Employer overpaid me by mistake, now want their money back

Wellyboots125

Have been working for an employer for nearly 3 years.  

My working hours reduced just over 2 years ago and all was agreed.  They reduced my money but not quite enough and now I have been overpaid over £1700 over 2-3 years.  They have recently realised and want their money back and in turn money will be deducted out of my pension and tax.  

I am a low earner, I do understand it’s not my money, but this amount even if spread over a year will be a lot and a struggle for me to reduce to.  

I just wondered if anyone had any advice please, I was hoping they’d write a portion or all of it off. 
I feel sick with worry, thank you for your advice.  

Brie

I'd be asking that since it was their error they discount the mistake a bit and then allow you to pay back over the same amount of time they overpaid it - so over 2 years.  Get your union involved if you have one.  

comeandgo

Yes, employers can take overpayments back but I’d ask them to give you more time.  Did you not notice the extra £70 odd a month?  

TELLIT01

The OP says he/she is a low earner.  Can the employer deduct payments from salary without agreement if this will take the employee below the minimum wage?

Mr.Generous

TELLIT01 said:

The OP says he/she is a low earner.  Can the employer deduct payments from salary without agreement if this will take the employee below the minimum wage?

I guess they could always say we overpaid you for XX number of hours, so you need to work that number of hours for free

Marcon

Wellyboots125 said:

Have been working for an employer for nearly 3 years.  

My working hours reduced just over 2 years ago and all was agreed.  They reduced my money but not quite enough and now I have been overpaid over £1700 over 2-3 years.  They have recently realised and want their money back and in turn money will be deducted out of my pension and tax.  

I am a low earner, I do understand it’s not my money, but this amount even if spread over a year will be a lot and a struggle for me to reduce to.  

I just wondered if anyone had any advice please, I was hoping they’d write a portion or all of it off. 
I feel sick with worry, thank you for your advice.  

I'm with Brie on this one.

If the overpayment has been spread over two years then ask for the repayment period to be spread over a similar period, as already suggested. I also agree that if you're a low earner it would be reasonable to ask if they would be willing to reduce the repayment a bit.

Any reclaim should be the net amount of the overpayment. Employers try to make their own lives simple by asking employees to repay the gross amount (ie including tax and NI relating to the overpayment). It's their problem and you don't have to solve that bit of it.

comeandgo said:

Yes, employers can take overpayments back but I’d ask them to give you more time.  Did you not notice the extra £70 odd a month?  

Clearly not.

TELLIT01 said:

The OP says he/she is a low earner.  Can the employer deduct payments from salary without agreement if this will take the employee below the minimum wage?

See https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-minimum-wage-manual/nmwm11140

stu12345_2

you owe money, yes, I've had a similar experience, I was overpaid by about £200, one month.
 the next month I saw it come off, it left me short to pay direct debits etc.
I complained to acas, who said employers must offer you a choice of how you want to repay the debt.
my employer then had to put the £200 back into my wages, then I said ok , £50 a month back.

I not only got an apology from the company ( for breaking the rules about grabbing the money back without notice)but I got my repayment plan in place

Wellyboots125

Thank you everyone.  

My wages reduced as agreed new hours, but they did not reduce my salary enough.  It has gone on for so long the amount has slowly increased over time.  

Thank you everyone for helping. 

LightFlare

Best advice is to communicate with your Employer/HR Dept/PayRoll

Try and look at it from a different perspective as well -- If you had been underpaid (edited) the  same amount how would you act and expect them to act

General_Grant

LightFlare said:

Best advice is to communicate with your Employer/HR Dept/PayRoll

Try and look at it from a different perspective as well -- If you had been overpaid the same amount how would you act and expect them to act

I suppose LightFlare was suggesting considering being "underpaid the same amount"

LightFlare

General_Grant said:

LightFlare said:

Best advice is to communicate with your Employer/HR Dept/PayRoll

Try and look at it from a different perspective as well -- If you had been overpaid the same amount how would you act and expect them to act

I suppose LightFlare was suggesting considering being "underpaid the same amount"

I did - apologies - fat finger syndrome