Inflating Expenses is Big Business
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Is it surprising that UK employees 'make' an extra £1bn* a year on fraudulent expenses? Or is it surprising that, on average, they only claim an extra £17 per month? (Or that only 18% of those surveyed admitted to doing it?)
Budget hotel chain Travelodge (who can no doubt help you save on your expenses) sponsored a survey of 3,000 UK employees about their extracurricular expense activities, and what they found was...well, surprising (we know, no surprise there).
The most popular three expense scams are:
And although only 18% of the respondents admitted to fiddling with their expense reports, 43% said they considered it a 'legitimate' way to make extra cash, and 45% said that 'all of their colleagues are doing it'.
Of course, the survey also revealed a few particularly noteworthy claims, including an office hamster named Barry (sounds legit to us), a new garden shed which was turned into a home office (sounds smart to us), and a bit of plastic surgery, an engagement ring, a honeymoon, and even a private investigator hired to watch a cheating partner (hopefully not made in that order, by the same person).
But if 43% of the workforce thinks that topping up expense reports is legitimate, shouldn't that £1bn be more like £2bn?
* In case you're wondering how they got to £1bn, they took the UK workforce (29m), applied the 18% who said they did fiddle with expenses (5,220,000), and multiplied that by £204/year (or £17/month).
The most popular three expense scams are:
- Using extra taxi receipts to claim back non-existent journeys
- Adding extra mileage
- Going to a cheap restaurant with a business client, then claiming back an expensive (personal) meal
And although only 18% of the respondents admitted to fiddling with their expense reports, 43% said they considered it a 'legitimate' way to make extra cash, and 45% said that 'all of their colleagues are doing it'.
Of course, the survey also revealed a few particularly noteworthy claims, including an office hamster named Barry (sounds legit to us), a new garden shed which was turned into a home office (sounds smart to us), and a bit of plastic surgery, an engagement ring, a honeymoon, and even a private investigator hired to watch a cheating partner (hopefully not made in that order, by the same person).
But if 43% of the workforce thinks that topping up expense reports is legitimate, shouldn't that £1bn be more like £2bn?
* In case you're wondering how they got to £1bn, they took the UK workforce (29m), applied the 18% who said they did fiddle with expenses (5,220,000), and multiplied that by £204/year (or £17/month).
