Own Up!!!

irishwench69

Got to go with most other people here and say that Grant should own up. At least if he says something, he doesn't have to worry about it - and it won't necessarily mean giving the money back, as it might have been meant for his (miscalculation, bonus etc), or Phil might be grateful for his honesty......

Either way, saying something has got to be the best option!

IW x

tomtombeanie

carlw wrote: »

Hi

It looks like i am alone, but i would not say a thing. Its not your job to correct their mistakes and if they notice they have made the mistake later down the line they would not blame you for not saying anything, who is to even know you noticed. They will blame the payroll manager for paying out the wrong salary and rightly so.

Given that they were friends, if I found myself in this *exact* situation I would own up.

However more generally speaking, I don't think that you should ALWAYS have to be 100% honest (perhaps I am morally flawed, but there you go!)...

A few people have mentioned their own experiences and I too was in a similar situation where I had to choose whether to point out a mistake. I had worked for a large company for nearly 9 years and in the run up to my second maternity leave, I was poorly treated by my immediate boss and several colleagues. After having the baby, I decided not to return to work but had been paid additional maternity pay that you were only entitled to if you returned. Although I did point this out, the company was that poor at record keeping that they sent me my P45 before arranging to get the money back (about £300, I reckon). Did I tell them? Did I hell! To this day (and I left 2 years ago on 31 March) they have not contacted me. Like someone said, what goes around comes around - and after the way they had been with me whilst I was pregnant, it felt like the right thing to do.

So I guess for me the short answer would be - do what you want, you will have to live with it and pay any consequences that may crop up!

jonboy7

The boring answer I think is he has to own up.
Section 24A of the Theft Act covers retaining a wrongful credit
That is a person is guilty if
a wrongful credit has been paid into an account kept by him
he knows (or believes) the credit is wrongful
he dishonestley fails to take steps to ensure the credit is cancelled

however if it has been paid in cash it is a straight forward theft, as the money overpaid belongs to grant and phil knowing this intends to permanently deprive grant of it by keeping it.

friend or no friend he has to own up.

please don't yawn !

trickypockets

If Grant has any conscience at all it will spoil his friendship with Phil if he doesn't own up, because he'll have it in the back of his mind all the time.

I do think circumstances are relevant however - I bought 20 bottles of dye in a small craft shop and when I looked at the receipt later they had charged 3p per bottle instead of £3. It was a 50 mile drive back to the shop - if I'd got them from W H Smith I might not have gone back, but because it was a small independent firm, I did.
They were amazed (and I bought some more things too, so I lost both ways!)

gantybop

wdft wrote: »

I think it highly likely that the extra weeks money is intentional. However, as the pair have enjoyed a good relatioship for nine years I would suggest that Grant says to Phil, "Thanks for the extra weeks pay, it is appreciated" That way he is being honest and even if Phil had not intended giving the money, I suspect he would be too embarressed to ask for it back

IMO, probably the best response! There seems to be a lot of holier than thou attitudes here!

At no point in the article did it mention that the two we're "friends" just that they got on well. I'm pretty sure a lot of you get on well with your boss but wouldn't call them a friend.

If I were a boss and I had a long standing employee who had worked for me for 9 years, but had a week off in their final month (finding new work, sorting out things at home... leaving jobs is stressful!) then giving them their normal wage would be the least I'd do.

If I were in that position I'd assume the monies meant for me, but what wdft said would probably be the best way to go about things for those with a guilty conscience... :rolleyes: