I accidentally lied about salary

[Helloyouok]

Hi, I'm hoping for a bit of reassurance but feel free to also tell me off because I've been a bit silly.

I've been offered a new job, which involves a salary increase, and I successfully managed to negotiate a bit more than what I was originally offered.

In my current role I genuinely thought I was on £36.5k, so this is what I've been telling interviewers I'm on when asked. However I checked my Compensation statement just now and to my horror I'm actually on just under £35.5k! I'm not sure why I thought I was on more, I think I'm my head I've always said I'm on around 36k and then somehow added the 0.5 along the way so that's just the figure that stuck in my head.

Anyway the new job is about to contact my references and I'm having a bit of a meltdown because if they ask for current salary and notice the discrepancy will I be pulled up for lying, or even worse the offer retracted? It was a genuine mistake on my part.

It’s a pretty small difference in salary and I have received a lot of reference requests and never been asked to confirm someone’s salary.

Do you get any additional perks or bonus - gym or car allowance in addition? If yes you could explain that you added the monetary value of those benefits?

Relax, I doubt they'll ask your salary, and it's hardly like you added £10k on. If it comes up, just say it was an honest mistake.

£1k is nothing and isn't worth worrying about. It's easily explained away as an allowance that wasn't part of your base pay. And that's if your new employer even notices it as a discrepancy.

I'd be much more concerned about an applicant who inflated their current salary by £10-15k in order to be accelerated up the pay scale of their new job... now that would make me question their honesty and integrity.

As a matter of principle, I give my total reward figure ie salary + car allowance + employer pension contributions etc....

I've never been called out on this.

Personally, I’m not sure why employers think they should have this information.

They will not ask your current employer for confirmation of your salary.

I'm not sure they can even ask your employer your salary?

Hopefully someone on here from HR can confirm but I think it's more basic info like job title, employment dates.

Your employer is not going to provide your salary information in a reference. Don't worry about it

I did this, It was a genuine error / misunderstanding on my part, I told my manager, who just shrugged and said 'don't sweat it, enjoy the pay rise!'
My pay scale meant I'd put my income down as the top scale, not my actual pay🤦‍♀️.

They are very unlikely to ask and quite frankly its not a question I would answer in an interview anyway.
If by some chance they do find out your actual salary they won't care, its not much more than you said anyway

You current salary has no bearing on the amount the have deemed you to be worth in the new role.
They won't ask your previous employer. They had no reason to ask your current salary anyway.
Really don't worry about it.

It's on your P60 and they will ask for this because it has your tax code on it.

But they won't care - if they do just say what you said here.

I don’t think you need to worry, it’s explainable and it’s a small difference. I’ve changed lots of jobs and have never been asked my current salary during interviews or referencing. I don’t think they will check at all.

Which is why the answer should always be, I’m not interviewing for my current role so current salary isn’t relevant.

They have no right to know what you are on currently anyway and they do this so that they can get away with offering you as little as possible. I hate this practice of asking what you are on and/or what your salary expectations are. All jobs should be advertised with a salary band in my opinion. So in short don't worry about it because there is no way for them to find out. And congratulations!

You should always, always lie about your salary, it's a really good way to get more money.

And they never check. If they did, just say you got confused and thought it was asking what your desired salary was. Job done.

The discrepancy is so small I'm confident that it won't be noted even if your P60 is checked. If you want to be extra honest you could correct it, it won't reflect badly!

It's hardly worth mentioning, 1,000 is nothing really. I'd not say anything about it. I don't think they'll ask to confirm your salary, it's just references and role at the company.

It will be from the P45, which only shows the tax year to date. It also won't show any deductions, for example due to sick leave, where an employee has bought additional holiday, etc so someone's salary couldn't be identified from it for certain

You're fine. I've given references and never been asked/told the candidates current salary. I've also inflated and never been asked, but you can just say there's a bonus structure etc. I never move a job without a significant pay increase anyway. 1k is nothing.

Good luck with the new job!

I doubt your new employer will even ask for details of your salary in a reference.

I’ve recently accepted a new job offer. During the recruitment process I was asked about my current package. I added £10k to the figure. They offered me £10k more than that. I pushed for another £5k which they agreed.

Nobody will be bothered that you added £1,000, accidentally or otherwise.

It's too small a difference to matter and the new employer is unlikely to ask the exact salary you were on. That's not really a question that gets raised in references. How long they served, usually some positive feedback and absences or discipline might be requested. So I really wouldn't worry. I'd say many willfully lie about such things to try and move up the pay ladder.

It would be good if employers could follow the lead of some US States and talk about salary expectations, rather than what you're earning. Asking a candidate what they are currently earning is not allowed. The job is worth £XXk, so pay that amount regardless of what someone is currently earning. It stops people being caught in the cycle of low pay if they happen to have been unpaid in a previous job.

I'd assume they'd just think you are/were paid overtime at some point or they misheard the figure

It's definitely not enough to say you "lied" you literally gave them an exact figure within £1k of what you can prove...

Good luck with your new job though!