Real-life MMD: Should I let my brother pay staff twice?

Panda_56

You may be making a simple mistake into a major problem and it will come out eventually. The employee could well loose his job for not reporting the overpayment, as could you . If I were your brother, I would find it very hard to trust you with my finances in future. This is a bad idea. Come clean and sort it out asap.

tallgirld

I would not be able to keep it quiet. You noticed it so it should be reported. What if someone else notices later like an auditor? Then it will just look like you are not diligent.

You never know your brother might just let them keep the money anyway!

Duckkie

I think the overpayment needs to be bought to light, but if the employee is struggling financially maybe they could forfeit some of their holiday entitlement in lieu of the overpayment - would that be acceptable legally?

Summer76

Wow, I am so shocked with your dishonesty in fact the dishonesty of the employee also if they have not pointed it out. It will catch up on them sooner or larter. I would not like you as a sister at all. Regardless of whether your brother's business is doing well or not that is no reason to be dishonest. He has put you in a position of trust and you are abusing that. Would you do the same if you worked for any other company. I really think you need to think long and hard about your morals. When this comes to light - and it will with auditing - I hope your brother confronts you as to why you had not picked this up. You say you are not being paid for the work you do for your brother, if this is an issue which is causing you to think this way, then discsus being paid - remember if you do then you need to declare any earnings. But then you probably won't as you are obviously not an honest person if you even have to consider this dilema.

John_Gray

Since it wasn't your money which was paid twice, how about this suggestion?

You pay your brother back the overpayment, and then you can decide whether or not to retrieve your money back from his employee.

um5000

If you're an accountant you have a professional code of ethics, part of which will include reporting the facts and acting in the best interests of your 'client'. The employee and their circumstances is a separate, personal consideration and should have no bearing on you reporting the facts.

dottydoglover

You should tell your brother. It is his money and therefore his decision.Maybe the employee has already spoken to him about it and he has decided to do nothing.

Inge_Preston

You need to get this sorted out quickly, tell your brother and the member of staff what you have discovered. You can offer payment options to the member of staff so that they don't have to repay the amount all at once.
you really don't have any other choice.
If this member of staff mentions it to anyone else in the workplace it will cause all sorts of problems for your brother with the rest of his employees, especially if nothing has been done to correct the situation.
BTW the money problems of this staff member should not influence you in any way, you can either do the right thing or do the wrong thing, and you know what the right thing to do is.

Auntie_Noo

Surely there are potential tax issues of the employee receiving a payment twice? You could be pushing him over a threshhold for tax credits or benefits and have you accounted for paying the PAYE&NI twice? It's more complicated than just letting him keep the money or not.

gloriouslyhappy

Summer76 wrote: »

Wow, I am so shocked with your dishonesty in fact the dishonesty of the employee also if they have not pointed it out. It will catch up on them sooner or larter. I would not like you as a sister at all. Regardless of whether your brother's business is doing well or not that is no reason to be dishonest. He has put you in a position of trust and you are abusing that. Would you do the same if you worked for any other company. I really think you need to think long and hard about your morals. When this comes to light - and it will with auditing - I hope your brother confronts you as to why you had not picked this up. You say you are not being paid for the work you do for your brother, if this is an issue which is causing you to think this way, then discsus being paid - remember if you do then you need to declare any earnings. But then you probably won't as you are obviously not an honest person if you even have to consider this dilema.

Wow, this is a forum for seeking advice - I think you're being very harsh to the poster, and I feel it's not for you to make sweeping statements about their honesty. Of course you can still give your opinion, but maybe have a think first about how to phrase it?