Overpaid at work

fuzzydunlop85

Wages just landed in for this month, reckon I've been overpaid by about £1000. I've started a new role this month and reckon this could have caused some confusion.Should I say anything or keep quiet? It's a pretty big organisation, 1000 or so employees. I'd be tempted say nothing, but reckon that I'll probably fess up. So, people of AH what would you do in this situation?

DontThankMe

Donate it to charity.

Atlantic Dawn

Say it straight away. Also make sure that the tax implications are properly taken care of with being given too much. It will be noticed and if you go on without saying you will be looked down upon.

AH reply - Put the lot on McGregor to beat Mayweather at 4/1 and when it comes in give back the grand.

The Backwards Man

fuzzydunlop85 wrote: »

Wages just landed in for this month, reckon I've been overpaid by about £1000. I've started a new role this month and reckon this could have caused some confusion.Should I say anything or keep quiet? It's a pretty big organisation, 1000 or so employees. I'd be tempted say nothing, but reckon that I'll probably fess up. So, people of AH what would you do in this situation?

No such thing as overpaid, you were 'underworked'.

Focked if I know. I just got a 20k payrise, so I'm taking my hot gf Claudia out to a Michelin-star restaurant (but really just sitting on my crying-chair playing Call of Duty)

Tell your employers about it. If it's uncovered at a later date and you haven't revealed it, your honesty would rightly be called into question. It's not your money to keep, and it isn't good to have theft on your employment record.

Badly Drunk Boy

Say nothing but don't spend it. I mean...you don't even look at you bank balance so you didn't even notice you'd been over-paid! (I'm not paid lavishly but I rarely check my bank balance.)

Then...eventually...spend it. On in-game app extensions, if that's a phrase.

fuzzydunlop85

I'll mention it to my manager next Week when he's back from Glastonbury, hopefully he will still be wired and won't give a ****.

bazz26

More money for hookers and coke.

zimszimer1

I'd flag it with them if I were you. They're legally entitled to claw the money back provided they can show it was due to a clerical error/was made accidentally and in good faith.

Chances are it'll be noticed sooner or later and you'll be asked to pay it back when it's spent.

Candie

Candie wrote: »

Tell your employers about it. If it's uncovered at a later date and you haven't revealed it, your honesty would rightly be called into question.

I can't recall the last (corporate) employer whose honesty I'd not question.

I actually agree with everything you've said, the OP should tell his employer, mainly for fear of the repercussions.

I just think it's worth remarking-upon that corporations don't tend to experience such moral panic regarding their own income. Donning my red cap, I might even say that we aren't on a level playing-field, in that regard.

Icyseanfitz

funnily enough i noticed that i was overpaid about 2 months ago, flagged it with accountant and we got it sorted. then last week i wasnt paid at all, turns out he had overpaid me months before as well, i hadnt noticed but he left me in a bad spot as i had standing orders that never went through. Literally told me the morning i was supposed to be paid!

tldr, your better off saying it, still doesnt mean you wont get ****ed over for someone elses mistake down the road

Peregrine

Tell your employer. £1000 is a lot of money and there's no way you could claim that you were unaware of it unless you're already rolling in it.

Or buy 800 cartons of Mooju. Yeah, no, do that.

Surreptitious

Tell them. They will know anyway. It won't end well keeping it.

Canis Lupus

Payroll will always discover it sooner or later.

pgj2015

Candie wrote: »

Tell your employers about it. If it's uncovered at a later date and you haven't revealed it, your honesty would rightly be called into question. It's not your money to keep, and it isn't good to have theft on your employment record.

the op is not guilty of theft here.

pgj2015

pgj2015 wrote: »

the op is not guilty of theft here.

Could still be in trouble at work.

But even if the contract wasn't broad enough to "catch" the issue, any employer will mark that employees cards and it's only a matter of time.

Not declaring it straight away is a very bad idea for workplace relationships. And not just employer employee, the person who made the error will naturally dislike the person who tried to capitalise on it.

Samaris

Yeah, best to say it. It won't be worth the hassle of suspicion, the embarrassment of being called out on something to do with money - which really sucks for those who don't regularly check their bank balances - and it definitely won't be worth getting shorted by 1k somewhere down the line.

super_furry

Tell them straight away. It'll come back to bite you in the arse and could cost you your job if you try to keep it.

What does your payslip say?
It could be tax back or something.

Do say it to them though.

Shelga

Could it be that if this is your first job in the tax year, you're paying way less tax? Yeah unfortunately you should flag it to find out though.

whoopsadoodles

You're on probation and they don't need a reason to let you go during that period so keep your nose clean.

MysticMonk

Candie wrote:

Tell your employers about it. If it's uncovered at a later date and you haven't revealed it, your honesty would rightly be called into question. It's not your money to keep, and it isn't good to have theft on your employment record.

This. Its not worth getting a reputation as dishonest over a grand,besides it could be a test.

fuzzydunlop85

We lift our pay slips in the office and I'm not back in till Wednesday, the suspense is gonna kill me so gonna ring pay roll at 9am and pray theres some mad reason for the extra grand in my account. Was thinking it could be tax back as we got a P60 with our last pay check, but thought you would have to go through HMRC for this. I'm not on an extravagant wage, so send me some good karma folks of AH!

Tilikum

fuzzydunlop85 wrote: »

Wages just landed in for this month, reckon I've been overpaid by about £1000. I've started a new role this month and reckon this could have caused some confusion.Should I say anything or keep quiet? It's a pretty big organisation, 1000 or so employees. I'd be tempted say nothing, but reckon that I'll probably fess up. So, people of AH what would you do in this situation?

It's happened me twice. You'll just have to pay in back in instalments. Think of it like an interest free loan.

Also, there's 3 times the people in our organisation so that just shows you, they always find you.

bmwguy

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

You're on probation and they don't need a reason to let you go during that period so keep your nose clean.

Don't think he's on probation. New role not new employer he says. But should still give it back.

fuzzydunlop85

bmwguy wrote: »

Don't think he's on probation. New role not new employer he says. But should still give it back.

This is correct been there 8 months.

lawred2

pffft it's only a grand

I'd mention it to your manager. it'll probably be just taken out of next month's salary

Lady is a tramp

When I worked in payroll, it happened a few times that employees came to me saying they thought they were overpaid with their first salary payment.

It was usually one of two things - they were due a tax refund. Or they didn't realise that the system the company had meant that you were paid for a full month, even though payday was mid-month. (I.e. you could start a week into the month, and be paid a few days later for working three full weeks, even though you'd only worked a few days. Not the best system, but I didn't set it up that way, I just went with it!)

I'd just discreetly unofficially say it to the payroll person in your company, just ask them to explain their payslip to you, they shouldn't have a problem with that. Chances are it's actually correct.

sbsquarepants

Say nothing and ride your luck OP - people make mistakes, a workforce of a 1000 people? They are not going to notice 1000 / month it's chicken feed.
Say nothing, be thankful for some good luck. Just don't spend the money for a couple of months just in case - if they do cop it at least you'll have it to hand back - just tell them you don't normally check your bank, you have direct debits etc and it normally just takes care of itself.
That's what I'd do.

A lot of people assume that all companies are hyper vigilant all the time, some are, but some just aren't - there are corners cut in all companies, there are people who just don't care, aren't very smart or who are just piss poor at their jobs. Hold your nerve OP and ride your luck, fortune favours the brave!

Hector Savage

Im overpaid every month in my job .... but its actually my salary ... oh yeeeaahhhhhhhhhhh !!!

cloudatlas

Don't be shy! I wouldn't wait for the manager, contact h.r. and don't worry about what mood people are in or apologise, it's their fault completely. If you didn't notice and it accumulated you can be sure they would come down on you like a ton of bricks if you didn't fess up to their mistake such is the logic of the department of 'happiness reducers'.

lawred2

cloudatlas wrote: »

Don't be shy! I wouldn't wait for the manager, contact h.r. and don't worry about what mood people are in or apologise, it's their fault completely. If you didn't notice and it accumulated you can be sure they would come down on you like a ton of bricks if you didn't fess up to their mistake such is the logic of the department of 'happiness reducers'.

?

the OP hasn't been wronged exactly.. I could possibly understand your tone if the OP mentioned a £1000 underpayment but this is about an overpayment.

BrokenArrows

fuzzydunlop85 wrote: »

Wages just landed in for this month, reckon I've been overpaid by about £1000. I've started a new role this month and reckon this could have caused some confusion.Should I say anything or keep quiet? It's a pretty big organisation, 1000 or so employees. I'd be tempted say nothing, but reckon that I'll probably fess up. So, people of AH what would you do in this situation?

The accounts team will always notice eventually. Might be a few days or few months but they will come back to you. Happened to me a few times. I dont usually check my bank balance regularly so i never noticed until i got a phone call from payroll. Luckily my spending habbits hadnt changed so the excess money was still in my account.

Have a chat with HR saying you think you have been overpaid. But i think you should workout exactly what you should have received so that you can make sure they dont under pay you.

cloudatlas

lawred2 wrote: »

?

the OP hasn't been wronged exactly.. I could possibly understand your tone if the OP mentioned a £1000 underpayment but this is about an overpayment.

Do you work in the personnel dept by any chance? H.R. departments are very poor at admitting responsibility and in my experience very slow to correct mistakes, the sooner he puts his hands up the better. I don't know the O.Ps financial situation but I imagine if he hadn't noticed this and had spent a bit extra then the amount accumulated each month he would have to budget for a while in order to pay it back. It could take them a while to fix the mistake so best to deal with it immediately before he is overpaid again. He has been wronged in a sense, they made a mistake.

lawred2

cloudatlas wrote: »

Do you work in the personnel dept by any chance? H.R. departments are very poor at admitting responsibility and in my experience very slow to correct mistakes, the sooner he puts his hands up the better. I don't know the O.Ps financial situation but I imagine if he hadn't noticed this and had spent a bit extra then the amount accumulated each month he would have to budget for a while in order to pay it back. It could take them a while to fix the mistake so best to deal with it immediately before he is overpaid again. He has been wronged in a sense, they made a mistake.

Nope.

I'll be honest however; you don't sound like a huge joy to work with. You seem to be in some sort of imaginary battleground.

He has been told to raise it. That's all that needs doing. There's no need for the tin hats and battle ready posturing.

Lollipops23

It happened to me when I started my current job- I called payroll as soon as I could and then had me transfer it back to them. If I hadn't flagged it they would have taken it off my next pay cheque.

cloudatlas

lawred2 wrote: »

Nope.

I'll be honest however; you don't sound like a huge joy to work with. You seem to be in some sort of imaginary battleground.

He has been told to raise it. That's all that needs doing. There's no need for the tin hats and battle ready posturing.

I'm sorry but healthy distrust of human resources does not equal unpleasant person to work with.

lawred2

I'll take your word for it

cloudatlas

lawred2 wrote: »

I'll take your word for it

Yer mama etc., :rolleyes:

Agricola

Reminds me of a guy I used to work with who had his redundancy package miscalculated to the tune of double what it should have been. I think he joined the company for a very short spell, then left for another job for 4/5 years before returning again. They mistakenly used his original start date and calculated his redundancy as if he never had a break in service.
He hummed and hawed about it for afew days before deciding to notify them. Considering the ****ty way they pulled the plug on a profitable, well performing branch of the company, at the height of the recession.... had it been me, I would have walked away.

Glenster

If its on your payslip I wouldn't say anything.

If its not on your payslip and its just been an extra 1000 transferred into your bank account. I'd say something because they can just underpay you next month.

I was overpaid as per my payslip before, and it wasn't until the next tax year that they figured it out at which point there was nothing they can do. I plead ignorance.

I was all like "Oh I didn't notice that, I'm happy to pay it back, can you just get me amended payslips for the period 06-12, and show me the workings, and let me know what the net tax effect is as a result of the adjustment"

They were all like "ah no never mind its grand."

lawred2

And then I was like "Amaze"

And they were like "Totes roysh"

johnnyskeleton

pgj2015 wrote: »

the op is not guilty of theft here.

If he knows hes not entitled to the money but keeps it anyway, thats theft!

lawred2

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

If he knows hes not entitled to the money but keeps it anyway, thats theft!

How do you prove that he knew?

BorneTobyWilde

They're testing you
Will you fail the test?

Glenster

lawred2 wrote: »

And then I was like "Amaze"

And they were like "Totes roysh"

true story.

bruschi

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/teenager-jailed-after-20-000-mistakenly-lodged-into-account-1.2933483

not quite the same amounts, but this guy was jailed when he kept his wrong wages

AudreyHepburn

fuzzydunlop85 wrote: »

Wages just landed in for this month, reckon I've been overpaid by about £1000. I've started a new role this month and reckon this could have caused some confusion.Should I say anything or keep quiet? It's a pretty big organisation, 1000 or so employees. I'd be tempted say nothing, but reckon that I'll probably fess up. So, people of AH what would you do in this situation?

Speak to your employer and be up front and honest about. You're only fooling yourself if you don't.

You'll be caught out at some point and your honesty and integrity will rightly suffer.

BrokenArrows

bruschi wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/teenager-jailed-after-20-000-mistakenly-lodged-into-account-1.2933483

not quite the same amounts, but this guy was jailed when he kept his wrong wages

Well that guy got a very harsh sentence because hes clearly a bit of a scumbag anyway. He was already in prison for assault at the time he was convicted for the theft and clearly made a conscious effort to spend the 20k as quickly as possible.

I would have preferred to see him spend less time in prison and more time in forced labor to repay the amount of money.