16 Year old Overpaid and left company

Halfie

Hi all

Wondering if anyone can help with this one. My 16 year old son (who lives with his other parent, hence I've only just become aware of the situation) has been overpaid by his employer by some £300. He had been working with them on a casual/adhoc basis a couple of days a week during holidays and when he wasn't at school (exam season).

When the overpayment came to light, the employer said they will take all of his wages from his next 2 months pay. In his immature ignorance, he has decided to quit his job because the boss was giving him earache about his work and he didn't want to "work for 2 months for free!" (I have explained he's already spent this money so now needs to earn it retrospectively).

Now they are saying he needs to repay the money immediately or it will be treated as theft. Now, he needs to pay the money back of course, but he has no other employment &no income of any sort as he is between GCSEs and college and doesn't have anything of value to sell.

Any thoughts on how to handle this? Should he offer a token payment of £1 a month until he is able to get another part time job and then look to set up another arrangement? What recourse would the company have in dealing with this matter in terms of the threat of dealing with this as theft or any other avenues?

Many thanks

iarniee

Halfie wrote: »

Hi all

Wondering if anyone can help with this one. My 16 year old son (who lives with his other parent, hence I've only just become aware of the situation) has been overpaid by his employer but some £300. He had been working with them on a casual/adhoc basis a couple of days a week during holidays and when he wasn't at school (exam season).

When the overpayment came to light, the employer said they will take all of his wages from his next 2 months pay. In his immature ignorance, he has decided to quit his job because the boss was giving him earache about his work and he didn't want to "work for 2 months for free!" (I have explained he's already spent this money so now needs to earn it retrospectively).

Now they are saying he needs to repay the money immediately or it will be treated as theft. Now, he needs to pay the money back of course, but he has no other employment &no income of any sort as he is between GCSEs and college and doesn't have anything of value to sell.

Any thoughts on how to handle this? Should he offer a token payment of £1 a month until he is able to get another part time job and then look to set up another arrangement? What recourse would the company have in dealing with this matter in terms of the threat of dealing with this as theft or any other avenues?

Many thanks

I mean, the company have every right to ask for the money back and I'm sure they could go through smaill claims if they really wanted too, however I doubt they would, costly for a small debt.

Can you or the other parent not pay it off?

molerat

Can a 16 year old have a legally enforceable debt ?

fastbargins

Hi Halfie

You're right of course, your son is obligated to pay the money back, but this isn't a case of theft, but rather what is called unjustified enrichment. A lot of people in this sort of situation mistakenly think that if it was the companies mistake, it's not their problem - that's not true.

Iarniee is right to say that the company could take your son to court to force repayment, but for £300 it seems unlikely that they would do so.
Your idea of offering a re-payment plan is possibly a good idea, however it may result in the company becoming more aggressive in getting the lot back quickly.
I would maybe just leave it for a while and wait to see what they do, if anything.

General_Grant

Halfie wrote: »

. . .

Should he offer a token payment of £1 a month until he is able to get another part time job and then look to set up another arrangement?

Even though he may not be in paid work, £1/month looks like taking the proverbial. Does he have no income, not even pocket money provided by you or the other parent?

Has he established that the £300 is genuinely due?

How is he going to monitor his receipts from paid work in future?

TELLIT01

First thing to do is make a request in writing for a breakdown of the payments he has received and why they believe there is an overpayment. Take it from there once you have the answer to that.

Les79

Hmm....

I've picked up on the fact that the employer wanted to deduct a full 2 months' of wages from your son, which effectively puts him in a position where he is working 2 months for "free".

In one respect I think your son has a valid point. Take most adults as an example; if this happened to them, where the hell is the bill/rent money coming from?! I, personally, would be looking into multiple outlets such as:

- Repayment plans (not a crappy £1 a month plan, more of maybe £50 a month and £100 in my back pocket if you keep me on sort of plan)

- Whether it constitutes a breach of contract

- Whether I can claim "constructive dismissal"


Sadly, the .Gov site is a bit vague on these matters:

https://www.gov.uk/understanding-your-pay/deductions-from-your-pay wrote:

A deduction cannot normally reduce your pay below the National Minimum Wage even if you agree to it, except if the deduction is for:

repayment of an accidental overpayment of wages

Which is all well and good, but it doesn't really tell you how to survive with £0 in your next 2 paychecks!!



So I have a bit of sympathy for your son, but yea I think he needs to learn a lesson about how to deal with things properly. In the future, and if a situation like this rears its ugly head, quitting on the spot may not be a viable option...

getmore4less

They need education on on how to check wages.

Why did they not realise they were getting more than they should?

getmore4less

Les79 wrote: »

...
But another site elaborates a bit:
...

Not sure how you came to the conclusion they work in Northern Ireland
(the bits you quoted)

Les79

getmore4less wrote: »

Not sure how you came to the conclusion they work in Northern Ireland
(the bits you quoted)

Ah!! That would explain that mystery of why I hadn't heard of those sites then

I shall remove the NI link. Bit of a shame like, but I think the principle is very similar.

Halfie

getmore4less wrote: »

They need education on on how to check wages.

Why did they not realise they were getting more than they should?

Indeed he does, and he's been suitably lectured/educated about this going forward.

He didn't realise he was getting more than he should because, as a 16 year old, he assumed the experienced adults in Payroll would have got it right. He's now had that life lesson. (Of course there is a chance he realised and decided to keep shtum at this windfall... which he's now learning a life lesson about).