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He may get fired or maybe just warned if he's lucky. He deserves to be fired though, if you look at it objectively. The company is auditing the education program because they have been getting defrauded and he did attempt to defraud them. It really doesn't mean much that he informed them of this at his audit mere moments before they were going to find out anyway (and maybe already knew).
Given the fact that multiple people are being caught up in problems related to the education program, I think the odds are much higher that the company has a procedural or training issue about how to use this program rather than a bunch of fraudsters working there.
Hopefully the audit can tease out abuse from oversights, but it sounds like some education and training would go a lot farther than firings/charges.
Thanks everyone for your responses. Update: the auditor just called him and said that the final verdict will be in after the long weekend. She said that she doesn't want him stressing so much over this .. as she said he sounded like he is suicidal. She has given him the details of the department at the company that will counsel him during this period. He just called to say he doesn't want to wait for the verdict as he is going off his head with fear about his future etc, but is going to approach his bosses and fess up to them directly before they hear from HR and will offer to pay back the scholarship. He expects that they will fire him but he says he knows he deserves it. I will pray now as i don't want to lose my husband because of his extreme depression. Thanks again.
Based on what I can glean from the OP's posts, this wasn't an honest mistake or confusion in the reimbursement process.
Why else would the OP's husband feel a need to come clean once he realized he was being audited? If it was an honest mistake he shouldn't feel guilty at all right? So I can only infer that inside when he received the scholarship he knew it wasn't right to receive both but decided to stay mum. And when he realized he was being audited decided to 'come clean.'
Not trying to be mean spirited but being honest.
I'm sure everything will be fine. As for him also notifying his boss, I would. Just as a FYI about the issue to keep him in the loop.
Since he came clean, he might be able to salvage his job. However, this shows a severe lapse in his ethical judgement. He essentially stole the money. I'm glad he came clean and at least he's not the only one. This company has invested 90k in him, so they may keep him on.
I don't see it as coming clean when you admit to it when you're already in the audit room and about to be exposed anyway.
Thanks everyone for your responses. Update: the auditor just called him and said that the final verdict will be in after the long weekend. She said that she doesn't want him stressing so much over this .. as she said he sounded like he is suicidal. She has given him the details of the department at the company that will counsel him during this period. He just called to say he doesn't want to wait for the verdict as he is going off his head with fear about his future etc, but is going to approach his bosses and fess up to them directly before they hear from HR and will offer to pay back the scholarship. He expects that they will fire him but he says he knows he deserves it. I will pray now as i don't want to lose my husband because of his extreme depression. Thanks again.
I think he needs to back off. They are going to do what they are going to do. They probably knew how they were going to handle it before the audits began. Begging and groveling and freaking out isn't going to change it. Acting "suicidal" isn't going to make them more lenient, if anything it's going to make them want to be rid of him. Nobody wants to be around that.
Can someone explain this to me? I've received scholarships before and it's just reflected as a line item on the tuition bill as a reduction in the total amount due. Wouldn't the company have already received the benefit of this since they get the bill for the MBA, which would reflect the reduction?
Or did OP get a bill for $90k - $10k = $80k but still request $90k from the employer?
Or did OP get a check from the university for $10k?
FWIW, it would be stupid for the company to fire a productive employee whose master's degree they paid for.
I'd fire him for dishonesty.
most company tuition reimbursement policies do say that any grants or scholarships are to be disclosed.
I'm surprised you don't see an issue with this - the guy had his education paid for TWICE. He walked away with "free" money that was earmarked for education but was spent on something else.
totally dishonest, unethical, and almost criminal.
No, he should NOT have to pay that money to his company.
The company decided to pay his tuition.
Scholarship money isn't always about money but to help with living expenses.
Personally, I would take whatever legal action I could against this company if they fired me for not reporting a scholarship.
Frankly, it is none of their business.
FWIW, it would be stupid for the company to fire a productive employee whose master's degree they paid for.
The company has a policy about rembursing scholarship money. His living expenses are the same since he continued with his job while being paid a salary and lived at home with no substantial change to his lifestyle. He's not an undergrad living on campus who requires assistance.
The company offered him a gift of a free post-grad education while keeping him employed. He knew when he kept that scholarship money that it wasn't the right thing to do. He took advantage of the situation and displayed questionable ethics. Now he is caught and feels upset because he knows he did something wrong. Being fired is the least of his problems. This could affect future employment and a career path. All for a measley five grand.
Meanwhile, I'm sure there are students out there who really could have used that money. He should have refused the scholarship at the get go. Greed is rarely rewarded.
Sorry to sound so negative, but it always boggles my mind when I see people who are supposedly smart do stupid things.
Can someone explain this to me? I've received scholarships before and it's just reflected as a line item on the tuition bill as a reduction in the total amount due. Wouldn't the company have already received the benefit of this since they get the bill for the MBA, which would reflect the reduction?
Or did OP get a bill for $90k - $10k = $80k but still request $90k from the employer?
Or did OP get a check from the university for $10k?
American academia is confusing!
This is a mystery to me as well. My guess is that his employer just reimbursed him for the full cost of the tuition instead of requesting a bill from the school showing the amount that was actually due for tuition. Typically the scholarship should go directly to the school to ensure that the person actually stays enrolled, otherwise a person could just pocket the cash without ever taking any classes.
If the employer's just requesting documentation that the person completed the classes/enrolled and what tuition was instead of requesting an actual tuition bill, that might be why they're having all the issues they're having now with fraud and overpayment. It seems like they probably need to take a few more steps with respect to verifying what money is received by the student from other sources before paying tuition.
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