Wages still being paid AFTER leaving a job!

lauzt1987

I worked for a union and people would often contact us as they had been overpaid.

You are unfortunately legally obliged to pay the money back OP, however what I would say is that they should give you a reasonable timeframe to do so. We would always suggest that you are given the same amount of time to pay the money back as they took to overpaye you eg if they overpaid you for three months, you could pay it back over 3 months in 3 instalments.

I would contact them asap as they may apply interest.

Uncertain

lauzt1987 wrote: »

I would contact them asap as they may apply interest.

I don't see how they can until they make the OP aware of the debt and give him a reasonable opportunity to repay. After that they may be able to.

omen666

G51shopaholic wrote: »

Same as if someone paid the money into your account by mistake - you can't keep it,

Your basis on this? Not exactly strictly true now is it?

MGCP

At the moment you have been unjustly enriched at the expense of your employer. They are of course entitled to get their money back.

If you voluntarily do anything with that money that is inconsistent with your ex employer's rights you may be guilty of the tort of conversion (ie the civil version of theft). The remedy for conversion may not just be returning the money, it may also include additional damages.

Given that you know about the money and are not returning I would say that you have already stepped into the realm of conversion as keeping it is inconsistent with the rights of the owner. Obviously this would need to be demonstrated in court if such a claim were pursued, but I understand it is a strict liability tort and so if you were found guilty any apparent good faith etc on your part is irrelevant.

If on the other hand you were found to be acting dishonestly you could potentially be charged with theft (being the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving them of it). This would be more of a stretch in the circumstances but your posts suggest you are not repaying it in the hope you will get to keep it forever so arguably the definition does apply (although unlikely).

Personally, my current job required references from my last two employers - no exceptions. I would have been very upset to have lost a wonderful opportunity if one of those employers doubted my honesty. I also would hate to think that that is the sort of person I would be for the sake of a few quid. Your ideas clearly differ but I think you've got the info you asked for here.

jay_1978

I know its off the topic but I wonder how many politicians paid the money they falsely claimed ? From reports on the media I don't think some of them paid all of it back, Sadly we are merely working class people so the rules are different for us.

Truepat

If the tax office sees the money they may demand you pay the required taxes on it.
If at a later stage the company notices they may then ask you to repay back the money in full (i.e. the full amount they deposited).
I do not think there is a mechanism under British law for you to recover the taxes you paid and so you could end up out of pocket.

[Deleted User]

you are lucky mate....see my post "Bestbuy retaining wages" - I left the job in november and they still haven't paid me the wages for the last 2 weeks I worked there.......and I'm battling out with them at the moment, extremely stressful and very frustrating.

I only hope whoever is overpaying you are a big MNC, government etc and not some small scale business who usually struggle to pay the wages for their employees and meet the bills on time..that would be really poor !

Any

Uncertain wrote: »

Well, he says he has a new job so they are no longer his most recent employer.

To work for our company you have to have 5 yrs worth of references for example..

Any

Truepat wrote: »

If the tax office sees the money they may demand you pay the required taxes on it.
If at a later stage the company notices they may then ask you to repay back the money in full (i.e. the full amount they deposited).
I do not think there is a mechanism under British law for you to recover the taxes you paid and so you could end up out of pocket.

No idea why this old thread was suddenly brought back to life, but it is true that when April/May comes and the P60s are sent of to HMRC OP might find himself with a tax bill...

nottoolate

Any wrote: »

No idea why this old thread was suddenly brought back to life,

because they are now looking for advice on how to lay low and avoid court action to recover the debt.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2970894