Money Moral Dilemma: Should I tell my employer I've been overpaid?

Mad_cyclist

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news , but keeping this money is an offence ( retaining a wrongful credit ) . You need to come clean before your employer finds out

iclayt

Tell them, just as you would if you had been underpaid.

(Is this just a quick test of MSEers morals?)

ssparks2003

This weeks moral dilemma "should i steal from my employer" and next weeks post will be "help I have been dismissed for gross misconduct"

nicechap

Previous threads from last couple of months on being overpaid:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5683452


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5677408


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5668155


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5663331


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5650635


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5643286


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5649913


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5649333


Forum search turns up 300 results.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=173146465

Steel_eye

I worked for a major utility company. Twelve years ago my company was bought out by a private equity investor. As a result photocopiers were often without paper or toner, and operatives would carry their own toilet paper around site. At the time I was working as a planing manager, and I ended up taking five months sick leave due to stress. In my absence my boss arranged for one of my team leaders to cover my role. She was to be paid a 15% salary enhancement. She continued to do so for a further three months whilst I worked on another project prior to returning to the planning manager role.

A few of months later I was invited to attend a fact finding meeting by HR, with no explanation of why. On arrival I was told that it was a disciplinary hearing that I was to chair. That my team leader had fraudulently obtained four months of salary enhancement.

I walked out of the meeting telling the HR person that in line with our process no hearing could be held without firstly carrying out an investigation, which I as line manager I must do. I was told to "wake up and smell the coffee" otherwise "I would be sacked too".

My investigation found that she had e-mailed my boss the first month she was overpaid. (She forwarded a copy to me which I forwarded to HR). He spoke to her and said he would let the appropriate people know. Next month she spoke to him again, and asked him to find out how to repay the overpayment. The extra money sat in her current account waiting to make the payment. My boss told me that he had e-mailed either HR or Salaries about it, he could not remember which and did not have a copy as he had recently cleared his e-mail account (we had a very small allowance before the e-mail freezes). Neither HR or Salaries have any record of an e-mail from my boss. Salaries did give me details of how much the overpayment amounted to and how to make the repayment, which my team leader did that day.

I reported back to HR listing the possible reasons for the overpayment to have gone on for so long, stating that repayment had been made, and concluding that there was no case to answer.

A week later I was contacted again by HR and told that I was to be disciplined for refusing to discipline a member of my staff, and that this was at the personal request of the CEO. Fortunately the last decent person left in HR was assigned, and we managed to come to a mutually acceptable form of words.

My colleague was not so fortunate, and had to attend three hearings (over a period of a further four months) before the case was thrown out. During this time her health visibly suffered. She is still working there, but has declined all opportunities of management posts since that date.

After 38 years with the company I retired last month, proud of what the employees do every day, but disappointed by the way it is managed.

Pmarmalade

Don't bite the hand that feeds.

bods

This happened to me, specifically after a period of acting up ended and I went back to my original role.

I left it the first month, just because it was not long after the role had reverted, and I thought it was possible that HR simply hadn't caught up. Then it happened again. And again. Really I left it too long before they told them. Although what did annoy me was that when I did, they just whipped it out of my next pay cheque without warning.

Obviously I'd kept the money in reserve. But it would have been nice if they'd at least told me it was all going to go in one batch...

fairy_lights

Mookii wrote: »

she had said the amount wasn't huge, and as long as I didn't tell a soul, she would let it slide, but has already sorted the issue out, so my wages will be different.

Sounds like you manager was desperately trying to cover her own back there.

Greveson

A lot of nonsense response from the usual do-gooders in MMD.

Firstly you're not at risk of being sacked, or being taken to court or sent to prison. Lots of employees don't even check their payslip so wouldn't even notice. A company can't fire somebody for their mistake.

Secondly the onus is not on you to inform them. You can be a good samaritan and do so, maybe earn some brownie points. Additionally if you inform them now, and they don't take steps to take it back or correct it, then it will be harder for them to claim it back later down the line. But if you want to keep quiet you can do.

Finally if they do notice, they'll just take it back the next pay packet, or if it's a large sum they might arrange a payment plan (or if you're lucky they'll write it off).

So no you don't have to tell them, and you aren't at risk of being fired or sent to prison. But if they find out then you'll have to pay it back/be deducted from your next pay so budget accordingly and don't blow it.

Joxo

Your employer under paid you, you would speak out so do the same now.
If it comes to light later it will reflect badly on you.