wages wrong for 3 years ???

lakes17

makeyourdaddyproud wrote: »

Maybe not £25k (lol), but a counter-claim estoppel defence might put them off, because if that extra money was spent on nothing out of the ordinary, or what would be considered out of line from your normal wages expenditure, then you may have a case to keep the money.


It's not a done deal having to pay it back, it never has been.

It is if it's written in your contract "we reserve the right to recoup any overpayment" then provided they have written with a complete breakdown of how they've arrived at the figures and an explanation of how the error occurred as well as the amount they will deduct each month, the OP's employer would be well within their right to automatically deduct a set amount from his wages each month without the OP's permission. The only thing that the employer needs to make sure is that the amount would not bring the OP wage below the NMW. The OP would be able to negotiate a much longer period if causing hardship However his attitude would need to change for that to be successful.

Undervalued

makeyourdaddyproud wrote: »

Maybe not £25k (lol), but a counter-claim estoppel defence might put them off, because if that extra money was spent on nothing out of the ordinary, or what would be considered out of line from your normal wages expenditure, then you may have a case to keep the money.


It's not a done deal having to pay it back, it never has been.

I'm sorry but in 99.99% of cases this is total nonsense.

Yes, in certain very rare situations "estoppel" has been successfully used. A key factor would be that the employee genuinely had good reason to believe that the pay was correct. Not bothering to check carefully doesn't tick that box!

Tygermoth

Years ago i had a pay dispute with a company. I had not been properly paid for months due to an error their end. I was in dire financial straights as they had been only paying me a third of my salary for four months which only covered my rent - no other bills. I was in arrears all over the place and my lovely credit rating was messed up beyond belief.

On leaving their employ (due to the pay issue) they sent me several cheque payments then advised they were wrong and requested them back as they were incorrect calculations. In the end they settled on an amount and it was banked.

A few years later i got a letter regards an overpayment. Even with pay confusion, the fact the company repeatedly had send me cheques of wildly different amounts and several issued and then revoked pay slips (so if they didn't have a clue how was i supposed to know)

When the matter was reviewed by CAB and my legal helpline via my insurer it did not matter. I was advised that they had demonstrated the over payment and therefore it was due back. i was livid.

CAB helped me draw up a statement of affairs and payment plan that showed i had little funds and helped me make a offer payment of £1 per month.

The company wrote back to the CAB advising it would cost them more to process the payment than it was worth. CAB shrugged on my behalf and advised that the statement of affairs showed my income and expenditures and the offer was a repayment i could afford. take it or leave it.

They chose to leave it. however they sent me a letter every year for ages making a demand and the CAB confirmed my SOA had not changed. In the end they gave up.

As i had left the job some time ago and the payslips were such a mess no one ,even the CAB, could really make head nor tails of the companies calculations. Repeated requests for clarification just meant we got further incomprehensible pay details that didn't match the ones before... My CAB advisor was very disgruntled with them (hence their help with the SOA as they felt there were major issues)

I do however think my case is not the norm due to the payment issues.

Yours is not - if the payslip clearly shows you have been over paid you wont have a leg to stand on. Even with the blatant maladministration by my previous employer i was clearly advised that i was obliged to pay them back... so i doubt you will succeed. If you have been over paid it will be due back. regardless.

Acc72

makeyourdaddyproud wrote: »

Maybe not £25k (lol), but a counter-claim estoppel defence might put them off, because if that extra money was spent on nothing out of the ordinary, or what would be considered out of line from your normal wages expenditure, then you may have a case to keep the money.


It's not a done deal having to pay it back, it never has been.

Do you know of anybody in real life where this has happened ?

bevanuk

Acc72 wrote: »

Do you know of anybody in real life where this has happened ?

I don't even know this person and can confirm that the answer is no.