Employee gets overpaid, then fired for not reporting it - here’s why the internet is furious

A Reddit user shared a story titled: “Fired due to not reporting an overpayment on my paycheck.” The employee normally gets paid every Friday for 40 hours of work. Last week, the employee was on vacation out of the country. During this week, payroll accidentally paid the employee for 80 hours instead of 40.

The employee returned home late Sunday and worked on Monday. At 11 a.m. Monday, payroll emailed them asking if they had noticed a pay error on Friday. The employee called payroll and explained that they had no internet while on the cruise and hadn’t checked their account yet.

Paycheck overpayment found

They then checked their bank account and saw that the pay was roughly double what it should have been. The employee asked payroll what they wanted them to do and offered to let the company deduct the extra pay from the next paycheck or repay it.


Payroll said they would reach back out. Later that morning, the employee was called into a meeting with their boss. They were told they were being fired immediately for being dishonest. The employee explained they didn’t know about the overpayment until payroll called, and they were willing to make it right. The boss said it was not about the money but about “integrity”, claiming the employee was trying to hide the error.

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Internet reacts with anger

The employee explained their situation: they were in the middle of the ocean with no internet, returned Sunday morning, barely made their flight, had a layover, picked up their dogs, and didn’t get home until 6 p.m., then unpacked and slept. They said they get a fixed salary, so their pay is the same every Friday. They also said they worked at the company for one year with no problems.

The boss said a responsible person should check the bank account right away. The boss also said the employee was trying to steal money. The employee was shocked and did not believe this. They tried to explain again, but the boss did not listen. The employee was told to leave the company and take their things from the desk.

The employee asked online if they were wrong for thinking this was unreasonable. They said it was the company’s error, not theirs, and they were willing to correct it in any way. The story quickly made people on the internet furious, as many felt it was unfair to fire someone for a mistake they didn’t cause.

FAQs

Q1. Why was the employee fired after being overpaid?

The company said the employee was dishonest for not noticing and reporting the extra pay right away.

Q2. Was the overpayment the employee’s fault?

No, the extra money was sent by payroll by mistake, not by the employee.