Possible Overpayment

D1sn3yf4n

I was working at a previous employers in 2018.  It wasn't working out and my mental health was suffering, my GP signed me off on sick leave and I handed in my notice which was 4 weeks.  Everything seemed ok and I left and found a new job.  I then get an email from my old boss claiming that I was lying about being ill and should have been at work to work my notice, I sent them all the relevant documents and it all seemed to go away.  I have just received a letter now to say I have been over paid a whole months pay and I need to repay it as my manager didn't inform HR in time even though I gave the correct amount of notice.
If anyone has any help I would be grateful.

Gavin83

Just to clear this up is the month overpayment referring to the period you were sick or did they pay you an extra month on top of that?

What advice are you after?

D1sn3yf4n

It is for the period i was sick.

I don't know I'm just panicking as im on furlough and have been since the start of the pandemic and cant afford the money they are asking me to repay.

Gavin83

Firstly I'd ask them for clarification as to what they're requesting and evidence to support why you owe this and also what evidence they have that your sickness wasn't genuine. If it's for the period you were sick I'd once again send them a copy of your GP's sick note confirming you were ill during this period.

If it comes down to it let them take you to court to recover it. With a GPs note they'll struggle and would be insane to even take it to court. If it's clear you won't play along they'll drop it.

Certainly don't use them for a reference in the future though.

Undervalued

Company sick pay over and above Statutory Sick Pay (which despite the name is paid by the company and not the government) is nearly always discretionary.

So you were almost certainly entitled to SSP for the whole time you were signed off (except for the first three days) at c. £100 per week. Beyond that is more difficult. Check your contract as occasionally some company sick pay schemes are a hard and fast contractual entitlement although that is becoming rare.

Assuming the word "discretion" appears somewhere they may be able to wriggle out of paying or demand that part of the pay back. 

Whether they would actually sue (or win if they did) is debatable but may be a case of who blinks first.

Gavin83

Undervalued said:

Assuming the word "discretion" appears somewhere they may be able to wriggle out of paying or demand that part of the pay back. 

I did consider this and they could certainly use it to get out of paying. However once it's been paid surely that discretion has been applied and it becomes too late to reverse it? I'd consider it similar to bonus payments. It's often refused if the employee leaves before payment but after it's hit the employees bank account it's often too late.

Undervalued

Gavin83 said:

Undervalued said:

Assuming the word "discretion" appears somewhere they may be able to wriggle out of paying or demand that part of the pay back. 

I did consider this and they could certainly use it to get out of paying. However once it's been paid surely that discretion has been applied and it becomes too late to reverse it? I'd consider it similar to bonus payments. It's often refused if the employee leaves before payment but after it's hit the employees bank account it's often too late.

No, I don't think so. An employer can always correct a mistake and would no doubt say it just went through automatically before the manager / proprietor realised.

If they genuinely believe the OP was not ill they could claw the SSP back too. Tricky if the OP submitted a doctor's "sick note" but still not impossible.

Gavin83

I got the impression from the OP it was less a mistake and more a change of mind. However I didn't find the post particularly clear so I could have misunderstood.

I also agree they could claw it back if they had proof that the OP was faking their illness. However I think they'd struggle to do so in this case, especially with the doctors note as you point out.

Regardless in the OPs position I'd let them take me to court. It's certainly not a clear case, I doubt they'd want the risk and unless the OP is an extremely high earner it's unlikely to be worth it for them financially either.

Undervalued

Gavin83 said:

I got the impression from the OP it was less a mistake and more a change of mind. However I didn't find the post particularly clear so I could have misunderstood.

I also agree they could claw it back if they had proof that the OP was faking their illness. However I think they'd struggle to do so in this case, especially with the doctors note as you point out.

Regardless in the OPs position I'd let them take me to court. It's certainly not a clear case, I doubt they'd want the risk and unless the OP is an extremely high earner it's unlikely to be worth it for them financially either.

I agree.

Give that the OP has the money he is in a much stronger position. If it were the other way round and the employer was refusing to pay it would be another matter. The OP may have been able to challenge the SSP part but would need to be very sure there was an absolute contractual right to the company sick pay. As I said early that would be rare these days.

Manxman_in_exile

D1sn3yf4n said:

....  I then get an email from my old boss claiming that I was lying about being ill and should have been at work to work my notice, I sent them all the relevant documents and it all seemed to go away.  I have just received a letter now to say I have been over paid a whole months pay and I need to repay it as my manager didn't inform HR in time even though I gave the correct amount of notice.
...

Surely the OP needs to clarify whether this letter from their former employer relates to the allegation that they were not really ill (which the OP thought had already been resolved), or whether it relates to some other potential overpayment in respect of them leaving their employment?

They just need to ask their former employer for a breakdown of the alleged overpayment and an explanation as to how it arose.  (The fact that their former manager may have made a late notification to payroll will not necessarily mean any overpayment does not need to be repaid).