Cheating/Stealing/Not Honest????????????

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 3:33 pm

My office reimburses for expenses (I.e. mileage, parking...), but in their policy it is very clear that they do not reimburse for a parking ticket.

As part of my job I have to drive to different locations. When I go to a certain location, I sometimes can get free parking or I am supposed to park in a parking garage and pay $7 for the day, which I get reimbursed.

Twice, I was running late to meetings so I parked on the street (which was much closer) and put $ in the meter, but I came back too late and I got a ticket for $20. So do you think it is cheating/stealing/not honest to request a reimbursement for the $7 for each day?

I am plan to ask my rabbi, but wanted to get all of your opinions. My DH is very much encouraging me to get the $ back, I am just uneasy with it.

Would you do it.

justmarried

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 3:39 pm

I would charge them the $7. You're not expecting to be paid the full $20 for the ticket, only what they would have had to pay anyway if you would have parked in a garage which they approve of.

SRS

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 3:43 pm

This isn't an issue for a Rabbi. The company has a policy in order to comply with tax regulations. They can reimburse you for out of pocket deductible expenses which is the meter or the parking garage and mileage and they cannot reimburse you for a parking ticket because it is not a deductible expense. Just eat the parking ticket.

You could ask them if they would reimburse you for the parking garage without documentation and just be honest that you parked on the street. Certain expenses do not need to be strongly documented. But your company policy is based on tax policy.

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 3:52 pm

OP Here. I should have included that any expense for under $25 we don't need to submit a receipt. So I would be filling in the expense report as:

Parking - $7

I do not want to talk to anyone and get permission - that is why I feel it is not honest because I am filling it out as a regular parking expense.

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 4:26 pm

amother wrote:

What you want to do is fraud. It is deceitful dishonest behavior.

SRS

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 4:31 pm

If you just fess up at work you will both be viewed as trusted and honest AND they might be fine with letting you have the $7 parking as per diem which would satisfy you and would be justifiable because it complies with their $25 threshold policy. But it really should be up to them. It is always appropriate to talk to human resources people when you have a question. Sometimes they might agree to reimbursing you for a different expense that they normally will not reimburse for not for legal reasons but for policy reasons. There are options.

Is there a reason why your husband is pushing you over $20?

causemommysaid

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 4:44 pm

amother wrote:

What you want to do is fraud. It is deceitful dishonest behavior.

whats wrong with you?

someone comes on here and asks an opinion and says she will ask a rabbi. she is doing everything right and is obviously not trying to be dishonest.

why cant you talk nicely?

OP- I think it might be against company policy so you should probably ask before you do it.

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 4:59 pm

causemommysaid wrote:

There is no nice way to say something is fraudulent. Putting down non - existent expenses is dishonest any way you look at it. Deceiving your employer is not only not nice, it is fraud. What is so hard to understand that even if HR tells her to mischaracterize her expenses, it is still fraud? She should not do it. I was harsh because there is no gray area.

SRS

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 5:26 pm

amother wrote:

What is so hard to understand that even if HR tells her to mischaracterize her expenses, it is still fraud? She should not do it. I was harsh because there is no gray area.

Whoa, hold your horse. A company can deal with the issue in several ways should they want the employee to not be out the $20. Of course, many companies don't want to deal with the individual employee and that is their company policy in which case the employee needs to eat it. But assuming the company is happy to work with her they could do something as simple as raising her (taxable) pay by $20 or $25 or $5. Or perhaps they will reimburse her for a deductible expense that the company would not normally reimburse for because they simply don't want the headache of the paperwork from numerous employees or they have set their policies to not include certain deductible expenses because they don't have the budget for it.

What the OP should not do is violate her own company policy when she can simply shoot an email off or relay her situation and solve it properly or be told nope, sorry.

Last edited by SRS on Thu, Nov 20 2014, 5:40 pm; edited 2 times in total

MaBelleVie

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 5:27 pm

If you didn't think you were being mean you wouldn't have posted as amother.

IMO you are fine if you explain to whoever manages this stuff that you didn't actually park in the $7 parking. Not some secretary, the person who actually has the authority to make that call.

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 6:56 pm

OP here. Thanks for everyone's reply. I did not take offense to the person who stated FRAUD, as I think she is most probably right. I do appreciate everyone's view because I am trying to understand my husbands point of view.

One reason I did not ask my A/P (Account Payable) department is because even if one employee says that it is okay, it does not mean that they have authority. I work in a nice sized professional company (~3,000 employees) and I am not going to ask the CFO. Another reason is that if it is seen as dishonest, I don't want to make a chilul hashem based on them maybe seeing it as negative that I even thought of the idea, especially since I think I am the only frum Jew in this company.

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 6:57 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

The IRS has rules and regulations that even the person who has the authority has to comply with. While it is a small amount, the intent is to deceive.

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 6:59 pm

Op here again. Another reason that I don't want to ask is that I am embarrassed because I think asking for $7 is petty. I am only even contemplating this whole idea because my DH expects me to go ahead and request the reimbursement.

SRS

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 7:12 pm

If the company has 3000 employees, they don't have time for your $7 question and they probably won't want to waive on their policy and . Eat the $20 and better luck next time. I'm still not really sure where you husband came into the discussion except as insofar as you shared your bad luck with him.

MaBelleVie

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 7:14 pm

amother wrote:

The IRS has rules and regulations that even the person who has the authority has to comply with. While it is a small amount, the intent is to deceive.

The person who has authority to make those decisions can take responsibility for whatever decisions s/he makes. That's isn't op's problem. I promise you she will not go to jail for this LOL

greenfire

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 7:22 pm

why don't you just ask if they'll cover your parking ticket ? that's a better way to go - there's no dishonesty and there's the possibility they might say 'yes' - if they say 'no' you have lost nothing

asking for the $7 that you didn't pay just doesn't add up - it's like asking for a refund at a store for something you never purchased

would you have parked in the street anyways thinking hey I'll save $6 and park in the street for $1 - like a sale ... or are you only seeking the monies because you got a ticket?

amother

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 7:25 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

The person who has authority to make those decisions can take responsibility for whatever decisions s/he makes. That's isn't op's problem. I promise you she will not go to jail for this LOL

What training, experience and credentials do you have to make such a statement? While the amount is small, the principle is the same. Mischaracterizing expenses to deceive is fraud. Your advice is terrible.

MaBelleVie

Thu, Nov 20 2014, 7:45 pm

amother wrote: