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

happyinflorida

I'd have a quiet word with the employee just to let him know you've spotted this error and ask him if he was aware - I know that many people I've worked with before, haven't noticed errors either to their gain or their loss - it always amazes me but some are just like this.

Say you think it would be better if he let the company know about this but ask if he can repay back slowly due to - insert any reason he's happy with, like bank overdraft swallowed it up, anything that's a believable reason. It's the companies error and your brother should be happy that his employee has come forward about the error and he will pay back within a few months.

I would ask your brother for a salary too for your work - if the companies making money, he should be paying you - especially as all expenses are tax deductable so it won't cost your brother a penny to pay you! You should actually know this if you've done accounts?!

What you do with the money is your choice - you could pay it to this employee to help him out - your brother doesn't have to know about this as it would be your money to do what you wish with it!

A cunning plan and everyone wins

LOUY_2

Report the overpayment.

There might be a bigger issue here in terms of audit and control if such such errors are not identified and corrected.

Dont let chartity affect the business integrity

Panda_56

This money does not belong to you or the employee. It is your brothers money. If it were mine and you were making these decisions for me, I would have you arrested for theft and the employee as well, if he knew about it and/or dismissed. I would never trust you or them again. This is both a moral and legal issue and you need to sort it out!

florere

Your brother has a successful business, why is he not paying you, it is allowable against tax. Does this man know her has been paid twice? If he is no good at understanding finances he may spend the money without realising he has been overpaid. You must tell him quickly and get the money back, for you to do anything else would be dishonest.

XRAT

Blood is thicker than water. Your allegience should be to your family first, that doesn't mean you can't tell your brother what your heart tells you should be done and ask him to do it for you.

bristolbaron

The employees personal circumstances should have no bearing on doing the right thing if you have been put in a position of trust.
The firm will soon stop doing well if you feel it's acceptable to give money away.
This is not your choice to make and if you feel it is, I would suggest you stop working for him immediately.

MissAT

Personally I would tell your brother, as others have said it will eventually show up in audits, and whilst you can feel sorry for the employee, it's quite bad to not own up to being paid twice and he should.

Maybe you could ask the employee to own up, and if so arrange some sort of payment plan to pay back the money over time so he doesn't struggle.

Satman

It is obviously illegal for you to keep Schtumm ! At years end your brother will find out and he will be disappointed with you and his employee - he could take legal action against BOTH of you!
Tell the employee, and get him to come clean ! !

horse_sense

Do not think about not declaring the double payment. If discovered which it may well be on an audit, all trust will be gone for ever.

alittlemadam

I was in this very same position different scenerio about 15 years ago I return from maternity leave only to find that I hadnt been paid however over the course of the day my manager came to me and said that everything had been sorted and handed me a cheque for my wages.

However because of the discussions over the day payroll also realised there error and I was also paid by BACS, thus with 2 lots of wages.

After making several phone calls to try and rectify the situation i then asked them to destroy the cheque. My manager thanked me for my honesty and I had a clear conscience.

So, despite your brothers worker falling on hard times (like we all are) he should really have owned up to being paid twice. If it was an error on the companys part then an agreement between the 2 as to how the money should be paid back should be made between the two people.

Or go to your brother tell him of the error and let him make the decision as its his business, however please bear in mind that if this worker mentions to other work colleagues that he has been paid twice, it isnt going to look very good and they might drop him in it anyhow.

this problem needs to be sorted asap with as little conflict as possible