Should I snitch on cashback 'womble'?

garfield413

I've known company policies that say this is classed as misconduct and potentially fraud. In some companies, and certainly in the civil service, if you become aware of something like this, you are obliged to report it or you too can be cited for misconduct.

If each booking earned money, and all of the money was accumulated, it could potentially go towards a pay rise for everyone. Alternatively it could be credited to the company's hotel account to pay for future bookings, thereby reducing their overall costs.

I also think it's unfair for someone in a particular role to benefit purely because they are in that role, whereas someone at the next desk will never get that opportunity.

I think someone said in an earlier post that if it wasn't against company policy, then let everyone benefit - and this seems much fairer.

jenblackrod

Of course you shouldn't. Call it a perk of the job. Stop being a jealous person!

John_Pierpoint

I think that here we are up against the "one bottle of whisky is a present a case of whisky is a bribe" test.
£80 is more than a bottle of whisky and it is cash.
The employee is employed to maximise profit [and in the case of those working for the government or a charity spending other peoples money the obligation to minimise costs is even greater] and if caught doing this should be sacked.

What she should actually do is prepare a report to demonstrate the losses the organisation is enduring by failing to utilise new ways of doing business and paying the horribly over priced rack rate for accommodation.

A well run business should have an employee "ideas" system that bypasses the normal hierarchy. Either way this money saving cost effective idea needs careful handling as her boss may be a deadbeat, regarding such initiative as a threat to a quiet transition to retirement.

If the booking clerk's enterprise and initiative is not recognised and appreciated, perhaps it is time to think about a career move.

tizzicat

In my company, we don't have a company credit card, so I use my personal one and claim the money back. I get either cashback or Tesco points. My boss is aware of this and doesn't give two hoots, so long as the booking is made.

I don't consider it as being theft, providing she is booking the hotel at the best possible rate she can obtain (before cashback) the company would pay that money anyway.

ivor888

I would be concerned if I was in charge of your company as this could be deemed a benefit in kind & therefore should appear on the employee's P11D unless they earn under £8500pa.
Whilst I appreciate the management may want to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing if they find out they could also be breaking the law if they didn't then declare it on the P11D.
It may be worth pointing out to her that she could be deemed to be defrauding the tax office! If she is not going to pay the tax on it voluntarily she might at least want to keep quiet to avoid management having to take a position on it even if they considered it harmless themselves.
If management had to look at it then they/their legal advisors may also decide they need to refer it to HMRC who may not be too happy about it either.
I think it would be much safer for her to stop doing this altogether but if she insists on telling other people about it I would kindly point out that you feel she may be comitting tax fraud & you do not want to be complicit in it. If she has not considered that aspect then suggest she (or someone else not doing this) rings HMRC to find out how they view it, what potential consequences there are & how she would go about paying any tax owed before talking about it to others who are then complicit.

aleph_0

One question, when booking a hotel one has the option of either going direct, or booking through one of several 3rd-party websites. In my experience, different sites offer different levels of cashback, but also charge slightly different prices (the total cashback+price is roughly the same for every website).

So, is the cashback rate influencing which site the person chooses, potentially costing the company?

Otherwise, agree it's a stupid thing to be boasting about, wouldn't do it myself, but not sure if I would report someone.

Jangle70

I used to book hotels through a company which have me points which converted to vouchers at Xmas. I also received some vouchers for using a particular hotel chain even thou it was colleagues who stayed there not me. I think companies realise you are entitled to some perks for the mundane job of booking hotels, flights etc. you are not 'stealing' X the money wouldn't be available if you didn't click on cashback and the previous post is right that you don't register a card you just go to the site via the cashback site. I would say to OP "get a life"

mandrossian

This is not a question of morality, its a question of legality. Whether or not the bosses are ok with the cashback or not is up to them, but taking the cashback is clearly a taxable benefit. The right course of action is to alert your colleague of this so that they can make the necessary arrangements for their tax return. If they do not then you have an obligation as a UK citizen to report them to HMRC.

steampowered

The problem with cashback is that it creates a conflict of interest. The booker will look for the largest cashback rather than the cheapest booking.

Valli

This is EXACTLY why my employers (County Council) have a policy in place that states that, if anyone is making a purchase for work with the intention of claiming back the cost, they MUST NOT use loyalty cards. The policy is enforced by rejecting the receipt and the employee is not refunded the cost of the purchase.

This is because the employee can make a personal gain through the spending and to prevent employees deciding what to buy on the basis of any kind of reward rather than on the basis of best value.