overpayment of wages

supercrouch1

hi everyone not sure if this post should be in here but i hope u can help me anyway!

right,

i recently started a job at the beginning of january and was not happy in the job so i left at the end of january. no contract was signed and there was no agreement in place of any nature. so i left the job after i got paid and got a text saying that they had overpaid me and wanted to arrange a way to pay the money back. no they are refusing to post my p45 and my wageslip out to me unless i pay them and said that if i dont cooperate with them they will give me a bad reference if someone contacts them about me. what i want to know is with the signing of no contract do i have to pay them back and what rights do i have?

the money owed is less than £160, can they take me to court?

thanks

jonathon

yes you have to pay the money back you know its not yours

supercrouch1

yeah but are you talking legally or morally as this was not my fault its the companys fault and they are now threatening me.

do you know about legally?

G-G_4

A company I worked for paid me an extra £600 by mistake once on my final salary.. I was really annoyed as I presumed it was additional holiday pay etc and never thought it was an overpayment. 2 months later they realised their mistake and demanded the money back, they sent a solicitors letter and I set up a payment plan of £50 a month. Must have cost them £300 in solicitors fees..!

For £160 I would let it drag on and see what they do.. you don't need your P45, you can just say you havn't got it or you lost it. A solicitors letter will probably cost £100, so they might not bother chasing you for it.

setmefree

Personally i would just go to the Inland Revenue and tell them that this company are refusing to give you your P45,hence you feel that you may not have been registered with this company for tax and N.I. purposes...could open a can of worms

lesley1960

yes they can take you to court , we have had similer things happen here and will always go to the small claims court . You do not need a solicitor to do this and its quick and easy to file a summons online

They shouldnt withold your P45 , but you can fill out a P46 in your new job if you dont get it

Offer to pay them back a reasonable amount each week / month if you really cannot afford to pay it back in one go , remember if it goes to court they will pass on costs and you could end up with a ccj

supercrouch1

but surely its illegal to keep hold of my wage slip and p45 isnt it?

and surely how am i supposed to know how much they have overpayed me if they dont send me my p45?

whats a ccj?what does it mean?

MrsTinks

CCJ - County Court Judgement... bad for your credit rating...
As for the with holding of your P45 then I would recommend speaking to CAB or possibly ACAS i think it is... (sorry having a blonde moment)
You will have to pay this money back and chances are they WILL chase this up. If I were you I'd show willing by sending them a letter by recorded mail stating that you are unable to pay the full amount in one go but will pay them back the money they overpaid at a rate of £x per month until all has been repaid.
That way if they DO take it to small claims chances are that you will only be made to stick to this payment plan as you have shown willing to repay the money. Otherwise there is a good chance you'll be made to pay it in one lump sum.
Personally I'd just pay it as it's a reasonable amount, and surely you know how much you were supposed to get paid? If you know that then it should be simple maths or you can simply ask them to provide you with a full breakdown of how they have calculated this sum etc. This would be considered reasonable. Make sure all correspondance is registered mail only.

Mikeyorks

Yes you have to pay them back. You presumably left without appropriate notice - and therefore created the overpayment.

So what are they supposed to put on the P45? Do they include / exclude the overpayment? Until you sort it out - they're clearly not going to issue it.

mistyarthur

well if you havent got your payslip how can you tell if you've been overpaid!?! they cant blackmail you! You might have to pay it back but like everyone else is saying in a timely order it was there mistake after all. Oh and they cant give you a bad reference they can only refuse to give one.

iancleveland41

Theyre not legally entitled to hold on to your p45.If youre in a new job fill in a p46(this is often quicker than waiting for a p45 anyhow).Unfortuantely im pretty sure they can claim the money back.might be an idea to contact ACAS who deal with employment law.As for giving you a bad reference if you were only their a month might it be better to say you were either unemployed at that time or extend the previous job you had by a month.An employer(new one) is unlikely to contact for reference a job you only had for a month.As far as im aware giving a babd reference isnt allowed but they can refuse to give any reference which amounts to the same thing