Money Moral Dilemma: My employer keeps overpaying me and isn't taking the money back

Auti

@gloriouslyhappy - is it not stealing to take that which is not yours? Why is it insulting to do the right thing? I prefer to have what is rightfully mine than take what is not but understand each to their own.

mimgable

I had overpayments relating to working tax credits+kept phoning and sending written letters. Eventually i resorted to writing in huge letters in caps+bold ‘stop paying me this money’ That did the trick…quick response full of apologies and compensation payment for stress caused+costs! I was posting a cheque each time they made overpayment. That way no issues re benefitting from the money+messing up benefits+taxes Benefitting from your employers could be an issue as technically it’s their money, +as pointed out ni and tax implications. I’d pay it back each time+if you don’t have cheque book, get bank/building society cheque to issue if no cost involved. It may sound like a bonus getting interest etc but that could come back to bite you.

dundernut

Send them an email or a memo and keep the reply in a safe place. At least then you will have a written proof that you have informed them....

donethat

Many sensible comments. Very important to keep a record of all contacts.
Keep saving the overpayments you may be able to retire on the interest!!
Good luck hope it is resolved soon.

gloriouslyhappy

Auti said:

@gloriouslyhappy - is it not stealing to take that which is not yours? Why is it insulting to do the right thing? I prefer to have what is rightfully mine than take what is not but understand each to their own.

Where on earth do you think I said to “take what is not mine”?

This is what I actually said, the italics below is me quoting a previous poster who thought it was insulting to complain about being overpaid, my reply (in bold) starts with ‘This is very shortsighted’ and advises OP to keep the overpayment in a separate account and hold onto all correspondence where OP has tried to get payroll department to rectify their error:

It's almost insulting to think about the idea of somebody complaining about being paid overpaid. 

This is very shortsighted - at some point, payroll will realise the error and want the excess returned, and there are tax, pension, and NI implications too.

The correct thing to do is hold the excess in a separate account, and continue pointing out the error in writing. Keep every bit of correspondence, and when the finance department eventually wakes up and requests return of the overpayment, make sure it’s deducted through payroll which will balance out pension, tax etc.

MacMickster

If you are once again overpaid on your next pay day, then I would suggest writing to HR pointing out that you appear to have been overpaid for the nth time.  Ask them to clarify whether you have actually been awarded a pay rise (due to your superb performance) of which you have not received notification.

Let them know that, until you receive their answer, you are holding the additional net pay to return to them if this has been an error, but if it is an error on their part then you would consider that it would be their responsibility to sort out any tax, NIC, pension, student loan, benefit implications etc so that you were not left out of pocket as a result of their repeated errors.

Auti

A
@gloriouslyhappy. I apologise - I did not realise it was a quote from another poster and my tag should have been to the other poster. 

Once again my apologies.

Ed264

You've informed them by email, for which they've thanked you. I would do nothing more. And don't worry about it.

highlander58

If it’s starting to worry you as you say, then raise a grievance as someone advised. It’s taking your time & attention to keep track of & keep reminding of their mistake, & you’ll have to check all over again when/if they take it out of your pay. Maybe write a formal letter & post to the chief finance officer. Real letters are harder to ignore than emails. 

JayD

Woodstok2000 said:

You're being sensible. Keep chasing your work each payday, keep the money aside so you can repay it when asked, but make the most of it by generating interest. Good job!

You may want to check if this will have an impact on your tax status, benefits or pension payments etc,and make sure you claim any out of pocket expenses when you eventually do need to pay this back.

The perfect response! I would only add to check how it will affect your Tax and  NI contributions, you may be entitled to refunds if you have been overpaying them.