Partner has used Work Credit Card for Personal Expenses!

[Charcol]

Hes been called in for a disciplinary meeting to explain himself.

I have advised him to co-operate and tell the truth as best as poss. Its several transactions, including cash withdrawals. Although he has never tried to claim them as a business expense to recoup the money from work, and has paid the monies back after use.

However, the policy is no personal expenses!

What are the best options to avoid dismissal? Has anyone witnessed or seen similar scenarios? Advise would be much appreciated. thanks!

Your advice to tell the truth and cooperate fully is correct.

Unless he was genuinely unaware that the policy was for no personal use (which would mean someone else's gross negligence because how on earth did he get given a Credit Card without that being explained to him) then I think termination is probably unavoidable but he may be able to negotiate to be allowed to resign rather than being sacked, and to leave with a positive reference, if he can show accounting for every penny having been paid back. That's the best you can hope for tbh.

Non-cash : how many transactions, value of each and for what purpose? These could be seen as mistakes or stupidity. There will be an audit trail here on the usage. If paid back in full and card removed a formal warning might be possible.

Cash : how many times, how much cash each time , used for what (any receipts available)? This is WAY more serious. Did he pay back in full plus any interest incurred ?

Unless you mean he was abroad and used work card to take out say £100 worth of cash but in the end only spent £50 on work expenses and the other £50 on personal ones I can’t see what explanation he could have that would mean an employer was ok with this. The above people at my work regularly do as it avoids them having to pay the charges for using their personal card to take out cash abroad and gives them some money for tips/picking up sundries like snacks or a drink. Work are ok with it though I believe it’s not in line with policy. Personally I just grab a snack/drink and buy along with my lunch if I want one and I leave tips in USD as I prefer not to have to pay off the work credit card, which is a massive faff. I’ve had to in past due to similar mistakes to those described in thread (forgetting to relink uber or leaving my work card as primary one on Apple Pay after a trip) and it’s been fine but I know people who were sacked for regularly using their card for personal use and then just paying it off without being open about it with their manager and where it wasn’t just a mistake or an agreed exception.

I’ve never had a work credit so literally haven’t had to deal with this but genuinely what would be the issue with using the card if it didn’t cost the company anything?

if he was responsible for actually paying the monthly amount and claimed expenses to cover the cost of only work expenses and paid any interest etc himself, is it really that heinous a thing?

I did this once, purely by mistake - i was asked to buy a colleague who just had a baby something on amazon from the team, so i loaded up the company credit card and paid that way - unfortunately i didnt remember to switch it back to my own card when i used amazon again, and i had bought something personal - i think it might have been specialist flour if memory serves - i noticed it straight away and flagged it to HR/finance and they were totally fine with it - your case sounds different so i would come clean - was he stealing? If so, he might be dismissed....

He's been given the card for just work expenses. He's using someone else's line of credit for his day to day expenditure.

If he withdrew £100 on the card and then after payday paid back in £100 he has obtained himself a free payday loan by deception. The company will have been charged a punitive level of interest on that cash withdrawal because credit cards aren't supposed to be used for cash like that. That interest will not have been paid back. If he had arranged a legitimate payday loan it would have cost him at least £20. Using company resources for personal pecuniary benefit is theft.

Did he really not understand that they would see it and for many companies this is gross misconduct and instant dismissal?

using in error is one thing, but this is repeated abuse and taking the money out shows deliberate.

he’s clearly got significant financial problems, and is either thick, desperate or both.

either way I’m sorry I think it will be dismissal. The best he can hope for is when that comes he negotiates to resign and a basic reference, to help him get another job.

I work in HR, 95% of the time this would be dismissal. We have had a couple of cases where someone has accidentally tapped the work card and then realised and either contacted their line manager or if outside working hours sent an email immediately notifying the manager or finance team - these people have not been dismissed as it’s clear it was a genuine error. I wouldn’t say cash withdrawals are an error. It could go further to court etc if it came to a large amount over a period of time. Depends on the case.

I’ve never had a work credit

Clearly.

Yes, it is a big deal. A work card is given to you as an expression of significant trust, that you will manage it appropriately. And you know when you get one that it is for work expenses only. The company pays to administer the card as well as being responsible for the balance. Using it regularly for personal expenses is effectively borrowing money illicitly from the company, money they're liable for if you default, and making them pay the administration charges to boot. As PP said, it's like borrowing money from the till to pay your gas bill. Putting it back later doesn't make It not theft. It is a serious disciplinary issue.

I used to work for a large media company where this was considered fine as long as you paid it back, and quite a few of the directors used the company card as their main card. It was Amex cards, and back in the early 00s.

Not sure how much of an outlier that was, or if it's something that was OK 30 years ago but not now. He might be able to get away with "gosh, sorry! I thought we were allowed?"

Quite simply that’s not going to happen; the world has moved on.

The company pays the bill directly @LeroyJenkinssss , the employee doesn’t pay it and claim back the money.

The withdrawing of cash is particularly bad. He effectively is taking a loan at a preferential rate without informing the company.

Dismissal is a definite possibility.

He needs to apologise, explain his circumstances and point out that he never claimed the expense. And obviously promise to never do it again. He might get off with a final written warning.

I used mine once, advised Finance, filled out a form and paid it.

It doesnt have to be a big deal if you made a genuine accident and pay it back

It depends. Someone I worked with did it loads of times. He had his company credit card linked to his Uber account for when he needed it for business travel and kept selecting the wrong card when he was leaving the pub after a few too many. Nothing fraudulent, just drunken stupidity.

Shouldn't the bigger question be: given that he has proven himself to be financially unreliable, dishonest and incapable of playing by the rules - why is he still your partner? You will be on his victim list sooner or later.

Quite likely he could be dismissed, I guess he needs to prepare himself for that

Can you not see the difference, genuinely?

I don't think that there's a tactic one can use to avoid dismissal in this instance, sorry. All he can do is hope for the best and cooperate and chalk it up to experience, but if I was you I'd want some very clear explanation of the circumstances that brought him to do it?

I’m not convinced many people on this thread actually have a company credit card or know how they work.

Fraud that old chestnut. It would only be fraud if he’d tried to pass it off as a business expense, company credit cards are in your name.

This is just about company policy. I think I’m allowed to use mine for personal expenses as long as I pay it off and don’t try and claim it back. I’ve used it accidentally a couple of times but it’s easier to use my own generally tbh. There is no crime here. But it’s against the employers policy.

he has never tried to claim them as a business expense to recoup the money from work

Quite a few replies talking about "claiming" the expenses. I'm confused - can someone clarify? If it's the company card, I wouldn't expect the user to claim because they didn't pay in the first place!

Do you mean he didn't justify those spends, leaving unexplained gaps on the statements? I'd sack him for stupidity.

I think the withdrawing cash looks bad. I wonder if that sort of thing can effect a companies credit rating/ be expensive the same it can for individuals. I know with my cc, interest would be charged at a higher rate for cash withdrawals and it’s the last thing to be paid off. I’ve never done it as everyone knows it is a bad idea.

You can exclude certain things, for example if you’re in a hotel and get a movie. Or a personal call on a work phone.

edit snd you then pay the card supplier for the difference,

A company credit card is in your name against your credit rating etc and you are responsible for paying it off. If you put expenses through as business then the company pays it if you don’t then they do. We have a system to identify personal and company expense, signed off by your line manager.

The money ‘used’ comes from the credit card company not the employer.