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.

Pretty sure most employers assume that potential employees lie about their salaries. If you don’t feel comfortable lying about your salary, you could always say something like “Unfortunately I'm obligated not to disclose my current salary but I’d be looking for a base salary in the region of £43k” or along those lines.

Just use Linda Evangelista's expression next time; "I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day" - or the version that @ttcat37 suggests "I'm obligated not to disclose my current salary but I’d be looking for a base salary in the region of £43k..."

It's not enough to make a difference so I wouldn't worry.

As a side note, I NEVER tell recruiters my current salary, it's absolutely none of their business.

Don't worry about it.
I routinely add 5K onto my current salary when I apply for jobs.
Nobody has ever queried it and I always get the salary I ask for.

If I was giving a reference I wouldn't supply the employees salary. I would state banding as this is more about level of experience / responsibility (public sector) but not actual pay. I wouldn't be willing to provide this personal information without the staff members permission. It's up to the new employer to determine whether the candidate is worth what they're willing to offer.

Most references would not mention salary. Even if they did the difference is to small for anyone to worry. Good luck in the new job.

I don't think they should ask what you are currently earning. Why would that have any baring on what they can pay?
They should ask your expectations but only after giving you pay scale.
Always ask for more. Men do.

Accidentally. I accidentally slipped and fell on an orange. You know the rest.

I have been asked on a reference before for someone's salary but I never complete that part because quite frankly it's none of their business, and not relevant.

K thanks for your input

Well, they must have written it down incorrectly then, OP. 😉

Agree - I can understand in the public sector, where employees are on pay bands, but the only reason employers in the private sector want to know how much you're paid is so they can pay you as little as possible. I feel under absolutely no obligation to share this with them.

Don't worry about it OP. It's hardly anything, and it won't come up anyway.

Don't sweat the p45 either, you could have paid for additional holiday, taken unpaid leave, flexed the amount in your pension, got a bonus, left part way through a pay period. And it's usually processed by someone who has nothing to do with your salary. Never understand why people claim this could trip you up.

Honestly Op worry about this .

Goodness, I thought everyone added a bit on to these figures!

@Lampzade Did you miss out the word "don't"? 😂

I was always advised to inflate salary a touch at interview, to ensure they don’t under value you on your offer!

Yes, my line on this is "I would be looking for at least XX to move roles". Changing jobs involves a level of risk for the employee - it's not just about the financial package, so I'd want it to be significantly worth my while to take that risk.

Absolutely this. Don’t worry. It’s very hard to work out the exact amounts from P45 due to all the reasons above - especially when it’s quite a small difference. congrats on your new job!

In my experience they usually email a form to fill in for a reference and don't ask about salary only how do you know that person and why do you think they're a great employee

I generally increase mine by 3k then look for jobs £5k+ no point in me leaving otherwise

😃 Yes did

Stop worrying about this. It's irrelevant as they have offered you what they feel you are worth to do the job.

Firstly, they won' ask or check up on you and if they do stick to your guns and tell them that what you thought you were being paid. It's what you were told your salary had been increased to.

No one is going to give 2 hoots about a 1k difference.

I wouldn't worry. I moved jobs once and the guy that interviewed me for the new job wasn't listening properly when I told him my salary, and wrote it down 10k+ more than I was on. I pretended not to see. It never caught up with me!

Agreed - it shouldn’t be relevant at all but recruiters love to ask so they can get a good deal for their clients. FWIW it’s very rare now for a reference to contain anything other than job title and dates employed, so I very much doubt the new place would even ask.