Money Moral Dilemma: Should we roll over absent co-worker's lottery win?

venderqueen

I had a similar situation some years ago. We told the member she had won but would need to pay her missing payments from the winnings.  She actually thought that was unfair as she was off sick!!! When we said oh if you are off sick so shouldn’t pay then that also means you cannot win she soon realised what she was saying. When I started our syndicate I wrote everyone’s names on a letter stating the rules that missing payments meant you couldn’t win and we all signed and dated it. We were being kind as we thought she needed the money but she was being greedy. We did pay her minus the payments but she then pulled out of the syndicate. I think you should pay her minus the payments.

keithyno.1

The problem seems to be here that you don't have any rules laid down and agreed by each entrant for your lottery - and where money's involved, that's just asking for trouble! So firstly, get that sorted for the future.

My personal view is that if she's not kept up payments into the lottery, then she's not entitled to any winnings. It's the only safe way to go about it, and it's a basic rule which applies to National Lottery, People's Postcode Lottery etc. Your colleagues who HAVE kept up to date with their payments will be rightly miffed if the winnings are paid out to someone who hasn't, and I wouldn't blame them.

ripongrammargirl

Unfortunately if you don’t pay on time you get consequences. If bills are not paid you get cut off or a visit from the bailiffs. Not paying your lottery subs= no entry= can’t win.
Very simple. Life is tough but she made it worse for herself by not continuing subs so “those who snooze, lose”.
I was once off sick from a job as I developed bronchitis from smokers and I nearly died. The only thing I got was the sack and found out because my job was advertised! 

This is a far less serious problem that only involves a couple of hundred pounds. She chose not to pay so gets nowt even with subs deducted from winnings. People can’t have it all ways. Unfair on everyone else who has paid diligently.
Get your rules sorted so this never happens again.

MalMonroe

I would just send her the £400. She's off work with stress and I don't think anyone should judge her for not paying her lottery money under the circumstances. In the scheme of things, it's not a lot, is it? And it could go a very long way to making her feel a bit better - most especially knowing that her work colleagues have been so kind. I wouldn't deduct anything. She may even offer to pay the missing contributions herself but even then I'd say don't let her. 

I'm with Kalifornia81 and agree that good things come to those who do the right thing. 

Don't be mean. Be kind.

chaos2

To be fair to everyone collecting money from people is a “hard” task on it own.  So phone call should be made to her/him if they would like to continue in the syndicate. Depending on their answer than tell them either they have won or they can withdraw from the syndicate. 

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

I used to run a syndicate & worked it so that it was an annual payment up front. We had a 2 page ‘contract’ in which I tried to cover as many eventualities as possible. Any winnings were kept until a certain amount had been won & then doled out. When the annual contract came to an end any winnings left were doled out. Then I would start a new syndicate for a year. I ran this for 4 years at one company & 9 years at my last place of employment. It seemed to work quite well. Most years the members got back more than their initial stake. 

Bashyacta

It’s tricky. I’d suggest a compromise (as long as the rules allow this and it’s agreed by a majority of the active members).  Give her HALF of the prize (less her missed contributions). She may need some help but will surely understand that it wouldn’t be fair to everyone else to give her the full prize. All the other members should feel good about helping her, but not feel badly done by because they played completely by the rules - there’ll still be half the prize money to roll over. 

tomla

If a work lottery does not have written down rules for this type of scenario (no entry payment equals no entry) then the default position must be that if the colleagues numbers are drawn they are still the winner.

Deduct the entry payments from the winnings and sort some basic rules out for the future. 

If this isn't obvious then you should stop running the lottery.

endoftheworld99

As others have said it sounds like you have no rules covering this situation, something you need to sort out regardless of your decision.
How easy is it for someone off sick to make their entry payments, regardless of their illness?
If she’d broken her leg would you be feeling the same way about her? 
I know when I was working, generally if you were off sick you would not be expected to be seen at work until fit to return to your job, certainly not popping in to pay the lottery- you could  be interviewed about the genuineness of your illness! 
Pay her the winnings minus her entry fees and tighten your rules.

thegrifter59

Technically, because she hasn't paid she's not in it. You can't go to Camelot and say my numbers came up at the weekend but I forgot to buy a ticket, can you just take what I owe off my winnings.