Employer making me pay pack money... HELP!!!

pjjafc

Hi,

Just found out my employer have been paying me £3710 location allowance for 2 years in error (they have admitted its their fault) when it should be the outer London allowance. They are now asking me to pay back over £4000!!!! What the hell can I do???

jamesb1239

sit down with them and discuss a repayment plan

Batchy

find a new job... its their error... it will be hard and expensive for them to get it back if your not working for them.

Is this a viable option... otherwise, just agree an affordable repayment plan

pjjafc

Batchy wrote: »

find a new job... its their error... it will be hard and expensive for them to get it back if your not working for them.

Is this a viable option... otherwise, just agree an affordable repayment plan

think thats my only option. Cant afford to pay that back! Especially after you think you are getting legitimately and now being asked to pay that back doesnt seem right to me.

jdturk

pjjafc wrote: »

think thats my only option. Cant afford to pay that back! Especially after you think you are getting legitimately and now being asked to pay that back doesnt seem right to me.

Why bother with the hassle, show them a statement of affairs and what you can reasonably pay back per month, £1 probably would not be accepted but a payment of £50 a month would.

paulofessex

jdturk wrote: »

Why bother with the hassle, show them a statement of affairs and what you can reasonably pay back per month, £1 probably would not be accepted but a payment of £50 a month would.

Sorry but l don't agree that you should show them a statement of affairs, that is none of their business.

I would seek independent advice on firstly if you have to re-pay the money and secondly is there a maximum ammount an employer can legally stop from someones salary, if in fact they can do that. Once you have those answers, like others have suggested have a sit down and discuss a re-payment plan.

Just a thought....you mentioned you should have been paid Outer london Allowance, so what is the difference in the amounts?

jdturk

paulofessex wrote: »

Sorry but l don't agree that you should show them a statement of affairs, that is none of their business.

I would seek independent advice on firstly if you have to re-pay the money and secondly is there a maximum ammount an employer can legally stop from someones salary, if in fact they can do that. Once you have those answers, like others have suggested have a sit down and discuss a re-payment plan.

Just a thought....you mentioned you should have been paid Outer london Allowance, so what is the difference in the amounts?

I don't think they could legally take any money out of your wage without prior permission or notice and you are probably right about the SOA, the only reason I mentioned it is because if you offer a low amount the company would most likely believe you are taking the mick.

However if it is a genuine error the OP owes the money and HAS to repay it, even after they leave the company

paulofessex

I think also if the OP did leave the company it would make it easier for them to reclaim the money i.e. Small Claims or Debt Recovery

getmore4less

I think the key will be how obvious was the error to the employee and how this error came about.

It would go back to when the allowance started and how it was documented.

If it was reasonable to asume that the allowance payment was correct then that will make any claim more difficult and unreasonable.

If the two different payments were well documented and it would have been obvious to the employee that the payments they were getting were the wrongs ones then a claim for refund is reasonable.

eg: The offer of employment said the lower amount but payslips said the higher amount that would be obvious and a refund reasonable

If they both said the higher amount then they will have great difficulty with a claim for the money back and it would be unreasonable.

If the OP has been living to this level of income then to pay back the money over say 2years(the time of overpayment) they have to reduce their spends by double once for the loss of income and again to pay back.


There is another angle that since this has ben paid for two years, the employee could argue that this is now contractual under custom and practice. (employers force contract changes like this, make the change and if you work you agree)

jdx

I recall a case a few years ago where a part time bank employee was accidentally paid a full time wage from when her employment commenced. The courts ruled in the employees favour as 1] the banks should have noticed their mistake and 2] the employee had budgeted her wages/lifestyle for +1yr.

Anyway, I would agree it would be wise to seek advice - CAB, ACAS? Even if you leave they can still come after you for the payments. Shame as it's their stupid error.

jdturk

getmore4less wrote: »

I think the key will be how obvious was the error to the employee and how this error came about.

It would go back to when the allowance started and how it was docmented.

If it was reasonable to asume that the allowance payment was correct then that will make any claim more difficult and unreasonable.

If the two different payments were well documented and it would have been obvious to the employee that the payments they were getting were the wrongs ones then a claim for refund is reasonable.

eg: The offer of employment said the lower amount but payslips said the higher amount that would be obvious and a refund reasonable

If they both said the higher amount then they will have great difficulty with a claim for the money back and it would be unreasonable.

If the OP has been living to this level of income then to pay back the money over say 2years(the time of overpayment) they have to reduce their spends by double once for the loss of income and again to pay back.


There is another angle that since this has ben paid for two years, the employee could argue that this is now contractual under custom and practice. (employers force contract changes like this, make the change and if you work you agree)

Good advice