Been paid twice this month by error

[babylone]

I have changed jobs at the end of january.
i moved from one NHS trust to another different one.
i received my pay from my current workplace two days ago.
this morning i received exactly the same pay from my previous job!

a part of me wants to let them know they’ve made a mistake and return my (small) salary (AINBU)
another part of me think that perhaps no-one will notice and perhaps i could keep it???? (AIBU)

im thinking if they dont notice this month, they will notice next month and at some pount i will have to return it anyway….

Keeping it is a great way to get fired from your new job.

There was an article in either the national press or bbc/ itv website recently about just this and how trusts were actually passing these matters to debt collectors very quickly, OP has already said she has emailed about it, absolutely the right thing to do as it is not worth risking damage to your credit worthiness

I had this with my work a few years ago except they weren't rude. I'd been paid about £300 too much and emailed them. HR came back to say the pay roll supervisor had checked it and it was fine. HR were in the office next door so I popped in with my pay slips and showed them the difference and said I really didn't think it was correct. They agreed and asked the supervisor to check it again, they eventually agreed it was a mistake. They took a bit of convincing though.

I had a job back in the day chasing wages over payments, they will notice at some point. If you're not going to come clean at least don't spend it as its very likely they will ask for it back at some point - we often went back months.

OP emailed them over 90 mins ago before 8am and prob long before anyone was there to read the mail

they just had a little dream for 30 mins of going out and splashing the cash!

And you will now have 950 posts of 'its fraud/you should be in jail/its public moneh/its people like you that blah blah blah' between now and the next 5 years when people come and resurrect it telling you how evil you are.

I would have kept quiet OP and stuck it in a high interest account to try and make some money out of it before they managed to claw it back!

For what it's worth I know someone at a large accounting firm who was paid twice one month (went on secondment overseas). She never repaid them. They sent two emails which she ignored and they stopped following up after that...

I'd stick it in an interest-bearing account until I was asked to return it.

Now you’ve noticed it, and know it to be an error, your only decision is whether you want to be done for fraud or not.

I was once sent a cheque for 100 times the correct balance on a bank account I was closing. It didn’t occur to me to do other than laugh and phone them.

Because she was a thief?

She should have felt grateful they didn’t prosecute.

They are going to notice it. Keep it if you like but don't use it because you are going to give it back, make sure you give back what they pay you and they can claim to HR revenue your taxes and your pension contribution to your pension plan and you NI etc if they wish. Do not engage with shit when the claim the gross amount.they can have it back doing what they have to do.

Keep the payment from the old employer so it can be repaid.

Bet your tax code is also up the shoot too.

Well done on doing the right thing OP. However much they paid you in error would not be worth the potential consequences if you'd kept it!

I got paid for 3 months after I left the NHS. I kept ringing payroll and asking them how to return it - they never gave me any details

The potential consequences?

It would just be adjusted on a future payroll.

I know lol, but think how embarrassed you’ll feel when they demand the money back and they know (because they will know) that you kept quiet. You can’t spend it anyway because then you’d need to find it again when they contact you.

yeah my building society gives me a certain percentage of interest every month on my wage that's paid in from the civil service. Never been overpaid though; I was underpaid once but that's obviously different.

It would be embarrassing though when you get caught out and feel like a thief (which technically you are if you stay quiet). That’s enough of a consequence for me to contact them immediately. I contacted my place of work recently because I got about £50 more than usual (a part time paid by the hour job). They haven’t done anything about it and the money’s been spent but it’s small enough to pay back if they ask. (I’m on emergency tax so it could be mine anyway).

This
Report immediately OP

It was pretty clear from your OP that you were going to do this 🙂

Just remember not to go to any effort for them, if they want their money back, they need to make it easy for you.

Should she cancel the cheque as well?

They will notice, and any failure to have notified them can be treated as gross misconduct and include immediate sacking.

As others have said, email them and return the money.

I was going to come on and link to this, but I see someone has got there before me.

They will notice and the fall out will not be good.

Inform them immediately. Its just not worth keeping.

It’s the right decision. Your integrity in your job will always be far more valuable than this payment ever will.