thanks for all the help I have made the suggestion to HR that they take the time from Next years holiday entitlement, or alternatively make the necessary adjustment to my pay over the next 3 months. I'll let you guys know the outcome once I get a response..

Hello all.. First post on the site, hopefully I will explain my situation well enough... I work in a factory, I work continentals, (12 hr shifts) which, becasue I have less than 5 years service entitles me to 23 x 12 hours holiday per year. I found out on 10th December from my supervisor that the Time and attendance system had been checked by the manager and it was found I had taken an extra 3 days. My supervisor is resposible for checking my time and attendance and signing off my holiday request forms. I was told I had these days, so I took them. I had up until around july kept a personal record of which days I had taken in a diary but this got lost and I lost track. Having sat down with my supervisor it became evident where the mistake had been made. He had created a spreadsheet for each member of the team and started my entitlement with 24 days instead of 23 and then during the summer had forgot to mark down two of my holidays, so therefore when I was asking how many days I had left at the backend of the year it showed I had 3 more than I actually had, which I took. I am now in the situation where I have been asked to work back the 36 hours (this year, which ontop of my normal shifts seems almost impossible) I have asked if this time can be deducted from next years entitlement but I am informed not. Whilst I agree I took too many holidays, it was not intentional. Do I really need to pay the company back?