Would you report a long-term payroll overpayment at work?

[Hashtagworthit]

Soooooo, asking for a friend. If you worked for a large business (international) and have been overpaid £1k every month for the last 10 months would you confess or keep stum?

Of course as you have to pay it back so the sooner the better!

Quite, if it were a tax code discrepancy and say under £100 then that’s still dishonest but you shouldn’t be expected to know your tax code (I have done sometimes) and payroll sort out your pay rate and tax code, NI rate and other deductions. That’s their job. Mistakes do happen with tax codes and other payments sometimes.

Why haven’t you told them months ago? Surely you’ve noticed well before now?

Unless you are earning a professional footballer's salary you look dodgy for not telling them right away Nobody but you will be routinely looking at your salary figure so once it's wrong on their system it might not get picked up till an annual review.

Is this not theft? Obviously, you should have alerted them immediately.

It could be considered theft or fraud under the Theft Act.

I've had this (not to that value!) as I changed my contracted hours after mat leave and moved to a new job in the same company. It was AGES until I realised, then had to negotiate with the company over how long I could pay it back. Not helped by another mat leave in the meantime. Definitely complicated - and pp is right, it's the emploee's responsibility to raise it.

It is easy make mistakes, my employer messed up on the nursery vouchers and calculations and I didn’t spot this at all. About 6 years later it was spotted as I was owed money which came as a pleasant surprise out of the blue and it was a few thousand pounds. It could easily have not been spotted and I wouldn’t have know, I think we tend to trust the calculations are right.

Understood loud and clear everyone. Thanks for your input. I shall encourage my friend to alert the discrepancy

It will need to be repaid- they will realise

What’s the point in keeping it for the sole purpose of paying it back when they realise?
A multi billion company will still want it paid back and would take a dim view of an employee who purposefully didn’t let payroll know they were being overpaid.