What would you do if you got overpaid?

[BSNbeauty]

The night of pay, most of the staff look up their paystubs online. I looked mine up last night and noticed that I was over paid by 1500 dollars. For a moment I daydreamed about what I could do with the extra money. Ofcourse, I never had any real intention of not notifying payroll.

I showed my co-workers and to my surprise many of them advised me to not say anything. In fact, only one agreed that I was doing the right thing.

I thought things like this would be a no brainer but apparently not.

Well, I went to pay roll this am and got it taken care of. The lady working in payroll thanked me for my honestly and said eventually they do found out and it would not have looked good if I didn't say anything.

So morale of the story.... if you ever get over paid fess up. Although I don't think there is anything wrong with having a few short moments to fantasize about having money.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

To be honest, I don't pay close enough attention to notice if I got overpaid by $30-$50 dollars a paycheck. More than that I'm sure I'd notice. But if I was overpaid $30 a check for 6 months and then had it all retracted at once when they realized their error, I would be livid. If they took it back gradually, fine. But to have them take it all back in one $500 chunk or something would be totally unfair and create an undue hardship. They have to bear some responsibility for their own mistake.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

It doesn't help that there's about 20 lines of stuff on a lot of people's paystubs. Between the various differential pay rates,if there's a holiday pay rate, different rates if one is charge, a bunch of deductions.....it just looks overwhelming. So I do "get" that someone could not realize that they are being overpaid by even $100 dollars. But yes, OP you did the right thing, $1500 is a lot of money to have your employer "take back" when you least expect it.

It interests me how many people scrutinize their paycheck stubs to realize they have been underpaid. I now write little notes on my calender at home about any "extra" pay. There have been times that I haven't been paid correctly--to my advantage. But then again, with the recent tax hike, I am amazed at how much of my money goes to the government...

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

I've gotten overpaid twice. Once I got a bonus for extra shifts that I didn't earn. I called my manager as soon as I found out (she wasn't known as the sharpest pencil in the box) and she said the amount would be withheld from the next check which was fine with me. That never happened and I didn't call her back to remind her.

Another time (different hospital) there was a mess up with direct deposit (they didn't get deposited on time) and payroll sent out robocalls to everyone to let them know they could pick up paper checks from our units. I figured I'd pick it up when I worked that weekend but by then, I got paid to my account through direct deposit. The hospital still mailed me the paper check. I called the HR department (never get a live person, always have to leave a message) to let them know that I had this check, what did they want me to do with it, I was not going to deposit it. Never heard back. Several months later, I received an extra deposit into my account through direct deposit for the exact amount of the problematic check. I heard they were clearing up their books for the year, found I had never deposited that check so they went ahead and deposited the amount in my account. I must admit I didn't call them back to complain after I had tried to not take this check for months.

I believe you did the right thing by being honest with your payroll department. I have always been honest about any overpayments and my conscience is clear.

[edmia, BSN, RN]

I had an old co-worker who got overpaid for about a year. It was about 30-50 dollars, I believe, a pay check but they wanted it back of course when they realized it. She claims she didn't know, but either way she wasn't mad when they took it back. I feel that if you know you got overpaid and you don't inform anyone then you are basically stealing from your company/employer and it is not worth it to just lie.

Congrats on doing the right thing!

I would not have noticed if the amount was so little. 1500 I'd notice and would say something, but generally, if my check is roughly the amount it should, I don't pay too much attention to the details. My paycheck varies because I work an extra shift every other pay period.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

[chrisrn24]

"It would not have looked good?" It was a honest mistake and I do not think you would get in trouble for it.

[julz68]

On the flip side, today I noticed I was shorted 25 hours! I was flexed off two shifts during the pay period and they forgot to give me my PTO. They said they can't do anything about it until NEXT check, so I'm basically screwed for the next 2 weeks. My husband lost his job a couple months ago and I'm the sole provider for my family of 6. Student loan, mortgage and car payment is due Monday and that leaves me zero for gas and groceries...our frig is pretty much bare.

I'm so angry! And the payroll lady seems to not care one bit. Ugh.

[Calabria, BSN, RN]

On the flip side, today I noticed I was shorted 25 hours! I was flexed off two shifts during the pay period and they forgot to give me my PTO. They said they can't do anything about it until NEXT check, so I'm basically screwed for the next 2 weeks. My husband lost his job a couple months ago and I'm the sole provider for my family of 6. Student loan, mortgage and car payment is due Monday and that leaves me zero for gas and groceries...our frig is pretty much bare.

I'm so angry! And the payroll lady seems to not care one bit. Ugh.

I'd be going up the chain of command about this as soon as their office opens. They should advance you a check for their mistake.

[Munch]

Yeah I definitely used to work payroll for one of the jobs I held MANY moons ago(not in nursing...but it was in payroll). And The OP was gracious enough to come forward and have the situation rectified. Many times where I worked(in retail at the time) we would get the discrepancies the week later and then come hunt down the person that got paid extra and they would get the money docked from their next paycheck. So some may think they got away with it...but they would wonder why their next check wasn't nearly as much as it used to be.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

Our pay stubs are so complicated none of us know exactly how much money we're supposed to get. I alway have a ball park figure in mind. But to be absolutely sure the number is correct? None of us ever are. If I were consistently over paid $20-30 dollars a week, I wouldn't know it.

I need to make an appt with HR for instruction on how to read my paystub.

I re-read the above, and I can't believe I've accepted for years the fact I can't figure my pay to the penny.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Take the money and run. That's what Steve Miller would do.

:) I'm pretty sure you could use that as a defense.. "But Steve Miller told me to"

[ruler of kolob]

Take the money and run. That's what Steve Miller would do.

So, you are OK with theft from an employer? Ever think of diverting narcotics to sell? I'll bet it would be easy .

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

On the flip side, today I noticed I was shorted 25 hours! I was flexed off two shifts during the pay period and they forgot to give me my PTO. They said they can't do anything about it until NEXT check, so I'm basically screwed for the next 2 weeks. My husband lost his job a couple months ago and I'm the sole provider for my family of 6. Student loan, mortgage and car payment is due Monday and that leaves me zero for gas and groceries...our frig is pretty much bare.

I'm so angry! And the payroll lady seems to not care one bit. Ugh.

This happens more than one can imagine. I get the impression that few powers that be "get" that most of us live paycheck to paycheck. And when one is talking about getting paid every 2 weeks, it is like a lifetime.

It is times like this that people should take advantage of local food pantry. Or the car payment--sometimes they let you put it off for 2 weeks. I have been there, and it is not a wonderful place to be to say the least. I also do a follow up email to whomever "does" my time to remind them that they are to include PTO. Which one shouldn't have to do, but unfortunetly sometimes you have to.