Overpayment of wages

[LPLP]

Hi...
I worked in an hotel between 2005 and march 2007. I went for 5 months in trip to Asia and come back to the same hotel in August 2007. I finished work January and returned to Asia. When I checked online the bank statement i noticed an underpayment of about 150 pounds. I contacted my boss that after a few insistences, she send me by email the answer: I was overpaid in 155,35 pounds in March (their mistake) and they simply made the deduction in my last payment, without my authorization. I never noticed any overpayment. I made over 40 Withdraw abroad (no exact idea of money in account), my adress was the same as the Hotel so my bank statements were returned to the bank (i didn't have by then banking online), my March payslips never deliverd to me and during this last 5 months, nobody mention nothing....
My question is this.. Is this last deduction without my permition legal?
Thanks for all your help
Luis

P.S.- Sorry for any mistakes but as a non english person sometimes is hard to write in the right Way

[Struggling_Simon]

Luis,

I think you are within your rights to ask for the Hotel to show you copy payslips for the period in question.

You could also ask your bank to give you copy statements for the time you were abroad.

ps. your english is better than some english people I know

[Sidewinder]

Hi Luis.

As stated above, you really need to see evidence that you were overpaid in the first instance. If it is correct, then your employer is within their rights to recover the money, although it is poor practice to not tell you about it at the time. Most forms of deductions from wages are subject to protention under the Employment Rights Act, but recovery of an earlier overpayment is unfortunately specifically excluded from this. You are however entitled to proof that the overpayment happened in the first place.