hypothetical moral dilema..

[ColJack]

I got my first paycheque from my new job today and after a quick glance at it I thought they had made a clerical error in my favour.
After working it out though they have got it right it was just my brain playing tricks on me..

this got me to thinking of 2 theoretical questions..

1. If the company you worked for made a minor error in your favour on your payslip ( ie paid you a full months salary when you only started 3 weeks ago ), would you tell them or keep quiet?

2, If the company made a major error in your favour ( ie decimal place in the wrong spot, causing you to be paid say £10,000 a month instead of £1,000 a month ) and didn't catch it for a few months, are you legally obligated to return the money or can they reclaim it by law etc?

 

[imamartian]

i'm a sad g!t... i would tell them i thought they'd got it wrong. It's simply the value of being honest against the embarrassment of getting found out... plus a small smattering of being brought up properly !!!!

 

[Johnmelad502]

1. Difficult, would depend on all of the circumstances.

2. Yes, they could recover. You would have known 100% that you had been paid too much, so dishonestly would have been proved.

 

[wotan]

Honesty is the best policy, I would query it, integrity is something to be valued.

Wotan

 

[imamartian]

even if the circumstances were 100% cast iron i would suffer the guilt.... it's takes a different type of person to me to steal £40 from a pensioner and beat them near to death just as getting a fiver back in your change when you only gave them a fiver !!

when i was a kid (35/40 years ago..) i found a tenner and my dad took me to the local cop shop to hand it in!! i'll never forget that.... i eventually got given the tenner back by the coppers too... maybe that's what forged my sense of honesty and respect of the law that seems so lacking these days !

 

[lifesagasman]

Wages clerks are biologically incapable of making over-payments.
They are genetically programmed to make under-payments.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Wages clerks are biologically incapable of making over-payments.
They are genetically programmed to make under-payments.

Yes there is something in their genetical make up, that will not allow them to overpay, process to many hours overtime or have petty cash available!

 

[ColJack]

I believe that they force feed them beans for 2 days straight then sit them in a tank of water for 48hrs to make sure no bubbles escape in order for them to pass the first stage interviews...?

 

[joinerjohn]

There was an article in our local rag some weeks ago about Derby City Council managing to overpay staff by £154,000 in one year. In some cases they were unable to recover the overpayments as they had become "lost " in the system.
What I really don't understand though is,,, If they found out about the wages overpayments,, how come some are lost in the system??

 

[imamartian]

There was an article in our local rag some weeks ago about Derby City Council managing to overpay staff by £154,000 in one year. In some cases they were unable to recover the overpayments as they had become "lost " in the system.
What I really don't understand though is,,, If they found out about the wages overpayments,, how come some are lost in the system??

it's rubbish.... i have worked in payroll, and the payments have to balance... and recovery of over payments is easy... and auditors check on top... these stories are make believe !

 

[joinerjohn]

it's rubbish.... i have worked in payroll, and the payments have to balance... and recovery of over payments is easy... and auditors check on top... these stories are make believe !

I'll try and post a link up to the story tomorrow. Can't search their site for it ATM. There was a response from A DCC spokesperson with some lame excuse why they couldn't trace some of the overpayments.

 

[Gasman28]

i'm a sad g!t... i would tell them i thought they'd got it wrong. It's simply the value of being honest against the embarrassment of getting found out... plus a small smattering of being brought up properly !!!!

Good call and totally agree. This country needs to get back to the old ways of having some decency.

 

[namsag]

On 2 occasions saw mates get 500+ quid overtime payments from BG paid 2 weeks running instead of 1 . No chance they informed them.
One guy got 444 hours holiday for the year instead of 222 he asked me if he should take them eh yes its not your mistake think they even bought a week back off him

 

[imamartian]

On 2 occasions saw mates get 500+ quid overtime payments from BG paid 2 weeks running instead of 1 . No chance they informed them.
One guy got 444 hours holiday for the year instead of 222 he asked me if he should take them eh yes its not your mistake think they even bought a week back off him

namsag, psychologists etc would have a ball with this duscussion.. and given a bit od peer pressure, it'd be easy to pretend you'd not spotted the mistake etc etc..in your pay... but what if you took home £350 a week and got cash from your paymasdter (behind a trolley) every moth/week? and he/she handed you £500 too much... would you fess up?

 

[Gasman28]

I would give my overpayments to a worthy cause - admin / mods