As
many as 2.5 million employees in the UK believe it is acceptable to exaggerate
their expense claims at work, according to research by accounting systems
provider Cevas Data Systems.
The
research, carried out by Gallup, estimates that of the 10 million employees
that claim expenses, 25 per cent think that it is acceptable to inflate claims
some or all of the time.
Ashley
Whittaker, chief executive of Cevas Data Systems, said, “Clearly expense fraud
is too easy to commit. The fact that a quarter of those who claim expenses
think that exaggerating their figures is acceptable is quite disturbing.”
Over
27 per cent of employees believe that their colleagues sometimes inflate their
expense claims but only 4 per cent believe that fellow staff claim too much all
of the time.
Whittaker
believes that at least £230m is claimed in inflated expenses in the UK each
year.
The
survey also shows that while 39 per cent of those who inflate their expenses
only do so by up to 10 per cent, nearly 8 per cent would be happy to exaggerate
by at least 50 per cent. Furthermore, the younger the claimant the more likely
they are to believe that exaggerating their expense claim is acceptable.
Whittaker
said, “British industry must tighten up its procedures to prevent such a loss
of revenue and a negative culture of petty theft in the workplace.”
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