Overpayment from Employer

gujin95

Hi all,

I have just come back from University to a letter sent home stating that I owe my previous employed £433. I was working with them over summer for almost 3 months and left them in September abruptly with an opportunity to re-enrol to Uni.

They have come to this total with my having left employment 3 days before the month end, and having taken 7 days extra holiday than I was "allowed".

I understand the former 3 days but what scope is there for the employer to ask for the further 7 days holiday that I took - these are days I do not necessarily agree with since I was somewhat forced to take these days - unknowing that I would be leaving.

The question I ask, is on what grounds can the employer ask me to pay this substantial amount back, given that I no longer work for them, and given that my financial status has changed - being a student with very little money to work with!

Any help and advice would be great!

rising_from_the_ashes

You need to check the T&Cs in your contract - it's pretty standard for any overpayment to be claimed back.

Certainly with A/L, you have an allowance for the year and, if you leave part way through then it's likely that you'll either have not taken enough (in which case they may ask you to take the days before your leaving date or pay you for them) or have taken too many (in which case you'll be asked to pay them back!)

Pretty standard practice and nothing untoward in it - my only gripe would be why it's taken so long to discover the overpayment.

You could argue that, if they'd told you straight away you could've repaid it out that salary while you had the funds - and now your income is reduced you're unable to repay it in one go and ask what repayment plan they'd be willing to accept

Unfortunately as you left so close to the month end, it's probable that your leavers paperwork wasn't received in time for it to be processed prior to payment being made - or they'd have deducted it from your final salary.

bearcat16

gujin95 wrote: »

Hi all,

and given that my financial status has changed - being a student with very little money to work with!

Totally irrelevant I'm afraid!

andyfromotley

Tell em that you have spent it you are now on a students income and make an offer to pay monthly on what you can afford.

You definitely owe em the moey so you are a lottle bit in thier hands, but a sensible agreement should be reached no problem.

gujin95

Would an agreement to pay an amount monthly, as suggested, have any adverse impact on my credit rating?

sjw3915

You may owe it but as your financial situation has changed then getting it back is another matter. If the matter ended up in a small claims court (which it won't) they would take into account your ability to pay and probably set it at £1 a week. As you do owe it agree a monthly figure with them. They'll probably accept anything (eventually!) Also not sure what your tax situation is, but if you were put on emergency tax and don't hit your personal allowance by April, you'll probably be entitled to a tax rebate that would help pay this debt.

Zoology_Dragon

They may not be able to claim the days of leave you took, unless your contract specifies that this is allowed.

http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/5/h/Acas-guide-Holidays-and-holiday-pay.pdf

Do take some advice on this before agreeing anything with them.

weebit

Unfortunately you do owe all this money to your former employer, it happened to me once when a former employer accidentally paid me twice for unused holidays. The best course of action is to write to them and explain your current situation and pay them back over several payments.