paycheque is more than stated on contract...

so i just got my first pay cheque in my new role. it is about 10% higher than what it should have been according to my compensation package. as tempting as it is to keep the extra loot, am i obligated to report the discrepancy and pay back their pocket change?

-poornewgrad

You should ask about that. 10% salary for new graduates is pennies. Most likely, they will let you keep the extra money. If not, setting yourself up as an honest person is worth more than whatever small difference in salary that is.

You’re not obligated to report it legally. Ethically it may be a different story, but who knows? For all you know, maybe there was a sign-on bonus embedded into it, or the net amount is higher than you thought simply because you were paying less in taxes (either due to your own miscalculations, withholdings, etc.), getting some type of expense reimbursement or healthcare allowance tacked onto your paycheck, or so forth. Perhaps you are the one that is mistaken, and then you can be genuinely surprised by getting paid more than you thought. I wish my life had more surprises like that.

I am actually still with the same firm but new group so there shouldnt be any sign on bonus or benefits different from my old package. Im also living in hk where salary is paid gross of taxes so there wont be any calc required to work out my actual pay slip. My best guess is a fat finger by HR…

Who knows? When I first started work after college, my salary got bumped up about 5% (probably due to market rates). They forgot to tell me between when I got the offer letter and when I started work. Maybe it’s the same thing.

I’m curious, if this was a typo at HR and they eventually find it, say in September, would they be able to withhold that amount of pay for the remainder of the year? Say I’m overpaid 10,000 and that means I’m paid my full salary a couple months early, could they just stop paying me at that point since I’ve recieved my legal sum for the year?

Exactly what happened with me after I’d been here two weeks and got paid. I asked about it, boss thought about it for two seconds and said, “Ah, keep it. You’re doing great, keep it up.”

My suggestion would be to report it, if only for establishing your rep as a straight arrow. They will more than likely let you keep it, unless they’re super strict about this stuff.

At the very least, don’t spend it. There was someone here a few months back who was all in a tizzy because they had kept 30% more and spent it and the company found the error and wanted the money back. Apparently they’d spent it and were now in trouble. Plus their reputation was ruined.

I would probably wait until next paycheck to see if this is a recurring thing. If not, there may be some accounting thig that you didn’t know about (maybe vacation days that got paid out and reset or something), and it’s pefectly reasonable to say “I wondered abou that, but thought it was just something to do with transition accounting.” If it does repeat, definitely talk about it with the powers that be.

Use the excess as collateral to write puts on GRPN or FB. Can’t lose.

Don’t say anything until your next paycheque.

it may just be that the first paycheck includes an additional fractional time period… like 2 weeks and a few days

Just tell them about it. You will get points for honesty, and they will remember that.

^ And if he got paid for additional fractional time he looks really silly.