Previous company overpaid and now asking for their money back

BunnieJ

I had been working for a contractor of a large bank (on reception) for 6 months when they we're taken over by another contractor.

The transfer date was officially 28th Feb 2014.

The new contractor have since paid myself and my colleagues for 28th Feb and the whole of March.

Today one of my co-workers (part-time) recieved a letter stating that she owes our old company £81.00 as she was overpaid and must pay them back, so she called me at work today.

I've checked my last payslip from them (recieved at the start of April) and it states:

Gross Overpayment: £45.00

I'm thinking I'll probably have a similar letter waiting for me when I get home :-(

My colleague called the contact number on the letter to ask what was going on. They told her that we had been paid for 28th Feb when we actually stopped working for them on 27th Feb, which is why they are asking for a day's wage back.

My question is: what do we do next?

The logical thing would be just to pay them the money back as they overpaid us by a day. However, we have been messed around so much over this transfer (we only got told 3 weeks before we would TUPE across after a rumour spread around the office) and our ex-manager is completely incompetent :mad:

Since I started working there (September) they have never once paid me the correct amount, meaning I've been in debt, had the wrong tax deducted and had student loans taking money from my wages!

He was fully aware we would be transfering across to the new company on 28th and yet he still put down our hours as if we were working for him!

My colleague and I are extremely upset and angry about this!

lakes17

The simple answer is that if you agree to the amount that they have quoted and you shouldn't have been paid for 28th then it needs to be paid back regardless of your views and competency towards your last company.

BunnieJ

The simple answer is that if you agree to the amount that they have quoted and you shouldn't have been paid for 28th then it needs to be paid back regardless of your views and competency towards your last company.

I know this is the easy answer, but what if we choose not to pay? What if we wish to dispute this?

Would they threaten to take us to court if we don't pay?

If we went to court, would we have a case against our manager/the company as they handled the TUPE incorrectly and have been next to useless?

lakes17

BunnieJ wrote: »

I know this is the easy answer, but what if we choose not to pay? What if we wish to dispute this?

Would they threaten to take us to court if we don't pay?

If we went to court, would we have a case against our manager/the company as they handled the TUPE incorrectly and have been next to useless?

That's the risk you would take if you refused to repay. Where I used to work if anyone had been overpaid for whatever reason then a bill would firstly be sent out. If there was no contact then one of solicitors would write out stating that if not received within 7 days then the debt would be pursued through the courts. Regardless of the amount we would always then escalate it through the courts.


As I said in my first sentence it you ignore it that is the risk you take and no one on this forum would be able to tell you if your Company would definitely take court action.


As far as the poor handling of the TUPE is concerned that would be a separate case and you would need to get employment advise on that. But the overpayment would have no bearing on the handling of the TUPE, if your ex-company decided to use the civil action against you. If it went all the way to court and still didn't pay then you may end up with having a CCJ against your name

JKSandy

They could persue it in a small claims court and you risk a CCJ for such a small amount

"If we went to court, would we have a case against our manager/the company as they handled the TUPE incorrectly and have been next to useless?"

This is irrelevant unless your counter claiming but I don't see what you would be arguing.

BunnieJ

When I was at college I had a part-time job working weekends in a supermarket. After I'd left and gone to uni, they sent me a letter stating I had taken holiday that I wasn't entitled to (I had no idea this had happened as all my holiday had been authroised by my manager) and owed them £20. It was their mistake.

I ignored the first letter and they came back with another saying I would be taken to court if I didn't pay. I was a student with little money at the time so I didn't pay them back (especially as I saw it as their mistake, not mine).

They never took any further action.

Under normal circumstances I would just pay them the money as it was a mistake, but I feel so angry about everything that my previous manager/company have done I don't want to! They have gotten away with being so incompetent it's unbelievable!

Arrrrgghh! :mad:

My colleague feels the same way about this!

Southend1

BunnieJ wrote: »

When I was at college I had a part-time job working weekends in a supermarket. After I'd left and gone to uni, they sent me a letter stating I had taken holiday that I wasn't entitled to (I had no idea this had happened as all my holiday had been authroised by my manager) and owed them £20. It was their mistake.

I ignored the first letter and they came back with another saying I would be taken to court if I didn't pay. I was a student with little money at the time so I didn't pay them back (especially as I saw it as their mistake, not mine).

They never took any further action.

Under normal circumstances I would just pay them the money as it was a mistake, but I feel so angry about everything that my previous manager/company have done I don't want to! They have gotten away with being so incompetent it's unbelievable!

Arrrrgghh! :mad:

My colleague feels the same way about this!

Not necessarily incompetence. Everywhere I have worked has always allowed staff to take their leave entitlement with the expectation they will work the full year i.e. you don't have to wait to accrue the days before taking them. Then on leaving any excess holiday taken is deducted from the final payslip or reclaimed by writing to the employee if the final salary payment is insufficient.

slightlyconfused1

You have been paid twice for the same day. The mistake was noticed timeously and the money has been requested back. As you do not dispute the facts then you should pay the money back.

The treatment re tupe and the incorrect wages, assuming the errors were corrected, are nothing to do with this. If you refuse to pay you are open to court action and risk your credit score.

bevanuk

As above, your issues are separate. The overpayment, then the TUPE.
Are you a temp via weekly pay? You're not in the best situation to be causing a fuss, if you do it's possible the client will ask for another receptionist.
I'm not sure about the TUPE implications, but if you have struggled getting paid correctly with the first agency you might as well greet the new one with open arms, hopefully they will pay you right.

BunnieJ

Are you a temp via weekly pay? You're not in the best situation to be causing a fuss, if you do it's possible the client will ask for another receptionist.

No, I'm not a temp. I was taken on in September as permenant, full-time staff. The company I was previously with lost their contract to run reception and we taken over by another company.

You have been paid twice for the same day. The mistake was noticed timeously and the money has been requested back. As you do not dispute the facts then you should pay the money back.

I don't dispute the facts. It looks like I have been paid for the same day by the two companies. If they start threatening me with court action, I will pay them the money; I don't want a black mark against me.

My dispute is with the company being completely incompetent, not following TUPE correctly and never paying me correctly! :mad:

They couldn't pay me correctly in the 6 months I worked for them, but jump at the opportunity for me to owe them money! :sad:

somethingcorporate

Irrelevant, regardless of how you feel about previous conduct will have no bearing on whether you owe them and need to repay them for an overpayment or not.

Had they underpaid you by a day and refused to pay because they thought you were a poor worker how would you feel?