Been overpaid by old work.....

itsarichmansworld

Now do I fess up?

Or spend it since they made my life a misery

not sure if they can claim this back although the hold back the last months commission so they can get it back that way but what I have been paid is more than they have given me????

advice per favore my dfw friends.....

Mrs_Sparkle

In my work we make people pay it back or if it's a large amount we'll take a reduced amount. We have it written in people's contracts though that if they're overpaid they must let us know. If it doesn't say this in your contract you might be ok... They should be reasonable if they do ask for the money back and allow you to pay it back in small monthly payments.

jobbingmusician

Firstly are you really sure you've been overpaid? They have probably given you some holiday pay!

Secondly, personally I would not fess up - they will probably never realise. Even if they do, I think they will not bother to do much to get it back from you unless it is such an enormous amount that it is not credible that you were actually owed that money. IIRC they cannot reclaim it if they made a mistake and you have spent it thinking it was really yours.

Good luck with this one!

Dumyat

I would stash it in another account and wait for them to ask for it
I got overpaid...not much but I didnt own up. I had done plenty unpaid overtime over the months....so I looked at it as money owed they never spotted it.

smog_2

I was overpaid by my work...twice. The first time I came clean and they tried to force me to work extra shifts to make up the hours - I refused as I was in the final year of my degree and they pretty much just wrote off the money. They could have claimed it back but I think the branch I worked in didn;t want to admit to head office that they'd made a mistake so I got to keep the money.

The second time was after I'd left and hadn't realised that I'd taken too many holidays that year. They wrote to me demanding £500 quid (total nightmare - was sitting my finals at the time) saying that they'd already written three times - they hadn't and that they were going to get a debt collection agency on to me.

I wrote back this huge ranting letter about how badly I'd been treated, how I'd been underpaid (under min wage) for over a year, how I'd done about 4 hours overtime a week without being paid, I also wrote all about the sexual harrassment I suffered, and the arrangement they had about giving staff breaks - which contravened working time regulations, and offered them a payment plan of £5 a month...THEY WROTE OFF THE DEBT!!!

But watch out as it seems they can reclaim the money.

I started a fairly similar thread under the title 'free money' - though it's the bank that have overpaid me in my case, if you want a look.

Cheers

Smog
xxx

Ps all those horrible things really did happen to me at my old work!! I didn't just say they did!! And this was working for a major high street electrical retailer.

i_am_really_rich!!

They can claim it back. Even if it their mistake. We had a member of staff who was being paid for an additional job she didn't do for a few months and she had to pay back all of the money. The argument was that she knew she was overpaid and should have said something about it. Although it is in our contracts that if we are overpaid for whatever reason the money has to be paid back. That being said, honestly, how many of us would 'fess up if we were in that position??? Hold onto the money (don't spend it), say nothing and hope for the best.

file_wizzard

Firstly ensure the credit is indeed a mistake

Secondly yes they can claim it back, however only at a reasonable rate the same as any other debt.

Thirdly to knowingly retain a wrongful credit is a criminal offence, (S.24a Theft Act) and depending on what sort of terms you parted on with your employer may influence their stance on how they deal with it.