My old company forgot to stop my restaurant card contract

Question

I was working in a company where we had a meal card that had 7 euros each day credited so we could buy our meals with it.

After I quit the company, I continued using the card with the intent of draining it. But, after a few months, to my surprise it had still not run out, so I came to the conclusion (which I am now sure of) that they keep adding money to it.

When I left the company the remaining balance on the card was mine. I am allowed to use it, and am not required to return any of it. What I believe is not mine is the money they added AFTER I left, which I used without being aware that they continued to credit it.

What could happen from here - if I tell them, could they ask me to pay back the money that's in it? Or if I don't, am I at risk?

Answer 1

What could happen from here, if I tell them would they ask me to pay back the money that's in it? Or if I don't am I at risk?

In every locale I'm aware of you will be required to pay back the funds. Make sure to save enough so that you can cover the costs when you are inevitably caught. If you put it in the bank, you might earn a euro or two in interest, which you'll likely be able to keep.

It's unlikely that you will face more than a risk of having to pay back what you inappropriately kept. I suppose it's possible that the company could prove that you willfully "took" money that you weren't entitled to, and thus face prosecution - but that seems very unlikely.

Just let them know about their mistake and pay back their money. That way you won't have to worry.

Answer 2

In most places, it would be absolutely fine to spend the money that was put on the card while you were employed. I'm sure the tax office has been informed of that money and you paid income tax on it. So the "I'll keep spending until the card is empty" isn't wrong. If it was slightly different: The company gave you a gift card with 140€ every month to pay for lunch, then obviously they would have stopped giving you gift cards when you left, and there would have been no reason not to spend the remaining money. It was part of the payment for your work.

Now two things happened: The company acted in a stupid way by continuing to pay, and you kept spending. I personally don't feel very bad for companies being stupid. Well, you stopped spending. Maybe a bit late. What to do now?

You can give them a phone call saying "Can you make sure that you are not paying on my card anymore"? That's because the money will leave the company and end up with the provider of the card, even if you don't spend a penny. So they need to stop that. And then it's up to them what happens next.

They would try to get money back from the card provider. Who might tell them "sorry guys, you were stupid, you can use the card, but you won't get anything back", and then they'll ask for the card back. Or they might ask you to pay back money that you spent that you shouldn't have spent.

They might try to get the police involved, but that will probably not be successful. You could ask on law.stackexchange.com.

Answer 3

1. Act quickly. (Without feeling any guilt.)

Inform the company about the problem you discovered and stop spending any more money from the card. Informing the other party ASAP when the problem was discovered demonstrates your best intention to correctly resolve the problem. These things do happen, it is not a big deal. Especially when the card is not showing remaining balance. Maybe from your previous employer's viewpoint you are not even the first person to which this happened after leaving. It might be possible they need to improve their processes triggered on leaving of the employee.

2. Prepare to return all money spent after contract termination.

Calculate estimated balance on the card on the day you left your previous employer. That money is yours. Prepare to return all other money. It is your former employee's job to inform you about exact amount to settle. They should be able to determine it by checking their monthly reports from restaurant card provider or by opening support case with the card provider. If you are showing your best intent to correct the situation, they can also be open to possibility to wait some time in case you cannot send all the money immediately. Remember, if the card did not offer a way on informing you about remaining balance, the mistake is more on their side so this should create you some maneuvering space for agreeing upon the deadline of payment. If you are interested, you can also ask them to share transactions report for your card. Valid business reason: in this situation you would like to check history of your transactions, too.

Anecdotal evidence:

Something similar recently happened to me. I reported the issue next day I discovered it. The report did not reach the correct persons and few weeks later they found out by themselves. They approached me by throwing a shame on me for keeping the money. I shown them evidence that I reported the problem ASAP. This changed the game and they started apologizing to me for not reacting properly to my report.

Answer 4

You've provided not enough information but one thing that you should do is immediately reach out your former employer and explain the situation. Tell them that your idea - probably wrong - was that the сash is accumulated on a daily basis but you can spend it however you want - just like a salary.

Provide data on how much you've spent to this moment and discuss what would be the options.

Also, you behaved non-optimal, to put it mildly. It's just not good at all, but actually it's also the employer who's in charge of stating loud and clear what are the rules and have a check-list of what should be done before one quits the job.

It heavily depends on the exact circumstances (which country, which kind of employment, what exactly type of card) but still it would not be an oversimplification to say that this can even led to criminal charges (though it's rather unlikely).

But the worst thing is actually that you can damage your reputation. You'd be surprised how often stupid mistakes can well, if not ruin your life but make it way more complicated than it could be.

UPD: The question itself was significantly edited and toned down - now it is claimed that the author was entitled to keep the remaining money. In that case, of course, it's not that dramatic. Still better to contact former employer though.

Answer 5

I know people will disagree with this, but just to play devil's advocate: discontinue using it and wait to see if they contact you.

They'll realise their mistake eventually. In the best case for you, they'll see they have a large amount of unused balance and they'll get a refund from the card provider, or reassign the funds to other employees, or splash out on a big team meal (just kidding - get back to work, slackers!) and they'll consider that the end of it.

In the worst case for you, they'll contact you and ask you to pay back what you owe them. Do so promptly and do your best to make the process easy for them. If you do this, they won't hold it against you.

Financially, this will result in the best outcome for you in the average case. Is it ethical? We all have different opinions. You'll have to decide for yourself. That's more of a question for a different site.

Answer 6

Start by requesting a statement for your dining card: this can usually be done either via a website of the card issuer, or by writing them a letter. This will confirm that there were incoming transactions on your account after you have left your employer, and show the exact sums involved.

If there are such erroneous transactions, inform your old employer, preferably in writing. Ask them to reverse these transactions so that they recover any money that are left in this account, then reimburse the difference if that would net a negative balance. Depending on how accounting is done, you may have to reimburse either directly to your old employer, or to the dining card issuer.

Answer 7

I agree with a user's comment above about acting as quickly as possible.If you let them know before they find out about the card, they may even let go of the transactions which you have made after draining out the amount over which you had the right to use after leaving the company. This is a case where there is an error from the company's side as well. So they have to give you the benefit of doubt.

Answer 8

Contrary to numerous baseless accusations of theft that have been made against you here, the fault, if any, is with the company, and it is up to them to rectify it.

If you are now of the opinion that you are dipping into the card beyond what was due when you finished with them, it is open to you to request a statement from the provider, and if you get one, which you may not, as it may be the company's statement not yours, you will then be in a position to confirm or refute your opinion. Only then are you in possession of sufficient knowledge to be sure there is something wrong, and only then need you stop using the card if it turns out you are right. If you don't get the statement from the provider, you could request one from the company.

If you don't get either, you should probably just return the card at the point when you think you're done with it, but there is no reason for you to take a business risk on the timing of that of under-claiming your own money.

If the company (a) agrees with your assessment, (b) cares, and (c) does something about it in the form of a demand, you should then negotiate a settlement, which may not necessarily consist of the full amount, and need not consist of a single payment in full, but of instalments that suit you. Business is business, and there has been contributory negligence here. Unless the amount is into $US four figures it is fairly unlikely that either (b) or (c) will be true.

My father quit the Army in 1945 and received a letter demanding return of some overpayment or other. He wrote back asking for a proper accounting, and never heard another word about it. I did a similar thing when an employer demanded reimbursement of an alleged overpayment of annual leave, with the same result.

This is all accounting, and business, not a morality play. You should certainly forget all about crime, ethics, or moral obligations. It is a business stuff-up not of your making. Nobody is going to haul you into court over this.

Answer 9

You stole the money. Yes you need to pay it back. You should have stopped using the card when you left the job.

Regarding intent, what matters isn't your opinion but what the law is and likely the law in most countries is on the side of the employer. It is the same if they accidentally continue your paycheck, that is not your money to spend and they are entitled to have it back.