The Forgotten Employee
Discussion
louismchuge said:
Monkeylegend said:
A bit like the guy who collected parking money from a train station? car park for 4 years or so and one day didn't turn up.
I think the story was that the council thought he was collecting on behalf of the station, they thought he was collecting on behalf of the council, but the reality was he was collecting on behalf of himself, or something like that.
It all came to light when he had enough money to sail off happily into the sunset.
Urban myth at Bristol Zoo, but a good story https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/ur...I think the story was that the council thought he was collecting on behalf of the station, they thought he was collecting on behalf of the council, but the reality was he was collecting on behalf of himself, or something like that.
It all came to light when he had enough money to sail off happily into the sunset.
But they would deny it happened wouldn't they
Edited by Monkeylegend on Tuesday 20th March 15:43
When I first moved to Aberdeen with the oil industry there was the tale of the offshore engineer that no one had seen for a very long time.
Each of the offshore coordinators had a white board in their office with all active rigs listed and magnetic name strips for the engineers assigned to each job. Legend has it that this one guys name fell off the white board and down the back of the radiator.
Company kept merrily paying him his base salary whilst he was happily sat at home doing the square root of f
kall.
Each of the offshore coordinators had a white board in their office with all active rigs listed and magnetic name strips for the engineers assigned to each job. Legend has it that this one guys name fell off the white board and down the back of the radiator.
Company kept merrily paying him his base salary whilst he was happily sat at home doing the square root of f
kall.austinsmirk said:
wasn't there a bloke recently who should have been a software developer (say in the USA at a higher rate) but actually sub'd everything out a 3rd world country instead (India ?), paying them to do his work. actually very clever really.
That one is true, fair play to the bloke imho!!http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21043693
"A security check on a US company has reportedly revealed one of its staff was outsourcing his work to China.
The software developer, in his 40s, is thought to have spent his workdays surfing the web, watching cat videos on YouTube and browsing Reddit and eBay.
He reportedly paid just a fifth of his six-figure salary to a company based in Shenyang to do his job."
john2443 said:
Once I realised how long the story was I gave up, but did get as far as the email "Courtesy Copy"....I've never heard it called that, is it just me, have I been asleep for 20 yrs and missed the change!
What did you think CC stood for? The term predates "carbon copies", before you suggest that.Not quite the same thing but my best mate worked for a large outsourcing company doing IT. His job typically involved a couple of days on site with a client and 2 to 3 months working from home sorting new systems out.
At some stage he decided it would be a great idea to move overseas. To protect his identity let's say he snared a woman in Bulgaria and quite liked it out there.
He asked permission to work remotely from out there and initially was given the ok but one of the more senior managers said no fecking chance as half the workforce would end up in Spain.
At this point any normal person would have just looked for another job but no my mate set up voip phone lines and used a UK tunnel to mask his IP and went out to "Bulgaria " he lasted just over 2 years before someone grassed him up! They never had a clue just one close shave with his manager requesting a short notice meeting. He had a mad dash through the night to make a 9.00am meeting requested at 11pm the previous night.
At some stage he decided it would be a great idea to move overseas. To protect his identity let's say he snared a woman in Bulgaria and quite liked it out there.
He asked permission to work remotely from out there and initially was given the ok but one of the more senior managers said no fecking chance as half the workforce would end up in Spain.
At this point any normal person would have just looked for another job but no my mate set up voip phone lines and used a UK tunnel to mask his IP and went out to "Bulgaria " he lasted just over 2 years before someone grassed him up! They never had a clue just one close shave with his manager requesting a short notice meeting. He had a mad dash through the night to make a 9.00am meeting requested at 11pm the previous night.
randlemarcus said:
john2443 said:
Once I realised how long the story was I gave up, but did get as far as the email "Courtesy Copy"....I've never heard it called that, is it just me, have I been asleep for 20 yrs and missed the change!
What did you think CC stood for? The term predates "carbon copies", before you suggest that.
98elise said:
randlemarcus said:
john2443 said:
Once I realised how long the story was I gave up, but did get as far as the email "Courtesy Copy"....I've never heard it called that, is it just me, have I been asleep for 20 yrs and missed the change!
What did you think CC stood for? The term predates "carbon copies", before you suggest that.The story of the station parking attendant is very similar to the car park at a coastal town in the west country , council thought it was a local business that ran it and vice versa . It was the typical little old fellow in a jacket and peeked cap in a shed by the gate . Only when he didn't turn up did it come to light .
Many of the night shifts at car plants in the 60s and 70s supposedly had ghosts on the staff .
Many of the night shifts at car plants in the 60s and 70s supposedly had ghosts on the staff .
grumpy52 said:
The story of the station parking attendant is very similar to the car park at a coastal town in the west country , council thought it was a local business that ran it and vice versa . It was the typical little old fellow in a jacket and peeked cap in a shed by the gate . Only when he didn't turn up did it come to light.
That's the one I was referring to but apparently it's just an urban myth.But I'm not so sure about that. Nobody wanted to own up to being conned by an old codger.
I suspect every town has had an old codger collecting car parking money, just like they're all had a single woman who's work mates hid at her house to give her a surprise party only to find her lying in the kitchen with Winnalot on her nether regions being pleasured by her dog's tongue. 
Fleet Street used to have whole families of printers on the books. Dad's brothers grandads some of whom had never stepped inside a print works, some of whom were long retired or even dead.
The companies often knew the employees were fictitious but unions were so strong it was easier and less costly to just let it go.
There was a regional ITV company that had lots of staff. This included as you might expect a make-up department. There was a very popular guy who was a barber/hairdresser. Staff who didn't work in-vision would often drop by for a haircut. Female staff would get their hair done for nights out, weddings or whatever. Naturally, they'd slip him a few bob for his trouble.
It was years before it was discovered the barber wasn't a staff member. He wasn't even a contractor.
Apparently when the station was setting up back in the 1950s/early 1960s he'd turned up and just set up shop in what was a rabbit Warren of a building and things went on from there.
I think he managed a decade before he was rumbled
The companies often knew the employees were fictitious but unions were so strong it was easier and less costly to just let it go.
There was a regional ITV company that had lots of staff. This included as you might expect a make-up department. There was a very popular guy who was a barber/hairdresser. Staff who didn't work in-vision would often drop by for a haircut. Female staff would get their hair done for nights out, weddings or whatever. Naturally, they'd slip him a few bob for his trouble.
It was years before it was discovered the barber wasn't a staff member. He wasn't even a contractor.
Apparently when the station was setting up back in the 1950s/early 1960s he'd turned up and just set up shop in what was a rabbit Warren of a building and things went on from there.
I think he managed a decade before he was rumbled
Edited by Wildcat45 on Tuesday 20th March 20:40
Wildcat45 said:
Fleet Street used to have whole families of printers on the books. Dad's brothers grandads some of whom had never stepped inside a print works, some of whom were long retired or even dead.
The companies often knew the employees were fictitious but unions were so strong it was easier and less costly to just let it go.
Similar story in the 80’s where I grew up. Lots of miners collecting 2 or 3 payslips for ficticous people that either never existed or didn’t work there. Easier for the cost to be soaked up than to have them all end up out on strike The companies often knew the employees were fictitious but unions were so strong it was easier and less costly to just let it go.
My last place - chap left, just didn't turn up one day and avoided answering his phone which caused a bit of an HR headache, dragged on for ages - HR and Legal resorted to letter at last known address, emergency contact etc. whilst uncertainty raged as to whether he'd been hit by a bus or simply just thrown in the towel everything froze, he got paid for a couple of months then a line was drawn - pay ceased on the assumption that he may return (to a disciplinary) or get in touch - nothing......
Given odd scenario and too many cooks things weren't drawn to a close properly....
A few years later he turns up working at the same firm that one of his ex colleagues now worked at - crowing that he'd been travelling for a year or two but every May had been paid "his" bonus..... cue some judicious grassing.....
End result £9K loss written off with some red faces.....
- It does happen
Given odd scenario and too many cooks things weren't drawn to a close properly....
A few years later he turns up working at the same firm that one of his ex colleagues now worked at - crowing that he'd been travelling for a year or two but every May had been paid "his" bonus..... cue some judicious grassing.....
End result £9K loss written off with some red faces.....
- It does happen
Its amazing how even in a world of computer auditing things just slip through the net.
We - as in the big firm I worked for - lost a Honda CRV. It was only noticed when the lease company wanted it back.
It was delivered, but at some point between then and the end of the lease, it vanished.the company just paid up.
We - as in the big firm I worked for - lost a Honda CRV. It was only noticed when the lease company wanted it back.
It was delivered, but at some point between then and the end of the lease, it vanished.the company just paid up.
loafer123 said:
My wife worked for a large organisation where the union had agreed a maternity policy which saw your maternity pay based upon your last months pay.
She left on maternity just after the bonus was paid...happy days.
My wife did the same hen she was working at a large accountancy firm. She was working in HR and questioned the policy. As they had staff on variable income structures it was cheaper to have a blanket policy that covered all staff than operate separate policies based on compensation model. She left on maternity just after the bonus was paid...happy days.
Dad's colleague worked a fair bit of overtime one month and got paid his usual base salary + roughly 50% as expected... This went on for 6 months.
Eventually they realised and questioned him, he simply said that he doesn't actively check his bank account. I believe they're making him pay it all back, however he's doing so veryyyy slowly I believe (£10pm forever or similar).
In my opinion, I couldn't live with the anxiety.
Eventually they realised and questioned him, he simply said that he doesn't actively check his bank account. I believe they're making him pay it all back, however he's doing so veryyyy slowly I believe (£10pm forever or similar).
In my opinion, I couldn't live with the anxiety.
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