Manager has refused mileage claim - AIBU?

[wonderingwanderer2]

I work in the community and so submit my mileage expenses each month. I tend to write my visits in before I do them otherwise I worry I will forget - this is clearly not a good strategy due to what has happened below and I will now do them retrospectively.

I submitted my July mileage and my manager rejected it on the basis that there was one entry that was incorrect - a face-to-face visit had been changed to an online one and I had forgotten to delete the entry - she had seen that it was a Teams meeting in my diary. I apologised and deleted the entry and resubmitted it. I have only just noticed that the mileage for the whole month (a substantial amount) has been rejected again.

Is she allowed to do this? Obviously I was at fault for not deleting the other entry when the meeting was changed to an online one, but AIBU to think she's wrong to not pay my mileage for the rest of the month now the incorrect entry has been deleted? How should I raise this with her?

@Endlesslypatient82 ok but my question was how I raise this with her, not have I committed fraud

@letletmechangetheatmosphere I note my start and end mileage for a journey and claim based on that.

Otherwise if you're working it out afterwards you can get Google to add extra points into a route and do it that way.

How much was it and are you certain that you've never messed up like this before? Reason I ask is because if you only have 2 weeks to go it'd possibly be worth writing the money off and just getting out of there without a disciplinary.

All employees who approve financial expenditure have an obligation to follow their employers policy which will normally involve some level of checks.
If a manager fails to follow the policy they themselves could facing discipline and be sacked if the carelessness results in the misappropriation of funds.

Call her on Monday morning, after giving her 10 min for morning coffee.
Then say you noticed that the claim was not processed, and what do you need to do resubmit the existing claim or input a duplicate.

@letmechangetheatmosphere not a significant amount - certainly not worth their while investigating - and I’m fairly certain it’s never happened before but you have worried me now! What might they do if I work the last two weeks (I only have one working week left, the last week is annual leave)?

@SolasAnla will she tell me if I’m being investigated?

OP, I am sure it will be ok. I would just email your manager on Monday asking if there was an issue with the resubmitted claim? I wouldn’t message over the weekend to be honest.

I wouldn't worry about it, per se.

But for me personally I'm very forgetful - diagnosed ADHD, there is no way I'd be able to remember to photo my mileage on my dashboard before and after every single journey as others here do and as works for them , esp with kids to drop off on the way to school etc all of their stuff to remember too.

So it would make me worry that I may have done it before if I was in your shoes - but that's because the system you use wouldn't work for me. If you think it genuinely worked for you, e.g. it's not very often that a physical meeting would have been replaced by a teams one then you're probably fine. Only you know the likelihood it could have happened before, if you are a bit scatty and might have done it before I'm just saying in your shoes I'd probably hope she had auditing my mileage on her to do list and might not get round to it in the next 2 weeks.

"I'm so cross she didn't even tell me that she'd refused it. Do you think I could contact her over the weekend about it? I'm leaving this job in 2 weeks so I don't really care if it pisses her off tbh!"

I'd definitely drop this attitude, though. You made the mistake, not her.

Its unlikely that you are being investigated. Unless you work in a blame culture org if your manager is doing her own unofficial spot checks or if it has been officially flaged for an audit she is unlikley to say anything unless a check shows there is more than one instance which needs to be queried.

Even then if there were small errors its a management decision on the economic value of any actions around the errors.
The only "but if" is if the company have a contractual obligation which they prove via the claims eg on in person meetings or eg if the cost is rechargeable

can I ask who suggested you do it off Google? What does the company procedure say? Even though it was a genuine mistake, its a teeny red flag that you do your mileage claim before you have actually done the mileage. As a retired NHS community services manager, I too would have had to audit your claim and check it against your diary and would have been rolling my eyes at the extra work.

this.

I find your attitude concerning. Why do you say “not a significant amount”? How are you to judge whether it’s “worth” investigation. Discrepancies should always be investigated. There may even be regulatory reasons that mean they must be investigated.

@wonderingwanderer2 OP was answering the question about how much mileage was owed TO HER on the form she submitted, so answering not a significant amount to her is my interpretation.

Actually scratch that I've just seen the bit about not worth investigating.

Op I meant if it doesn't impact you significantly financially is it worth keeping your head down rather than potentially drawing attention in this scenario given that you are leaving.

@letmechangetheatmosphere well there must be a problem if it’s been refused again and I haven’t been told so how would me not bringing it up make a difference? Surely they would be investigating me either way? And wouldn’t they expect me to say something to my manager when I realised it was rejected again?

@godmum56 the mentor I was assigned when I started the job told me to do it via Google maps. She had only been in post 3 months and left after 6 though.

@letmechangetheatmosphere and if I am in trouble (I don’t think I would be but this thread is making me question myself) wouldn’t it be better to know so that I just don’t work my notice and start my new job afresh?

hmmm...if the new employer contacts the old one, its maybe not going to look good that you didn't work your notice.

Don't you need a reference? I'd certainly mention it if I was asked to provide one for you.

@Johnnysgirl references have already been done

I just think it's worth considering the scenario that maybe she is now required to audit your previous claims, there could be a timeframe for that. I wouldn't message her at the weekend and 'piss her off' etc as you suggested because maybe she's kicking the tin can down the road/has put this at the bottom of her to-do list, whatever.

Just consider keeping your head down and getting out of there without making a fuss because - yes, as you have described it this was a genuine accident - but you didn't notice it. Are there more? Do you know? Maybe just don't kick off about it as you were considering doing.

"I work in the community and so submit my mileage expenses each month. I tend to write my visits in before I do them otherwise I worry I will forget - this is clearly not a good strategy due to what has happened below and I will now do them retrospectively."

Your system is flawed.

You admitted that in your OP.

I really wouldn't go pissing her off when you cannot and do not have faith in the system you've been using since (presumably) you started that job?

@letmechangetheatmosphere yeah im
not going to kick off, I just want to know why she has rejected it again and why she hasn’t told me, that’s what I will ask on Monday - or do you think I should just not raise it?