Overpayment of wages - after leaving

ubeauty101

I left my job in january and was paid my final wage, a few weeks later i received the following message from the payroll department 
[As you are aware, your leave date with the Company was 24/01/2025, however due to PeopleXD  (their hr system) not being updated until after your leave date and payroll deadlines you would have received an overpayment of salary within your January payslip that you will be required to repay back]

I'm slightly annoyed by this and not sure where i stand, they had three months notice to get records updated and ensure the HR system was updated correctly and not done after i'd left

Through no fault of my own i have to try and find £500 from somewhere

Can i fight this in court if they pursue it

born_again

Your best course of action is to agree to a payment plan.
Yes their error, but they are entitled to their money back. 
End of the day they could take you to court over it.

TELLIT01

They have admitted the problem was at their end, so negotiate a long repayment period.  Offer £x per month.  An amount you can comfortably afford.  There are no grounds I'm aware of for simply refusing to pay it back.

400ixl

As above, you are obliged to pay it back, but can request to do so over a few months.

I assume you were paid for the whole of January when you in fact only worked part of it. Did you not notice you got more than you should have done?

Brie

I got annoyed with this too from a ex employer.  So I paid them back at £10 a month.  They didn't argue.

Marcon

ubeauty101 said:

I left my job in january and was paid my final wage, a few weeks later i received the following message from the payroll department 
[As you are aware, your leave date with the Company was 24/01/2025, however due to PeopleXD  (their hr system) not being updated until after your leave date and payroll deadlines you would have received an overpayment of salary within your January payslip that you will be required to repay back]

I'm slightly annoyed by this and not sure where i stand, they had three months notice to get records updated and ensure the HR system was updated correctly and not done after i'd left

Through no fault of my own i have to try and find £500 from somewhere

Can i fight this in court if they pursue it

It could certainly have been better worded - but being overpaid by £500 is quite a hefty overpayment, and was very recent, so spending that amount of cash might have been fun (or vital, depending on what the credit card looked like post-Christmas...) but it isn't as if they've left it months to tell you.

You can always fight it - but you'll lose, so probably better to do as others have suggested and offer them a repayment plan at an amount you can afford.

Devongardener

Make sure that the ex employer issues a revised P45 to you, showing the correct pay and tax deducted.

Undervalued

ubeauty101 said:

I left my job in january and was paid my final wage, a few weeks later i received the following message from the payroll department 
[As you are aware, your leave date with the Company was 24/01/2025, however due to PeopleXD  (their hr system) not being updated until after your leave date and payroll deadlines you would have received an overpayment of salary within your January payslip that you will be required to repay back]

I'm slightly annoyed by this and not sure where i stand, they had three months notice to get records updated and ensure the HR system was updated correctly and not done after i'd left

Through no fault of my own i have to try and find £500 from somewhere

Can i fight this in court if they pursue it

I am sorry but it is partly your fault.

Legally it is as much the employee's as the employer's responsibility to ensure that their pay is correct. Not noticing a £500 overpayment is, at best, careless.

Yes, you will have to pay it back and legally you have no right to "easy terms". In practice I would be very surprised if they don't agree to a sensible payment plan, say £100 per month, but I wouldn't offer a tiny amount.

penners324

Did you check your final payslip? It should have been obvious on there that you had been over paid.

Was you unused holiday paid?

TELLIT01

It's not always easy to know how much should be in final pay, particularly if leaving part way through a month.  There is also the question of how much holiday pay is involved.  The OP may have been pleasantly surprised by the amount, but the vast bulk of the problem is with sloppy procedures at the former employer.

TripleH

If there is a shift work / allowance, thus can cause problems.

Also bear in mind that a number of companies outsource their payroll so I can understand how this can happen (not excusing it but explaining it).

Yes, unfortunately you do have to pay it back, I'd offer repayment terms that are acceptable to you but pays it back as quickly as possible before they try to dictate terms.

Whilst I've never seen a company take a former staff member to court over this, I can't say it doesn't happen and without knowing your ex-employers or your relationship with them, if they will take action.

I suspect if it does go to court, then you will most likely loose if the information you provided is correct as it's not illegal to make an error.