A very Bad day. Overpayment shock

horrorhag

Hello i was wondering if anyone can help

I left my current employment two weeks ago, the reason mainly was that i wanted more time to focus on my studies as i am a final year student. The job i was doing was term time only and as such i got paid my equivalent over the summer in lieu of holidays which i couldnt take during term time.

Today i expected my final pay cheque. so i looked online and saw i wasnt paid. thinking that their might be a mistake- ie. i have left so they might have taken me off the system early- i phoned them up.

I was then informed that i couldnt be paid because i in fact owed them money- this was the very first time i had heard about this.
They claim i owe just under £600- and that i should have been informed by my manager about this before i left and i should have recieved a letter regarding this matter. i have recieved neither.

In fact, i have only ever spoken to my manger once and that was the day i handed in my notice. As a student, where do i stand? i cant possibly afford this debt, a debt i was in no way expecting.

If i would have know i was going to owe money i would have carried on working.

any advice, similar stories, sympathy would be great.

Zazen999

You need them to detail all your payments, and where they think you owe them money, before you take next steps.

did they tell you how the error has occurred?

horrorhag

nope, they said thats how they have worked it out. but surely from april 08- feb 09 i should have worked off some of the 'holiday' owed. i shall phone them.

gaz_jones

Definitely phone them and ask for a copy of all pay slips etc.... That way you have everything at hand when they start asking quesitons.

Sharon87

This sort of happened to me. Asda give you holidays at the beginning of the tax year, and if you leave part way during the year they calculate how much holidays you've taken and add/take it from your wage. I actually took too many and went over. They deducted it from my final wage, so I didn't actually receive anything, but they didn't pursue me for the remainder, which was only a small amount.

Like with you, no one told me this would happen. They knew when I was leaving really early on, so they could have told me when I had reached my holiday limit.

I would definetely ask for a break down of what they think you owe them.

worried_jim

I had it happen to me about 7 years ago. the compnay tried to pursue me through the court before I payed them back. If you owe you will have to pay it I am afraid.

horrorhag

Is it weird that they wont provide me with a break down of what they think i have worked but are requesting i provide them with one? apparently i owe them £600- btw i only work 11hours a week- does that sound right?

gaz_jones

Don't give them any money until they have proved you owe them it.

HR WILL have a record of all hours worked, all pay, all holiday taken etc.....

Dont let them fob you off. Tell them you won't be paying them money owed until you see the relevant proof you owe them it. In this case a break down of hours/holiday

maninthestreet

If they think you owe them £600, they must have performed some calculation in order to reach that figure. Insist that they provide you with this calculation. Make it clear you have no intention of paying them anything simply because they have demanded you pay it. If push comes to shove, and they take you to court, they will have to prove their case,

Sazzyukrafc

I am in the same situation. Apparently I owe about £400. The first time they said it was £1200 (!!!).

Letters have been sent from July about this and they still haven't proven to me the calculation, so I have still refused to consider paying it, especially as they wanted £1200 first of all.