Research by webexpenses has revealed a weighty number of UK employees admit to bending the rules when it comes to submitting expense claims.
The online expenses management provider found that 85 percent of workers admit to submitting a dodgy expenses claim within the last year. A further five percent admitted to over-claiming every time they submit a claim, with a further one in ten employees stating they had considered submitting a fraudulent expenses claim but had never done so.
“It’s clear from the research that there are far too many people over claiming on expenses in the UK workplace – people we call expenses devils. When presented with the opportunity to over-claim and get away with it, some people will, unsurprisingly, choose the dishonest option. In fact, one respondent to our research even admitted to over-claiming by more than £4,000. What’s more the research also shows that having a small group of expenses devils in the work place, can encourage others to follow similar behaviour when it comes to expense claims,” Adam Reynolds CEO of webexpenses commented.
Despite confessions of their own dishonest behaviour, the research also found a third of employees felt politicians were the worst at over-claiming on their expenses. Research respondents confessed that the top reasons for over-claiming on expenses were: people believing everyone else in their organisation does it and therefore they should do the same (22 percent); not feeling they are paid enough and their company owes them more money (17 percent); admitting they did so as it was easy to get away with (12 percent).
What’s more, it appears older people are the worst at over-claiming, with around a quarter of people aged 45-54 (26 percent) and 55+ (24 percent) confessing to exaggerating claims by over £500. Interestingly, 11% stated they would use getting caught as an opportunity to bring up work-related grievances.
“There will always be those looking to exploit the system, however it’s up to businesses to put the right measures in place to better control expenses and minimise false claims,” Reynolds concluded.
Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.
