Quit my job - still getting paid - what to do?

[Jeroyds]

I recently left my job about 1.5 months ago to take some time off before I travel, but there is a small problem - I'm apparently still on their payroll. I receive direct deposit to my account every 2 weeks for my full pay. What should I do? Any way I am entitled to this or can legally keep it?

PS. I should mention the employer is a major financial institution, which is where the money is being deposited.

[xg3]

LOL.. of course you are not entitle to keep the money. When they find out, they will ask for it back... but in the mean time.. you can collect interest on it =).

[Jeroyds]

Haha, it was worth a shot to ask - I guess I should let them know?

[speedyforme]

I know it's tempting but let them know for sure. I don't know how much trouble you can get into.

When I went from full time to part time at my current job, I was still getting paid full time. But knowing that I wanted to stay here for a LONG time, I told the truth. Sometimes i wish I hadn't since it would be hard for them to find out but that's life.

[Jeroyds]

I doubt I could get in any trouble for not informing them - is it not their responsibility to complete the process.

I'd like to forget about the account and re-visit it in 5 years, just to see what the balance would be at, hahaha.

[xg3]

I doubt I could get in any trouble for not informing them - is it not their responsibility to complete the process.

I'd like to forget about the account and re-visit it in 5 years, just to see what the balance would be at, hahaha.

Nah, you won't get into the trouble..
i would be like.. i wasn't aware of it.

[speedyforme]

How can you not be aware you are still getting direct deposit from an old company?

Apparently when I told my company they are still paying me full time, they told me "I gues the paperwork didn't go through..."

LOL. I soooo could have gotten away with it.

[Jeroyds]

Nah, you won't get into the trouble..
i would be like.. i wasn't aware of it.

Well, thats what my plan is, but the problem is I use the account as my primary chequing account and there is a lot of activity on it (keeping a minimum balance of the money they have overpaid me). So I'm sure I would have noticed....:rolleyes: lol.

How can you not be aware you are still getting direct deposit from an old company?

Apparently when I told my company they are still paying me full time, they told me "I gues the paperwork didn't go through..."

LOL. I soooo could have gotten away with it.

Haha, that's what I'm thinking, but for how long? That's what scares me. I don't want to spend/invest it and then have them come back the day after it's all gone and say "We've made a mistake, you owe us..." - still debating on what to do!

[muchacho_007]

Keep the money, don't spend it.

Switch banks when the cheques stop coming in. Change address and hope for the best.

In my experience, the guy who made the mistake might want to over look it.

[myapple]

Well, thats what my plan is, but the problem is I use the account as my primary chequing account and there is a lot of activity on it (keeping a minimum balance of the money they have overpaid me). So I'm sure I would have noticed....:rolleyes: lol.



Haha, that's what I'm thinking, but for how long? That's what scares me. I don't want to spend/invest it and then have them come back the day after it's all gone and say "We've made a mistake, you owe us..." - still debating on what to do!

Switch primary cheq acct to another bank. Check this one after a year and see what's going on.

[luckydog2006]

It could be money they owe you for the vacation days you were entitled to but not used? In any event, if you are parting company on good terms, its best to let them know (if its an actual mistake). If its not, then you have extra monies for your travel budget.

[oasis100]

It is fraud not to report it. They will get it back.

[Timo]

and if they wanted to be mean, they might even ask for the money back + possible interest they could have gained if they had the money... and that could be any amount of $$ that their lawyers pull from a hat...

[Citizen Bmac]

It's not fraud if it's their mistake. Like muchacho said, when whoever is doing the payroll realizes the mistake, they would probably rather overlook it than report it to their boss.

[stevelam]

absolute horrible advice from some of the children in this thread. obviously you should report it. if you seriously think you can just get away with getting free, obviously illegal money you've got another thing coming.

[adamtheman]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IzyvTuvwQVM/SXrf8h6VM3I/AAAAAAAAACg/PeY5qA_cW90/s200/bankerror.jpg

Seriously, I would not inform them. If they find out and say "Why didn't you return it", simply inform them that you were under the impression it was severance pay. When they inform you that you quit your job and are not entitled to severance pay, you can inform them "I didn't know that's how severance pay worked, I thought it was simply based on how many months I'd worked here". Give the money back, no problemo. For now though, store it in an account. There is a statue of limitations that applies to bank errors, so depending on where you are, after a while they will not be able to come back and sue you for the money.

[faken]

Do your due diliegence and report it.

[ullyeus]

absolute horrible advice from some of the children in this thread. obviously you should report it. if you seriously think you can just get away with getting free, obviously illegal money you've got another thing coming.

hasn't nearly every single response been to give it back?

[Rehan]

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/716559--ghost-employee-banks-470-000-after-payroll-blunder (http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/716559--ghost-employee-banks-470-000-after-payroll-blunder)

"Prosecutors are recommending a six-year prison term and restitution."

[PureReborn]

report it right now. If you delay it then you can be charged with fraud.

[jmc0]

Would financial institution ABC, inform you if they incorrectly took money from your account?

[muchacho_007]

From the article
A man has admitted
pleaded guilty

I think that's the problem.

Since it is the company's error, any lawyer to get the charges dropped. Think about, if a company could send you to jail for an error they committed, the police could have already thrown a bunch of bad guys in jail.

[brunes]

Just FYI usually you are 1-2 pays behind (usually when you quit your employer still owes you for your first 2 weeks of work). This is because it is rare to join right on the end of a pay period.

[1LuckyGuy]

I'd say report it. For one thing, how do you think the income tax will be treated on this money? It couldn't be long before someone notices, and if you end up paying income tax on this money and have to give it back, it might not be easy getting that tax money back.

[lazymonkeygod]

Definitely fraud if you don't report it.

[EPcjay]

Send them a letter and inform them.

-If nothing happends, and you still continue to get paid. I would just keep it. I would pull up the letter and say I tried informing the company. It's not my job to keep nagging someone that THEY made an error.

[Sepiraph]

Move to Mexico. :evil:

[bubble.tea]

There's someone on hofo who brought up a law whereby unsolicited goods *SENT* to you are actually LEGALLY yours to do with AS YOU PLEASE.

You can return them or keep them. The Ontairo Law SPECIFICALLY INDICATES, that the company that sent you said goods is PROHIBITED from hounding you to return it LOL.

Should stir up some great discussion on the nuances of how this law applies to financial issues. It's not actually being 'sent' by mail to you if it's a direct deposit? Or does is still fall under the same stipulation?

[heri0n]

legally i dont think they can do anything if you transfer the money out...
i know a guy who got paid about 2 months extra before the company found out and they told him to return it and he said no... and they couldn't do anything... lol
i worked for TD before and i got paid about a month extra... and they figured it out... they told me to have the money in the bank account and the would withdraw it... i was contemplating withdrawing all the money but being the good little boy i am i let them have it back..
yeah so fyi since it's a bank they have the power to take your money back :P
a lot of people have said its fraud here but noone has quoted any legal documents... so if you do wanna keep the money you should look into it, maybe consult a lawyer
obviously give the money back if you want to leave on good terms...

[gilboman]

There's someone on hofo who brought up a law whereby unsolicited goods *SENT* to you are actually LEGALLY yours to do with AS YOU PLEASE.

You can return them or keep them. The Ontairo Law SPECIFICALLY INDICATES, that the company that sent you said goods is PROHIBITED from hounding you to return it LOL.

Should stir up some great discussion on the nuances of how this law applies to financial issues. It's not actually being 'sent' by mail to you if it's a direct deposit? Or does is still fall under the same stipulation?

It does not fall under same stipulation. You read in news all the time how sometimes banks accidently/by error deposit money into people's account and then when they find out, they go after it and the law is on their side.

[bubble.tea]

^ Maybe I'm considering there to be a difference between a bank making an incorrect deposit into your account as a *customer*...but what we are speaking about is an employer accidentally paying a former employee monies, and then demanding it back. Do they have any grounds or would they fall under this same law that protects unsolicited goods.

[liorsyncro]

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/716559--ghost-employee-banks-470-000-after-payroll-blunder (http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/716559--ghost-employee-banks-470-000-after-payroll-blunder)

"Prosecutors are recommending a six-year prison term and restitution."
That's in the US. He's not entitled to give anything back. They made the mistake, let them pay until they figure it out. They will eventually.

[i6s1]

Report it. It will be noticed, you will need to pay it back, and it looks better if you do it now. If you do it now, maybe they'll let you keep it. If it grows to a ****-ton of money, then there's no way you'll get to keep it.

[jmc0]

I read in news how sometimes banks accidently/by error withdraw money from people's account and then when the person find out, they 'try to' go after the bank; but it upto the person to prove the case as the law is not always on the person's side.

If it was me, I'll pay the tax on the interest if any [considering how little interest it will be]. If and when they ask for it back (within statue of limitations period), then I'll give it back (but maybe withhold some to account for taxes paid, etc.)

[gman]

It's not fraud if it's their mistake. Like muchacho said, when whoever is doing the payroll realizes the mistake, they would probably rather overlook it than report it to their boss.

There is something calls annual audit, be done by independent auditor.

[Evil Baby]

Give the money back, if you don't, one the day the bank will reverse the deposit regardless of if you have money in your account or not. If you don't have the money in your account it will go into over-draft and you'll get charged by your bank.


It may not be fair but that is how it happens.

[Evil Baby]

It's not fraud if it's their mistake. Like muchacho said, when whoever is doing the payroll realizes the mistake, they would probably rather overlook it than report it to their boss.

It is fraud when you knowningly spend money you know doesn't belong to you.

Well perhaps technically not fraud, but perhaps theft.

[rageking]

If you need a reference from them down the road then you will have to alert them asap. Waiting this long already looks bad, but not as bad as if they found the errors themselves later on.

There is no conceivable way they will allow you to keep the money, but if you wanted to try, then you may want to remove as much money from that bank asap since if it is a large company the bank could be persuaded to reverse the payments without a word to you.

You now waited a wee bit too long to come out of this situation to like a saint. This wont turn out well for you either way.

Oh, and dont do what one executive in the US did when he got paid for doing nothing at a very large company - he had money coming in for a job he wasnt attending for 3 years then he got greedy and asked for reimbursements for health care and that tipped off the company :lol:

[Truemana]

I had a similar thing happen, but in reverse.

I was a co-op student and accepted a position for Jan-Apr. The problem was, I was organizing a conference (which they were a major sponsor) in another city the same week I was supposed to start. So, my start date on the contract was altered to a week later (which I signed and returned the amended contract). My first paycheck had the salary for the week I actually didn't work, about $600. I didn't tell them because I was really broke at the time, but I was prepared to pay it back if they asked for it.

Then they screwed up and removed income taxes from my paychecks, after I asked them not to on my T1. Accounting corrected the problem and added the ~$142 to my next paycheck. My T4 on the end of the year had it recorded that I had actually paid this ~$142. My tuition fees were well beyond the tax credit, so I guess the company paid my taxes but refunded me the money at the same time. They effectively lost another $284.

Then over the course of the co-op, I got two raises, both about $0.75/hr, which is rare for co-ops (especially since I had signed a contract with an explicit monthly salary). After the first one I assumed I had simply just passed an hours threshold, but then I got a second raise. I contacted my boss and he said "Oh, I'll look into it" but never got back to me.

All this in less than three months. I ended up keeping all the money... but if they did ever come back to me I'd be willing to pay them back entirely. I guess it's one of those situations where you put a desperate person in a tempting situation.

[VivienM]

It does not fall under same stipulation. You read in news all the time how sometimes banks accidently/by error deposit money into people's account and then when they find out, they go after it and the law is on their side.

Exactly.

To all the people telling the OP to keep the money, march down to your local law library, grab a textbook on restitution law (I like Maddaugh and McCamus, personally - not sure there are other Canadian ones), and read the chapter on money paid under a mistake of fact. :)

[masalma]

How come no one ever makes mistakes like that with me lol

But honestly, do the right thing and give it up

[bobbings]

It's not fraud if it's their mistake. Like muchacho said, when whoever is doing the payroll realizes the mistake, they would probably rather overlook it than report it to their boss.

Didn't a couple get in trouble with the law for spending the millions of dollars they got from the bank when it was accidentally deposited into their account?

[709394]

Im pretty sure a lot of people out there wants to be in your position without having to deal with any issues that you're gonna face. Its best to contact the payroll dept. immediately just in case if they screw you over in the end. Remember, nothings' free in this world..well almost haha

[extraleanham]

keep it. if they ask for it back, say you spent it. at least wait and see if they even notice or care.

[Bugler]

I'm impressed that the vast majority of you are recommending that the op notify a bank that they overpaid him on a forum that tries it's best to stack coupons and PM errors at retail stores.

Especially amusing was the thing one person said about how a bank might let him keep some of it if only he tells them right away.