Does anyone fiddle their expenses???

[Paolosgirl]

Things are reeeeely tight financially, and for the first time in nearly 20 years of working for the same organisation, it did briefly occur to me that I could put a few extra journeys through my expense claims - I then felt so guilty for even thinking that thought that I felt sickened with myself

Anyway, I mentioned my immoral thought to my friend who laughed and said "PG, everyone does it". Do they really? Am I being incredibly naive?

I'll put my hands up and admit it, though in my defence I'd been demoted from my job after having a baby and forced to take a much lower paid job at a different office 29 miles from my house.

If the office was 30 miles from my house I'd get a 3k lump sum resttlement package but at 29 miles it was only going to be 1.5k. My new boss laughed and told me to put down 31 miles.

pavlov - it's so childish isn't it? my 7 and 9 year old say "she did it first" or "she did it as well". I'm kind of hoping they'll grow out of it before they hit adult-hood.

I work in the NHS and that's about the only thing I've ever known someone get sacked for!

One of my favourite quotes covers it quite nicely,

"Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking".

Karl Otto von Schonhausen Bismarck.

I know of a person who worked in local government who not only got sacked, but got a criminal record and unpaid work hours (community service). He went from having a good well paid job to nothing. All for what was in total £3k, and he felt justified and felt he would get away with it because 'we all did it'.

It is childish, but many many people think more complex versions of this to justify so many illegal or immoral behaviours. And can sound very plausible. With the right guidance your children will grow out of it hatwoman

Thanks for all your posts - I'm obviously NOT the only one who doesn't fiddle (give or take the odd many MPs or MSPs). I'm ashamed I even thought of it tbh, as it's not something I would ever condone.

Actually don't think I've ever come across someone being found out for fiddling their exes. Have seen people sacked for peddling drugs to their staff and for lying on their CV (although that was arguable, employer claimed BSc Pt 1 in a very small box implied they had a degree but they actually had a different degree-level qualification stated on there anyway...). Oh, and for refusing to turn up on time.

Someone I worked with was given a 10K interest free loan to buy a car due to relocation. It was credited to her bank account twice in error.

She spent the lot. When internal audit realised their mistake she produced falsified bank statements created by herself on the internet.

She ended up in the slammer.

no way, and i don't even claim for stuff i can claim for... e.g. i can claim lunch when working away from the office but i never do - i only ever claim hotel and dinner if i'm away (and even then, not dinner if i meet up with friends, only if i eat alone at the hotel).

I have never and would never falsify expenses. It is wrong. It is stealing.

A friend once took me out for a business lunch. It was legitimate to put it on expenses as a contact and a possible future business. What was not legitimate was the way in which he doctored the receipt when he thought I wasn't looking. I was gobsmacked, absolutely horrified and declined all further invitations.

Once, as a consultant, I worked on an account with a very senior (and very talented) man from another agency. He was openly just making up his expenses. I made sure the client knew they had to check his invoices . It really, really pissed me off as I was doing my utmost to keep costs down, as clearly requested.

DH is a Fraud Investigator (NHS) so wouldn't look too good would it! Even so I would never, ever fiddle my expenses (private sector) and frequently do not claim for short trips I make, coffees I buy for clients etc.

But I also would not chip DS's DS or condone pirate DVD's etc as so many others do -at the end of the day it is theft and I would not go into a shop and steal a game so I will not tolerate illegal copies.

T1S love the quote