Vincent AcelingWork Survival Tips: When Your Boss Pressures You to Fudge your Expenses for His Profit
August 16th 2008 04:27
Okay, I'm not sure how often a situation like this happens... but I do remember that it happened to me early in my career; so I thought I would give every innocent employee out there a heads up and share my tips on how to avoid a bad career situation.
As you all may know, the world of business isn't always pretty... in fact it can get downright ugly. Despite the ideals instilled by the corporate code of conduct or a company's HR department, business ethics aren't always practiced well in every company. Unfortunately, there are people of low integrity that break the rules for their benefit, and attempt to drag the naive employee into a web of darkness and deceit, most often to swindle an organization out of money.
The scheme is simple for the experienced employee, especially when that employee happens to be your boss. In most companies, when it comes to reimbursement of business-related expenses (i.e. meals, travel, client entertainment, etc.), an employee must submit a reimbursement slip. Well, it so happens that your reimbursement slip must be submitted to your boss for approval - making the scam come around full circle.
Your boss, assuming in this case is of low integrity, will then proceed to heckle you for documenting your expenses to the penny. He may mention things like, "Oh... how about that laundry/dry-cleaning bill. You should really charge it through," or, "That economy car you rented for $50 a day... you really could have upgraded to the full-size sedan for $80 a day... let's put that in and use the extra cash for some lunches between us." Of course, you may never see those lunches, since your boss' ultimate plan is to steadily line his fat pockets with the residual money gained from your expense reimbursements. Pretty soon your $1,000 expenses have been falsely increased to $5,000... and the scam continues!
You know that you are in a bad situation, but you don't know what to do. Your boss doesn't care since he is confident you will keep up with his scheme and remain quiet. But, for the good of your career and your reputation, you must take action to cease the activity.
The best way to handle this dire situation is to keep a distance from your boss and learn to say, "no". Doing this would at least preserve your integrity. You should also speak to your human resources representative if the pressure from your boss continues. A situation like this falls under "harrassment", thereby protecting you under your employee rights and the Whistleblower Protection Act.
However, you can't just call your boss out and expect everyone to trust your word against his word. You need solid proof of his violations, even if it takes a few months to gather evidence. Then, you should wait for the right time to expose the scheme.
But, what if your boss is of high-level status, and the executive team takes his side? If your organization is big enough, you should request a transfer to another department, away from any of your former boss' influence. If your former boss' influence casts a wide net over the organization, then it may be time for you to look for greener grass... just make sure you take any evidence with you!
As for me, I was able to gather evidence and bring my former boss' actions to the attention of the HR and compliance departments. He was subject to disciplinary actions and I was praised for my courage and high morals. Of course, not all stories turn out like mine... I was just lucky.
Don't be a thief!
As you all may know, the world of business isn't always pretty... in fact it can get downright ugly. Despite the ideals instilled by the corporate code of conduct or a company's HR department, business ethics aren't always practiced well in every company. Unfortunately, there are people of low integrity that break the rules for their benefit, and attempt to drag the naive employee into a web of darkness and deceit, most often to swindle an organization out of money.
The scheme is simple for the experienced employee, especially when that employee happens to be your boss. In most companies, when it comes to reimbursement of business-related expenses (i.e. meals, travel, client entertainment, etc.), an employee must submit a reimbursement slip. Well, it so happens that your reimbursement slip must be submitted to your boss for approval - making the scam come around full circle.
Your boss, assuming in this case is of low integrity, will then proceed to heckle you for documenting your expenses to the penny. He may mention things like, "Oh... how about that laundry/dry-cleaning bill. You should really charge it through," or, "That economy car you rented for $50 a day... you really could have upgraded to the full-size sedan for $80 a day... let's put that in and use the extra cash for some lunches between us." Of course, you may never see those lunches, since your boss' ultimate plan is to steadily line his fat pockets with the residual money gained from your expense reimbursements. Pretty soon your $1,000 expenses have been falsely increased to $5,000... and the scam continues!
You know that you are in a bad situation, but you don't know what to do. Your boss doesn't care since he is confident you will keep up with his scheme and remain quiet. But, for the good of your career and your reputation, you must take action to cease the activity.
The best way to handle this dire situation is to keep a distance from your boss and learn to say, "no". Doing this would at least preserve your integrity. You should also speak to your human resources representative if the pressure from your boss continues. A situation like this falls under "harrassment", thereby protecting you under your employee rights and the Whistleblower Protection Act.
However, you can't just call your boss out and expect everyone to trust your word against his word. You need solid proof of his violations, even if it takes a few months to gather evidence. Then, you should wait for the right time to expose the scheme.
But, what if your boss is of high-level status, and the executive team takes his side? If your organization is big enough, you should request a transfer to another department, away from any of your former boss' influence. If your former boss' influence casts a wide net over the organization, then it may be time for you to look for greener grass... just make sure you take any evidence with you!
As for me, I was able to gather evidence and bring my former boss' actions to the attention of the HR and compliance departments. He was subject to disciplinary actions and I was praised for my courage and high morals. Of course, not all stories turn out like mine... I was just lucky.
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