Employment Law

As many of you know i am having to reapply to keep my current job :twisted:

Over the last two weeks i have had a written test and a formal interview. I will find out my fate by the 14th July

Well today it got a hell of a lot worse :twisted:

I had a letter from my employer ( Local Authority) informing me that i have been over paid over the last nine months :shock:

The letter stated that i have been over paid £3000 over a nine month period and that i needed to pay it back over the same amount of time. Basically they are wanting to take £330 a month from my salary to repay the money :twisted:

I was just wondering if any knows about employment and salaries :?:

Can they force me to pay it back :?:

Can they force me to pay the £330 a month or do they have to negotiate repayment

my wife says look at your contract see if there anything about over payment.. if it doesnt you shouldnt have to pay back but if company still wantin to get money argue that amount they are askin is to high because it jeprodise your personal finace an family if you in union see you rep

Might be worth a (free) call to the CAB bud.

I don't know about the employment laws and your employers making you pay the money back but it could putt you in a good posistion of you keeping your job for a while longer otherwise how you meant to repay the money if you lose your job

Hi Colley
I have spoken to the MRS too! (The one with the brains

)
As what Drinks says, check ur contract! Also check the total they are saying is correct. You probably will have to pay it back, but may have to negotiate a figure.
As it was a mistake they made over more than just a couple of months, then they cannot really ask for a lumpsun so, monthly repayments however can be negotiated too. it took them a while to pick it up so they cannot expect you to just have the money to hand to give back!!
If you have any queries you should go on http://www.acas.org.uk you should be able to get any further info from them and they can def tell you ur legal rights too.
Jas

Thanks guys :wink:

Kevin that's what i am worried about. If i dont get to keep my job i am going to be i det with them :twisted:

Steve, I thought you were banking it in case they asked for it back :shock:

When they told me about my overpayment, I was able to negotiate repayment at a figure that I could afford, but this was no where near the amount you owe em :shock:

Just glad that I got mine sorted early, Chris Fletcher is still being paid full Uplands salary despite dozens of attempts by her to get it corrected, she is scared of what the final amount will be that she owes them :roll:

G.

I've got a good idea what happened to the extra money :lol:

Oops

And just to be clear I mean the fronty, not Jase.

I have the same problem mate they have known for some time yet still paying me a G4 :twisted:

Just put an email together to complain to shank :wink:

I have banked the last couple of months money but me truck may have to go to pay the rest

Happy days not

Si

Steve, between HR n Payroll, they couldnt organise a p iss up in a brewery together.
Hope you can get it sorted, and you get the job.

Si, Steve wouldnt have to pay Jase for sexual favours anyway, why do ya think Steve is always ready to do some work on Jases truck :lol:

G.

Second thoughts about coming to a Black Country meet now

A friend of mine had the same problem..

She had been overpaid by about £2500 by the local council when she was working as a teaching assistant, the over pay was only discovered once she had left to go to uni..she managed to negotiate with them and pays them back £60 per month..she only has a part-time job in a B&Q, so it's all she can afford..not much else they could do about it.

PMSL

Sorry Steve, back to topic :lol:

G.

colley i helped out at the citizns advice and loaw center in derby for a while while doing there websites a few years ago and i would give them a ring in near you as far as i remember the guy thn had a agreed wage with over time and they had made a mistake and paid him for a whole month at the over time rate and as he had done nothing wrong and the mistake was there as there was no agreed over time rate in his contract, they could not touch him aas the the normal hours he worked was paid at normal rate the advice that was given as they had not stated in his wages what was over time pay and what was normal wages so demonstrate the they had overpayed him for normal hours they had to accept the error and bit the bullet he had been paid triple time for over time instead of time and a half as normal.

the tribunal upheld the opinion the solicitor at citisns advice had given him and he never paid a penny. it is free advice so worth a phone call to them to see where you stand and they can recomend the help needed just need to find the one nearest to you and give them a ring

One other thought comes to mind on the sum they're asking to paid back... Has tax been paid on it??

Am thinking, if the £3000 has been added in bits to your last 9 pay-packets and then tax & Nat'l Ins has been calculated and deducted, you won't have actually received £3000. Probably around £2400 or so, so paying back the £3000 demanded leaves you out of pocket.

Worth asking for a complete breakdown of exactly how much has been overpaid, whether that's before or after deductions, and why it happened.
I'm also of the opinion that demanding it back over the same timeframe is unreasonable - your wages will presumably be adjusted downwards to the proper level, and then they want to gouge another £330 from it? That's a bit much I feel.

i worked in hr for a while (sorry! but it was running an engineering apprenticeship scheme..)
unless you can find something specifically related to over or under payment in your contract (which you probably wont) YOU are liable to identify the error and repay in full to your employer at their discretion - this is the same as banks if they accidentally transfer money into your account, they can ask for the whole lot straight away so no good if you have spent it.
if you are on a regular salary that doesnt change month on month, technically you could be accused of fraud as you "must" have been aware of the incorrect amount - i am not saying you were but that is the potential employers stance!

none of this sounds great i know BUT this situation occurs more than anyone realises. if this has occurred over many months (and to others - see if you can find out) there is obviously an inherent process problem with your employers payroll system - this is what you should concentrate on not "poor me, i spent all the extra money you gave me and i cant pay you back" PLEASE NOTE I AM NOT SUGGESTING YOU ARE SAYING THIS, JUST AN EXAMPLE. focus instead on having a structered discussion on wanting to help the employer identify where the problem may lie so that it doesnt affect you or your colleagues in the future - face to face if possible, try to explore whether a computer problem or data input error etc if you can build a rapport in this way you are more likely to get a friend willing to bend the system to reduce your re-payments, in some instances if you go in too heavy on the rules/unions etc the employer will use the formal rules against you and in this case they have your money before they pay you so can take out whatever they want - try the softly softly approach first, even if it means apologising for what isnt even your fault! i once knew an hr manager who was the nicest and most supportive guy in the world to all staff until they tried to threaten action - no mercy for a few that wrongly crossed them :roll:

i would check out the labour relations agency website its got a load off info regarding that kind of stuff, and dont pay a penny until you have found out how the mistake was made you shouldnt have to pay if someone else made a horlicks