Overpayment from employer

marmite123

Can anyone tell me where i stand with my employer. I am in the armed forces and at the 7.5 year point i'm entitled to a commitment bonus. I went to the admin office to sign the paperwork that says i wont leave the military within 18 months if i get the bonus. Anyway the admin clerk said i'm not entitled to it because i have to get at least satisfactory in my most recent appraisal and i got unsatisfactory (got unsatisfactory due to medical reasons). The admin clerk also said my pay will be frozen for 12 months but it hasn't been and as such i have been told that i've been overpaid for the last 6 months. I was not aware of the rule about frozen pay and genuinely believed my last pay rise was an entitled rise, i have spent the money on living expenses. Is my employer entitled to take the money back, i have been told there was an admin / clerical error and this is why i have been paid more than i should have been. Where do i stand?

LittleVoice

Apart from the rights or wrongs of withholding a pay rise if the unsatisfactory appraisal was because of medical reasons, if you have been genuinely overpaid then you would need to re-pay the overpayment.

However, if, as it sounds, paying it all back at once would cause you financial difficulties, you should negotiate paying back in instalments over a period.

Jarvisma

I know it sounds picky but you do actually say that "The admin clerk also said my pay would be frozen for 12 months but it hasn't been" Which contradicts your statement of not being aware of the frozen pay.

It makes no difference to your situation but if that was the case your employer will quite rightly claim that you were told of the freeze and therefore had no reason to believe the money was rightfully yours.

Either way you could argue it out for ages but they are legally entitled to the money back.

As you are still employed by them they are entitled to recover the money from your pay each month so the best thing to do is reassure them that you have every intention of paying the money back but explain that it would put you in financial harship if you paid it back all at once and ask if you can come to an arrangement to pay it back over perhaps the next 6 months (this is a reasonable suggestion as it was the timeframe it was originally overpaid) or even better for you perhaps suggest a year. Any responsible payroll manager would be happy to do this as long it is within company policy.

They may get you to sign a statement showing your agreement and will have to let you know how much will be deducted each month.

MY ADVICE THOUGH - If you pay it back in instalments, keep a running total and when you believe you have paid it all back contact them in writing to confirm it has all been cleared. Just as they overpaid it originally, they could also over-deduct it back again, mistakes do happen!