Employee reimbursement dishonesty
I have parents and is a part of their Childcare reimbursement program. Lately, the husband has been bringing in forms that were partially completed without the amount paid completed. Me rushing in the morning, I informed the parent to make sure that the correct dollar amount was in the forms because it is reported to the IRS. Even received verbal confirmation from the client that he would put the correct information. Today, the reimbursement form was completely blank without any information at all and I refused to sign it. The client sat down and filled out the form over inflating the amount that they paid for childcare for their children by $225.00. I took a copy of the form so that I could sit down and verify the dollar amount confirming the inflated payment.
I know that my mistake is trusting the client and I have to make policy changes for giving myself at least three days to receive the reimbursement forms. I also made the mistake of rushing to complete the forms. The parents have been here since July of 2014 and I am not certain how much they have inflated the daycare expenses over the time frame. I called their reimbursement office and asked for their advice as to how to handle the problem. The representative told me that they could come after me for fraud because I signed the paperwork.
I no longer trust the client. I want to do what is right at the end of the day. Some people suggest immediate termination because they used my signature to report fraudulent information for higher reimbursements from their employer. The fact that they could jeopardize my business makes me really upset and I have a guideline in my policy that does say that I can terminate immediately. At this point, I am where I want to be financially and I don’t want to go the hustle of looking for new children to replace the two children in care. Yet, I feel violated and I am going to notify the parents of the discrepancy. I have also made an immediate policy change to give myself time to complete the form accurately in the future. Their company wanted me to report the information but that could cause the husband to lose his job.
I want to see what you would do in this situation. What suggestions do you have? Its easy to say terminate and find replacements but that takes time and could impact my bottom line. Would you change policies and move forward with the clients? Would you wipe your hands clean of the situation and terminate based on fraud? Would you report him with the hope that the company wont come after you?
I have parents and is a part of their Childcare reimbursement program. Lately, the husband has been bringing in forms that were partially completed without the amount paid completed. Me rushing in the morning, I informed the parent to make sure that the correct dollar amount was in the forms because it is reported to the IRS. Even received verbal confirmation from the client that he would put the correct information. Today, the reimbursement form was completely blank without any information at all and I refused to sign it. The client sat down and filled out the form over inflating the amount that they paid for childcare for their children by $225.00. I took a copy of the form so that I could sit down and verify the dollar amount confirming the inflated payment.
I know that my mistake is trusting the client and I have to make policy changes for giving myself at least three days to receive the reimbursement forms. I also made the mistake of rushing to complete the forms. The parents have been here since July of 2014 and I am not certain how much they have inflated the daycare expenses over the time frame. I called their reimbursement office and asked for their advice as to how to handle the problem. The representative told me that they could come after me for fraud because I signed the paperwork.
I no longer trust the client. I want to do what is right at the end of the day. Some people suggest immediate termination because they used my signature to report fraudulent information for higher reimbursements from their employer. The fact that they could jeopardize my business makes me really upset and I have a guideline in my policy that does say that I can terminate immediately. At this point, I am where I want to be financially and I don’t want to go the hustle of looking for new children to replace the two children in care. Yet, I feel violated and I am going to notify the parents of the discrepancy. I have also made an immediate policy change to give myself time to complete the form accurately in the future. Their company wanted me to report the information but that could cause the husband to lose his job.
I want to see what you would do in this situation. What suggestions do you have? Its easy to say terminate and find replacements but that takes time and could impact my bottom line. Would you change policies and move forward with the clients? Would you wipe your hands clean of the situation and terminate based on fraud? Would you report him with the hope that the company wont come after you?
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