Employre attempting to reclaim overpaid wages

mymoneyfish

As someone who's set up and run payrolls for various businesses I'm always surprised how little attention give to their payslips.

Unfortunately many of us are equally ignorant of what's going on in our bank accounts and on credit card statements. Businesses make mistakes - sometimes they give too much and sometimes they take too much.

My advice on the payslip issue is try to negotiate a compromise. After all, it's going to cost them money to untangle all the tax and NI for the last couple of years. Why spend it on admin time when they can generate some goodwill by letting you keep some. And you could agree to do some extra work for a while to 'earn' it.

Just make sure anything you agree is written down.

playoldgames

mommyme wrote: »

I thought you meant put it through company expenses

No, nothing sinister like that - and I absolutely agree with you, doing something like that would make me no better than a money-grubbing MP I work for a travel company, so I get concessions on flights - that's what I meant by perks

Technically tho - you do owe the cash and need to sort out a repayment plan

You're right, of course - but I'm going to see if I can negotiate a reduction in the amount, going down the route of untangling tax and NI in the way mymoneyfish mentioned, as well as trying the old 'well, you didn't see it either!' defence. Not only that, I'll find out if they intend to take any repayments from my gross or net salary. Every little bit helps! My employers are usually more than reasonable, so it can't hurt to give it a shot

Also, having spoken to my other half, her company has a free employee advice centre, where you tell them what's going on, and they appoint a specialised solicitor to dispense some free legal advice. So it can't hurt to make absolutely sure of my legal position before committing to any repayment plan.

If nothing else, I've calmed down and stopped flapping after the initial shock of being told I owe £2,500

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

playoldgames wrote: »

No, nothing sinister like that - and I absolutely agree with you, doing something like that would make me no better than a money-grubbing MP I work for a travel company, so I get concessions on flights - that's what I meant by perks

ah I get ya - I used to work for an airport handling agent and got the same travel perk - know what ya mean now

getmore4less

At least they asked for a payment plan and did not just take it which they might have been able to do if your contact allowed for it.

Forget that you might leave for now.

Negotiate a plan or challange the requirement to pay it back.

You could argue that the minimum payment period is the same as the overpayment period but start with double(pay back aty 1/2 the rate you were overpaid)

the reasoning is that you have been living to your wage and the drop will not be easy. So to pay it back at the same rate you got it paid will cause hardship so 1/2 is the offer.

Thats sets up the payment plan.

The next problem is what they will want when you leave.

Check your contract.

playoldgames

getmore4less wrote: »

At least they asked for a payment plan and did not just take it which they might have been able to do if your contact allowed for it.

Forget that you might leave for now.

Negotiate a plan or challange the requirement to pay it back.

You could argeu that the minimum payment period is the same as the overpayment period but start with double(pay back aty 1/2 the rate you were overpaid)

the reasoning is that you have been living to your wage and the drop will not be easy. So to pay it back at the same rate you got it paid will cause hardship so 1/2 is the offer.

Thats sets up the payment plan.

The next problem is what they will want when you leave.

Check your contract.

First of all, that's a great idea for the repayment plan, and a great way of presenting it - thank you very much for that

As for leaving, it's not essential that I do - it was more of a plan I had in mind to save some cash than 'OMG get me out of here now!'

Finding a job doing the same thing as I'm doing now, with the same wage, but in my home town would save me over £400 a month on travel. But if I have to sit tight, so be it - if nothing else, at least I keep getting my flight concessions

And once the wedding is done with, I can always up the repayments and get it out of the way quicker.

It's amazing how rational thought kicks back in once the initial blind panic subsides

LondonDiva

Rememner to keep it pleasant at all times, you will need a reference eventually from them.

David_Brent

Employre? :beer::beer::beer::beer: I type the same either drinkningg or not0-:

DGJsaver

SarEl wrote: »

Not noticing the error doesn't surprise me. What surprises me is how many employees sign contracts without reading them,

This bit confuses me.....

If the contract has the wage on that the employer comes to realise is wrong....then whats the point of the eomplyee reading the contract when signing it ? if the employer can just take money back anyway........!?