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AIBU?

to consider keeping an overpayment from work?

57 replies

jango36 · 21/04/2013 16:08

title says it all.. Was paid a few hundered extra this def was extra. Some admin person has done it in error! am I terrible for considering keeping stum?!

OP posts:

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gonerogue · 22/04/2013 08:36

I was paid an extra month of maternity leave, I.e they paid me for my first unpaid month off. They didn't notice, e en when I rang up querying as we were die to get a bonus that month so I was checking if tht was what had come through.

When I got my payslip I realised their mistake rang payroll, my line manager, payroll, line manager... The overpayment was in August and they didn't sort it until Novembr.

My line manager said he was shocked t my telling them... But ke everyone else I didn't want a big demand for cash off them in future.

Easy to let them know, chase it a few times then leave it with them.

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amistillsexy · 22/04/2013 08:18

Meant to add...I always had the intention of paying it back. That's the key here. The decent thing is to tell them, and let them decide what to do about it.

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amistillsexy · 22/04/2013 08:17

I was overpaid once (working as a teacher) . I contacted the payroll dept and they said they'd look into it. My headteacher advised me to put it away in a savings account, so I wasn't tempted to spend it.
Great advice, as it helped to pay the deposit on my first house 8 years later! Despite several phone calls and letters, they never took the money back.

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MoodyDidIt · 22/04/2013 08:12

bobyan

it was ten years ago so get over yourself

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confusedgirlfromtheShire · 22/04/2013 08:10

I second a poster above who said it might be a tax rebate. I'm not a tax expert by any means and don't know your circumstances obviously - but as this is the first pay packet in the new tax year, your tax code might have changed and they might need to adjust your take home pay to take account of that??

Either way, you must bring it to their attention.

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emmyloo2 · 22/04/2013 08:01

Just to correct posters above, if you knowingly keep it that is theft and it is a criminal offence. Bobyan is completely correct. You do know it's an overpayment so if you keep it, it's theft and also the tort of conversion and you will have to pay it back.

I am a lawyer with a company and we chase people down who have left the company who have been overpaid. If you don't pay it back they can take you to court.

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tazzle · 22/04/2013 07:58

Well think about it the other way... if you noticed you had been under paid you would , quite rightly , tell them you had and want paid for work done. You cannot have it work one way a d not the other !

Why should you benefit from someone elses error .... what if you were the hr person that made the error ?

You know it's dishonest. .. do the right thing ... tell them.

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Lonecatwithkitten · 22/04/2013 07:54

The OP is aware it has happened as she posted here and she is showing intent to keep by discussing here. By the nature of posting it here if she chooses to keep the amount it is theft.
Most contracts have a clause in then relating to accidental overpayment of wages and the ability of the firm to recoup now. So she may even have a contractual obligation.

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emmyloo2 · 22/04/2013 07:49

YABU. It's stealing and you will have to pay it back. It's a criminal offence.

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merrymouse · 22/04/2013 07:48

If it is an error they will find out about it when they do monthly reconciliations/tax reporting.

You might as well tell them now and look good.

If you keep the money and it hasn't been taxed correctly and you dont inform hmrc you will be defrauding them too.

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Trazzletoes · 22/04/2013 07:39

Cabbage you're right. Theft requires dishonesty. If you honestly believe there is no error then it's fine. But you know there is an error. You know it's not yours to keep.

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Bobyan · 22/04/2013 07:37

Until they find out and decided to fuck you right back.

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MoodyDidIt · 22/04/2013 07:33

not if you are still working there

and not if its a small company

if its your last pay cheque and its a big company, keep it like i did when i got overpaid in my last paycheque when i worked for one of the big banks who treated me like shit

FUCK EM. Lol :o

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Altinkum · 22/04/2013 07:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

YoniiidsAreGreaterThanMine · 22/04/2013 07:24

Even if they dont notice it and you are not repaying it, beware. Karma is a bitch. You will most probably lose a similar amount of money unexpectedly somewhere else...

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CabbageLeaves · 22/04/2013 07:24

Norks has it. You can pretend you didn't spot the admin error to your employer and to yourself. But both will know its not true so that will make it theft

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CabbageLeaves · 22/04/2013 07:22

I wouldn't call it theft if someone did it unknowingly. It is theft if you are aware of it.

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NorksAreMessy · 22/04/2013 07:22

If you keep it, then you will be the sort of person that would keep money that wasn't hers.
ARE you that sort of person?

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CabbageLeaves · 22/04/2013 07:22

One of my staff came to me to tell me she had been over paid. The level of trust this develops is worth lots. Ironically in her case it was her error in calculation and the pay was correct (in fact we found out she was missing one days pay.)

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Trazzletoes · 22/04/2013 07:21

ChairmanWow why do you think it's not theft? She would be dishonestly taking money that she isn't entitled to.

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Trazzletoes · 22/04/2013 07:16

Definitely theft to keep it.

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Bobyan · 22/04/2013 07:15

An admin error isn't theft but knowingly keeping it without saying anything is.

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WaitingForMe · 22/04/2013 07:11

Speaking as an employer while I may not necessarily sack someone for this it would highlight that the person was either dishonest or unobservant. Neither are traits I want in my team long term and it would certainly rule them out for promotion. There is more to this kind of thing than what you can get away with.

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ChairmanWow · 22/04/2013 07:03

It's not theft and it's not sackable. They made an admin error in calculating your pay so they can't take disciplinary action against you. They can however deduct it from your pay once they notice. Tell them otherwise you might find yourself left short when they notice. It's not worth the hassle.

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JakeBullet · 22/04/2013 06:55

I was in this position four years ago when my salaries department paid me a month after I had left. I contacted them and asked them to recall it, gave them all the details etc and pointed out I had left and that the bank account was closing as I had opened a new one.

Three years later I had a letter fro the bank to say they wanted to transfer/change the savings account I had with them (that I never used and didn't look at). Listed in there was over £800 which was the salary that three years before my previous employers said they would recall! When the account closed the bank had simply transferred it to the linked savings account. I had no contact from my previous employer in all that time to say they hadn't reclaimed it.

Phoned them again, they took some finding as in the time the phone numbers had all changed. Finally got through to someone and managed to speak to the salary manager who said that the company had changed...(they were now slightly differently named) and the money belonged to the old company which no longer existed! He told me to "enjoy it" and just said there was nowhere for it to go back to. A good day that was!

BUT...I absolutely DID attempt to return it and would advise you to do the same.