How do I stand legally

[Evo,s 7SE]

When I finished work at my old job they paid me the hours I worked when I finished on that payday

A month later they paid me 4 weeks money with a pay slip and amended p45

On the pay slip it said tax in lieu

Today I got a phone call saying they had paid me too much and wanted it back they said they had paid me four weeks notice instead of one weeks notice how do I stand legally as I have spent most of the cash and the job I do now is only just above minimum wage so couldn't give them it back in a lump sum

I just expect them to get your wages and final payments correct especially if its backed up by a wage slip and p45 amended

Advice please this is probably one for mr verona

[Norman Verona]

I've no idea.

I would tell them that you haven't the funds to pay them back but you consider the amount paid to be correct.

[XTR2Turbo]

Legally I think the employer will have claim on money paid in error unless you have signed a document setting out the amount to be as paid in a termination agreement.

 

Whether they would legally try to recover is another matter.

 

Best would be to enter into a 'negotiation' on the amount and timescale for repayment

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/work_w/faq_index_employment/faq_employment_overpayment_of_wages.htm

[Pantherman]

Will you ever want to work for them again or will you ever require a reference from them ?

If the answers are no , tell them that you took what they sent you as being correct and have unfortunately used it for your household expenses ( Westfield ) and are not currently in a position to pay anything.

See if they bother coming back or write it off !

This is what I would try.

[WestyNottm]

My opinion:

 

Although they made the error, they have now advised you of it so it doesn't mean the money is yours to keep. However, as Pantherman says, advise them that the money has gone on household essentials so you will have to enter into an agreement to pay it back. I would suggest £2.00 per week, payable every 4th week by cheque. Although it will cost you an envelope and a stamp, they may take a view that the administration cost in processing it would not be worth it and write it off.

 

If they do, make sure you get it in writing.

[Bubba]

How long was it between getting the final payslip and them telling you about the overpayment?

[Evo,s 7SE]

Got paid on 22nd of August phone call today

The cash amounts to about 800 quid

[Bubba]

I think as advised before offer to pay them back at silly amounts a week as the admin won't be worth it. If months had elapsed I would have told them to go poke it but they have realised quite quickly.

[jeff oakley]

It is difficult to advise without all the facts. Did you leave or was your job ended? Were you aware of the error and are trying it on? What did your contract say?

 

I would try to speak to them and try to negotiate, for £800 they will pursue it and legally I suspect they are able to claim it back.

[Evo,s 7SE]

I left to start another job I was due to some notice pay didn't know how much but on pay slip it says tax in lieu

[jeff oakley]

So you left and they decided that they did not require you to work your notice. You need to see what your contract says. If you were only required to give one weeks notice, that is all you can legally expect. If you were required to give 4 weeks notice, and they declined telling you to go they owed you the money for your notice period.

 

I suspect that it was the former and as such they are entitled to ask for the money back. You could make an offer to pay in installments but they do not have to accept even though it is their error. If you genuinely have no money, they would expect paying when you next get paid. If they went to small claims court to get an order to get the money they could go after goods (like a Westfield) instead.

 

It is the same where people have had large amounts of money paid into their accounts, they then spend large and the bank wants it back. The bank made the mistake but a reasonable person would query it before spending, so they get it back.

 

So check what you were due and don't try to keep something that you have no right to as these things spin out of control easily.

[Young Pretender]

Even if they had cause to do so it will cost them more than £800 pounds to pursue you legally so I would suggest they are unlikely to do so.

 

Entering into a negotiation is the honourable thing to do but if it's a case of honour versus food on the table I would be having a long hard think.  I guess your own personal situation will dictate but I would say that you are in a strong position regardless of the legalities.

 

If you are really worried there must be an advisory body that you can ask. Would citizens advice be able to help?

[Wile E. Coyote]

As Jeff suggests it's highly likely that they require you to hand it back.

 

But employment law is complex.  Worth having a read of this page: http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/resources/legal_toolkit/legal_advice_from_thompsons_solicitors/pay/salary_overpayments.cfm

 

In a nutshell, you may have an out if they did something that would give you the impression that all was correct.

 

However if you were expecting one week's pay but got four, they'll argue that you should have noticed and flagged it up.  

 

It may be well worth trying to come up with a sensible repayment suggestion based on what you can actually afford - worst case is they'd need to go to court and it would be a very heartless judge who decided to push things beyond what someone could genuinely afford (and the courts generally like people trying to sort things out amicably first).  Speaking to Mrs Coyote, she's heard of 50p/week in a couple of extreme cases.

[carbon-nv]

I think you'll find that it may come down to what your contract did or did not stipulate regarding overpayments that are not possible to recover from pay i.e. when you've actually left employment

 

If their is a specific provision for recovery, then the overpayment could become a civil debt that could be pursued through the courts. If no contractual provision for this scenario, then they will find it difficult to force you to pay

 

Might be an idea to gauge first just how serious they are about pursuing this. They will, of course, ask you to repay in the hope that you'll simply comply. They might even send you a letter threatening court action, but again, this may be done in the hope you'll just repay. Maybe it'd be an idea to just wait until they've actually made an application to court before making an offer. The amount is relatively small, so the cost of pursuing it that far might just prove too much of a burden for them and they end up giving up.  

 

As it was not obvious to you at the time that you'd received money not owed, you'd at least have some say in how the money was repaid and in what amounts

[Evo,s 7SE]

They supplied me a revised p45 plus a payslip stating the payment was tax in lieu so I thought I was entitled to it no way in any shape or form did I delibaretly expect I wasn't due to the payment