Nearly one in three staff regularly top up their monthly pay by fiddling travel expenses, adding extra to taxi fares or claiming for non-business-related trips.
According to a survey of 1,000 UK employees undertaken by expense management software provider, Spendvision, about 23% routinely ask for a blank receipt in order to add a few extra pounds before submitting their expense claim, while a further 10% fill in claims for taxi rides that have nothing to do with work.
Shane Bruhns, Spendvision’s director and chief operating officer, said: “Most UK employees are fundamentally honest, but the fact remains that tax fares remain an easy target for the minority who are open to temptation.”
While a few pounds here and there might not seem much to the individual concerned, “if a third of your workforce is routinely adding £15-20 a month to their expenses, the amount companies are losing quickly stacks up”, he added.
The poll revealed that the issue was particularly acute in the North East and North West of England, where 45% and 44% of respondents admitted to making regular false or inaccurate claims respectively. Employees from the East Midlands were most likely to play it by the book, however.
The poll also indicated that a mere 27% of those questioned paid for their taxis by card where possible, while 57% paid mostly in cash, making it more difficult for their employers to establish an effective paper trail that could be queried.
