Overpaid at work

Lyndsey555

Hi, I'm relatively new to registering on this site but I've been reading it for a few years. I know there's a few threads on MSE on this subject but people's circumstances are always so different I thought I'd ask about my situation.

I went back to work at a big financial company in May from being off on maternity leave for 9 months. Before I left I was working full time 35 hours a week. When I went back in May to do 20 hours a week my first payslip was the same rough net amount as before I left (it's been different every month since I've been there for some reason) so I wondered if maybe I had some money due or something so I left it but had again the same amount in June so thinking I was being overpaid I wrote to my HR dept saying I think I'm being overpaid and they replied saying I was receiving the correct pay. (I wanted something in writing to prove I'd mentioned the overpayment as the person watching us wasn't the most helpful person when I went back to work.)

But they also said on their letter that their records show I returned 3rd May not the 11th as my letter to them said. I'm pretty sure I went back on the 11th but I wrote the letter to them two months after I'd gone back so I could have easily been wrong. It said to check with my line manager if it was incorrect but when I had the letter I was off work on annual leave for the week and I totally forgot about the letter and put it away in the piles of paper most people have lying about the house!

I racked up a bit of debt on overdraft/balance transfers etc while I was off so the extra money was really helpful in paying these off being honest and while I know I should have mentioned it again to HR as I was still being paid more than I think I should have been, after HR said it was correct, which as I said I have in writing, I thought what else can I do. So my line manager (who I didn't know at all when I went back to work, was off sick long term when I returned and only came back about 2 months ago) today asked me if I was getting paid full time and I said yes I think I am but that I wrote to HR and they said I was receiving the correct pay. So I've been asked to take the letter in which I will tomorrow.

I know I'll have to pay it back but it's probably around £1500 I've been overpaid and I can't pay it all back in one go as I'm struggling on the money I'm getting at the moment.

It was their fault in the first place I was being overpaid as I was told today nobody informed HR I'd reduced to 20 hours (the communication in my work is pathetic and/or non existant)

So what happens with tax and NI? The annual salary I should be getting is only just over the threshold for no tax so I'd probably be getting taxed/NI very little on the proper salary but I've been paying hundreds in tax on what I've been getting so who do I speak to about that?

I'd just like advice really on how to deal with the situation and while I totally understand I will have to pay it back, the letter said I was on the correct salary and thay I'd been paid correctly for May and June and I did go out of my way to tell them so they can't say I didn't tell anyone.

Thanks for getting through to the end, any genuine (non judgemental) responses would be very much appreciated!

SarEl

You already know the answer - you have to pay it back and the only thing to negotiate is what installements they may be prepatrd to accept. Since they have the legal right to claim it from wages as they wish, including as a lump sum, it is up to you to find some agreement that allows installments with them. They should adjust tax and NI based on what you shoukd have paid. But you still owe them the money back.

LadyMissA

The TAX and NI would be automatically adjusted as you will see a gross deduction for the overpayment on your payslip and therefore reducing the taxable amount on your salary.

pinkshoes

As you made the effort to enquire ssnd told the salary was correct by HOUR, then offer to pay back the excess at a rate you can afford, say £50 a month.

schmoooo

Hi there, did you manage to get this sorted out with your employer in the end?
I am in a slightly different situation....When i went on maternity leave me employer continued paying me salary and did not send me my wageslips so i did not realise for several months (i am not on a huge salary so it was not obvious immediately). I noticed that something was wrong and called payroll who said i wasnt on maternity leave and had been at work when i was definately on materity leave. They then sent me a letter saying they were deducting the overpayment from my future payments of SMP this left me with no income at all for about 6 months. I tried writing to them to appeal against the decision but they would not respond to me. All i wanted to do was arrange a payment plan. I am now back at work and after speaking to other colleagues who have been overpaid all of them had a payment plan set up and are paying back the overpayment a small amount each month. I have checked our handbook and it isnt very clear. I feel like i have been discriminated against because i was on maternity and they assumed i was not coming back so made sure they got their money back in one fell swoop. I thought your employer had a duty of care to its employees not to make them suffer hardship as a result of their mistakes. Am i wrong? I dont know what to do now? I would like to raise a grievance with work but i do not know if i have the right to do so. very confused!!

NKLK

get to CAB or call acas
they should not leave you in financial hardship

SarEl

You certainly have the right to raise a grievance - but what would you expect an acceptable outcome to be? You have already paid back the money, and you have returned to work. There appears to be nothing to "fix" because the entire event is in the past, so at best you might get an apology. Will that make any difference to you? There is no duty of care to employees to not make them suffer financial hardship because of an employers error - perhaps there ought to be, but there aren't. There are some very limited laws about deductions in certain circumstances, but I do not see that any of them apply to your circumstances. So there are two reasons to put in a grievance. Either to make you feel better, or to try to ensure that this doesn't happen again to someone. The latter probably isn't achieveable, so that means that the only good reason is to make you feel better. Will it? If so, fair enough, if you think that it won't cause any problems (bearing in mind that raising grievances isn't a neutral action - some employers may have to deal with them but don't like them, and can hold grudges, but only you can tell if yours is that sort of employer).