Hi,

My ex-employer (a large public sector place with a reputation for over-paying people) paid me for approx two weeks after I had left, they have now sent me an invoice for repaying them.

I never actually recived a pay-slip for a full month's salary (including the overpaid month) and I had no employment contract with them. (They told me it was normal for a contract to take several weeks to come through and i wasnt there very long.)

The calculation they have used to come with the overpaid sum takes account of tax/NI and I can't check if their figure is correct (it isnt if I use a net figure) it also doesnt take into account the holiday days accrual that I thought i would have built up or the additional hours i'd worked to build some a day's flexitime that month.

I'd be grateful if anyone can tell me where I stand legally on this.

At the very least you are entitled to know what your terms of employment were including rate of pay and holiday entitlement before you decide on your next move, so I would write back to them saying that until they provide that information so you can check the accuracy of their figures, you are not admitting owing them anything.

Hi Bookworm, chances are they will provide that information. Is it likely that they will take me to court over this? said organisation accidentally overpaid claimants by millions last year, i just wonder if they will take me to court for a couple of hundred.

Well you still need to see how its been calculated.

This is your right under the Employment Rights Act 1996 to a written pay statement.

If you have been overpaid you will need to pay it back, where you can work it is by saying how much you can afford to pay back per month.

Like any debt they need to provide you with reasonable proof of what they claim you owe them.

As has been said above you also have a legal right to proper pay slips etc.

If they have indeed overpaid you they have a legal right to ask for the money back. This only becomes unenforcable after six years (5 in Scotland).

As to whether they would take you to court I have no idea. If paying them back puts you in hardship then offer a reasonable monthly amount that you can afford. This is all they would get if they took you to court but the court fee may be added to the debt.

A 'debt' normally involves a signed contract though doesnt it? if i took out a loan or credit card i would sign up to their t&c's before they would lend me the money. In this case there was nothing signed and no contract - does that make a difference?

Many thanks for the replies folks!

A 'debt' normally involves a signed contract though doesnt it? if i took out a loan or credit card i would sign up to their t&c's before they would lend me the money. In this case there was nothing signed and no contract - does that make a difference?

 

Many thanks for the replies folks!

Maybe, but doesn't have to. Very few contracts have to be written and signed in English law. OK, easier to prove if they are but can be just as valid without.

I could agree verbally to lend you £100. We would then have a contract even if it is not written down. Providing I can convince a court that was in fact what we agree (i.e. not a gift) then they would make you pay it back.

Can my employer force me to give back an overpayment of wages?

I am sure there is somewher in law that says yes you must pay it back but there is no set timescale for this. I think it might be under the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Im sure its somewhere in here Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18)

I personally think that overpaying an employee and then expecting repayments from them over a long period of time even into their future jobs is nothing short of modern day tyranny, something which should have gone out with the Sheriff of Nottingham...

Should they even be in business at all if they are so bad at looking after their bottom line? At what point do employers take responsibility for being so incompetent with their finances? Or is keeping employees in debt to them against their will over a long period of time (years in many cases...) a way of maintaining a regular income for themselves?! Think about it - the big companies must have a fair number of employees in debt to them through overpayment in any one year, they do it to at least one person per year and very few people can afford to pay it back in one go. So there are thousands of workers across this country, indeed this world, walking round for months and years with a debt round their necks, often complete with CCJ, that somebody else's incompetence gave them! That's a lovely long term income for a badly run business isn't it! Forgive me for being cynical but the hardship of the average blue chip company through overpayment is relatively shortlived compared to that of the average employee.

I feel that the law ought to be changed so that employers can only reclaim a certain percentage back (say 50%) and carry some of the legal and financial burden that they expect employees to carry.

I bet we'll soon see a sharp drop in the number of employers making 'accidental' overpayments.....

Found something interesting on the subject of 'estopple' which may apply, especially to large public sector companies who consistently pay people incorrectly.

Read this link first in which a lawyer advises an overpaid Royal Mail employee

I have been overpaid earnings by my employer Roy... - JustAnswer

And then this one:

Estopple legal definition of Estopple. Estopple synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary.

Could work! =)