Employer wants money back

missbex10

Hi all

I am a teaching assistant and so im paid by the city council. In april 2010 i changed from full time employment to part time.at the same time as i went into part time employment i got a pay rise and went up to the next pay grade. Every pay slip ive had since that day has had the same final figure on it so i truly believed that was how much my new wage was. Today i got a call from my boss asking if i had recieved a letter from the council asking for some money back as they had told him i had been getting over paid since april 2010 and if i hadnt got the letter it would be arriving soon. I asked my boss if the council had told him how much i had been over paid but he said they didnt give him the figure. I am going to see my union on monday but i would like to find out now if i will have to pay the money back to stop me going mad over the weekend? If i do have to pay it back will it be in one go or installments? Can they just stop paying me altoghether untill the debt is repayed? I have a child and rent to pay if they were to take all the money off my wage everymonth we couldnt live. PLEASE HELP

Regards Becky

Sambucus_Nigra

You need to find out how much you owe them before panicking. When you find out, you have to make an offer based on how much you think you can lose each month to cover it.

People must be auditing, there are so many of these about at the moment - trying to save every penny no doubt.

missbex10

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

You need to find out how much you owe them before panicking. When you find out, you have to make an offer based on how much you think you can lose each month to cover it.

People must be auditing, there are so many of these about at the moment - trying to save every penny no doubt.

Thank you for your reply much appreciated. whats the lowest offer you could you get away with ie £20 a month over a long period of time?

Sambucus_Nigra

I don't know - you need to negotiate. But find out first what the size of the problem is.

What do you think you should be paid? What is your tax code and what are you getting paid [gross and net] each month. That might help us to work out how wrong the figures are.

missbex10

i Have been paid £9200 per year and i think it should be something like £7000 per year and the tax code is 747l thanks alot

Sambucus_Nigra

What are you getting paid each month.

DVardysShadow

missbex10 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply much appreciated. whats the lowest offer you could you get away with ie £20 a month over a long period of time?

The starting point is to expect to pay back over the same period as the overpayments.

Longer if you will suffer hardship, shorter if you want it sorted.

missbex10

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

What are you getting paid each month.

723 at the top and 689 after tax pay is pro rata

Sambucus_Nigra

missbex10 wrote: »

723 at the top and 689 after tax pay is pro rata

Ok. If you knew how much you were overpaid then why are you trying to find out how much you have been overpaid? I can't work out the pro rata as I don't know your hours but surely you must have realised that 723 times 12 is more than 7000?

At 723 over 18 months is £13014, and you are saying you should have been paid £10499; which means you owe them £2.5k. £20 a month is not going to cut this one, I am afraid. You have been paid about £140 a month extra; I can't see how even with basic maths you could have not realised.

getmore4less

What was the pay rise
What was the change in hours
What was the change in actual pay

t0rt0ise

None of this really matters does it? The OP wanted to know about paying it back. Having an opinion about whether they should have realised is neither here nor there. Yes, OP you will have time to pay it back and you will need to come to an agreement with them about how much to pay over what time period. Why not make a list of your outgoings and see how much you will be able to offer. I'd offer a low rate to start and see what they say.