Thread: Overpayment & Redundancy

Hi,

In Feb 2009 it came to light that i have been overpaid by the company for a period of 20 months. There was an investigation which found that i was unaware of the overpayment and had not deliberately withheld the money. The overpayment was a mistake of fact and the error was with the company.

It has taken several months but eventually the company has agreed to write off 12 months of the overpayment and allowed me to repay the remaining 8 months of the overpayment over a two year period.

Last week there was a similar case involving Barclays (employee overpaid to the tune of £20K over 3 years) - the ET found in favour of the employee and no repayment was required. I considered ET but felt that the company's offer was fair, I didn't want the ongoing stress and I didn't want to commit career suicide by taking the company down the ET route.

I am currently off sick leave with stress (3 weeks to date & just been signed off for a further 4 weeks). I've heard rumours that the workstream has dried up and a significant number of my team (contractors - I'm perm member of staff) will be terminated by end of Aug. Logically this might result in my position becoming redundant. I've spoken to my manager to request a meeting so that i can get some clarity around the organisational changes and the effect that it will have on my role.

The issue with the overpayment has been very stressful and I feel that my position in the company is no longer tenable (? right word ?). If the redundancy package is good enough to support me whilst i find alternative employment then i would be happy to walk away from the situation. However, if the redundancy package is the stat minimum then i could not afford to walk away.

Q1 - In either case (good or bad package) - what would be the position regarding the outstanding overpayment debt - would the company be entitled to deduct this from any redundancy package?

Q2 - I haven't signed the repayment plan yet, should I sign/accept the offer before I understand my position in terms of redundancy? If I no longer have a career with the organisation then there may be an option to take the company to tribunal and plead a defense of estoppel.

Hi Che, thanks for the reply! I have read the thread before any of my postings - agreed that it is a great source of information I think my questions are not addressed in the previous thread - should i sign the repayment plan if i think that i might be able to walk away with redundancy because if i do walk away, then i may go down the ET route to get the overpayment written off in its entirety (as per the Barclays case in the papers last week) as opposed to letting the company take all the redundancy payment in settlement of the overpayment i.e. left with nothing and looking for a new career

What do you think?

You cannot take the Barclays ruling at this point as being case law and each case has it's individual merits. Further, ET rulings are notorious for being challenged.

Personally I'd seek professional legal advice on this one and try to hold on to the job as long as possible. Despite current news items suggesting recovery is just around the corner believe me, it's a very tough world out here at the moment.

Thanks Helio. On reflection, I offered a 50:50 split with the company and they have bettered that offer, albeit their offer has come about because of (yet another) mistake that they have made. I will probably sign the repayment plan, hold on to the job as long as poss (unless they offer a good redundancy package) and seek alternative employment. I'm off sick with stress at the mo, I just want to get better and not have to fight any more & I think this solution offers the quickest resolution.

I cannot continue to work for a company that is deducting money from me as a result of their mistake when they have not given any consideration to all the hours of unpaid time I have given them throughout 10 years loyal service nor the cost of the 3 hours daily commute to & from work

Hi Godmother,

I thought about adding up the hours but I don't have any records or evidence of the unpaid hours that I have put in over the years. My line managers would be able to vouch for me but we could not quantify the number of hours with any proof.


The company has written off a year's worth of the debt now & I think they would probably claim that this would cover any unpaid hours that I have worked previously.

Thanks for the advice though