Really need advice, long overpayment story

madhouseof4

LOL! Tell me about it! If they spent as much effort chasing the benefit cheats as chasing me for something that is not my fault, nor did I know and was misinformed about, there would be alot more money in the pot for real, genuine people.

HR haven't yet been informed about me being misinformed. It is only something that came about by me posting the same OP on other forums I use (mainly parenting ones, nothing wth experts or anything).

As for if I want to return to work, absolutely not, the trust is broken with my current employer. I did ask for a transfer under hardship rules ages ago, but there were no positions available. I really, really don't want to go back to the DWP at all. It may not be a problem as there is talk of the office being closed on Dec 2008, I would just extend my career break to the max 5 years if things haven't been dealt with by then. I doubt they want me back anyway, I'm guess I will be seen as a trouble maker now.

I don't even know if I am still a member of the union as payment for it came directly from my wages. Mind you, I still get all the stuff through the post on a very regualr basis, mainly asking if I would like to go on strike, rofl!

Terrylw1

madhouseof4 wrote: »

Thank you CFC. I should have made myself more clear, or waited until this morning to post when less tired!

I was due to return to work on the 4th January and went straight to sick leave (saw the dr on the 29th Dec, the note started from the 4th Jan), does this not count as I never set foot in the office? If this is the case, why did someone not tell me? I would have dragged my sorry backside there, clocked on, clocked off and went straight back home again. Surely it is down to your line manager to keep you properly informed of exact procedures?? If she didn't know at the time if I could do that, she should have looked it up or call HR, it's her job to look after the people she manages right?!

Also, I did have sick notes and did send them in and also have copies here to prove I had them. I agree that it is not their fault I could not get back to the GP to get further sick notes, these things tend to slip your mind when your 7 month old baby is in hospital, undergoing tests and being force fed and slowly deteriorating before your eyes. I was fully prepared to pay back the monies from the 14th Feb to the 31st March (in installments of course, we are still struggling financially after all the crap that happened to us at that time).

Also, how is the fact that I did not check my bank account irrelevant? It is very relevant as I had no idea I had been paid. I didn't even know what day of the week it was and certainly could have cared less about the state of my affairs at that time. IN the laterst letter I have copied to me, they are saying the only reason I have to pay iot back is because I must have known I was paid.


Terrylw1, thanks you very much for your comments, I will definately be looking into specialist advice. Like I said before, if it looks like a lost cause, I will bail, pay up (on my terms, at the lowest rate possible, after al, I am going to have ridiculously high gas bills from now until at least june and I can't afford for anything more than a few £ a wek to be leaving my account. As a matter of fact, the only money we really have left at the end of the month, is just enough to pay the mortagage and ds's DLA) and move on.

No probs, I just hope you get it sorted.

May be worth you seeing if you can get your gas price down a bit as well then.

I think CFC was trying to tell you how your employer would look at it with your bank account. Think of it from another angle - whilst your employer pays your tax, the minute they underpay it's you that get chased and the tax office couldn't care less that it was a employer error - just that you pay up.

I think CFC was trying to get that point across.

The fact that you didn't get more doc's certs in may mean that they would progress via the disciplinary process which would result in dismissal in most cases. I think you had an exceptional case though and a lot of employers would be worried about bad press on that one!

If you had a return date from your maternity and sent in a doc's cert to sign you off from that return date, you were covered as off sick. You don't need to physically return to submit it (glad you keep copies, I do that since I've seen employers lose so many of them).

You certainly don't have a good GP. Depression is a very complex issue and GP's tend to go for the take time off route then onto medication if it doesn't help. You certainly had enough worries to cause anxiety/depression in anyone so I would expect your GP to give you time to resolve the issues before you return. With depression being so complex, they tend to be cautious because if they send you back to work and it gets worse, they end up having to treat in even worse circumstances.

P.S. I've seen some solicitors offer free consultations for certain issues so it may be worth getting the yellow pages out and finding one of those if you have to go for legal advice. Don't add to your problems, if various solicitors don't think there is a win in it, don't make the bill bigger with their costs.

All the best