Around a fifth of employees have submitted a false expense claim at least once, a new survey has revealed.
Expense management firm Concur surveyed 1,010 employees in the UK who submit expenses.
While public sector workers proved to be the least scrupulous, with 22.1 % admitting to fiddling their expenses, private sector workers were little better, with 19.3% saying that they too had made a false claim.
Some 11.9% of the public sector workers said they submit fraudulent expenses “occasionally”, while 7.7% said they do it “all the time”.
Isabel Montesdeoca, VP at Concur, said closer monitoring of expenses could save the government money.
She said: “With the UK government making cuts across the public sector, this study reveals an area of expenditure than can be better regulated to drive significant cost savings.
“For managers working in the public sector, ensuring that the proper systems and processes are in place can prevent vital funds draining away and provide visibility and control over expense reporting.”
However, the majority (58.2%) of respondents from the public sector said they had never submitted a false expenses claim, with 12.2% saying they had never done it because they knew they wouldn’t get away with it.
And only 31% of public sector employees said they claim back everything owed to them on expenses, with many saying it was "too much hassle".
www.concur.com