Overpayment of wage... deducted from final pay issue

[vjohn82]

I've agreed to look at this issue for one of my friend's sons but I thought I would get some opinions here too...

 

He worked for DHL and was overpaid by mistake (pic 1).

 

DHL picked up on the error and set about recovering the money by agreement (pic 2).

 

He was transferred from DHL to Parcelforce under the TUPE regs.

 

In his final wage DHL deducted a significant sum and have written demanding the rest of the monies due (£2400ish - see pic 3).

 

Wageslip attached shows the deductions (pic 4).

 

The agreement is a little ambiguous for the simple reason that as a result of DHL losing a contract their employees (who worked at a central hub for a large electronics company) my friend's son had his contract taken over (as opposed to physically leaving his job). I believe he is now being made redundant from that new job so it is, for all intents, a job he was made redundant from through no decision of his own making.

 

The initial impact of the salary being deducted hit him hard... the worry over this £2400 is even more worrying for him.

 

Does anyone have any advice on this situation?

[vjohn82]

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[Sidewinder]

This is a mess, and I am afraid that I have no concrete suggestions one way or the other. It would appear that the loan agreement is specific enough in content for them to take what they have taken from the final salary payment, but your friend's son probably holds the upper hand when it comes to the £2400 balance.

 

There is certainly a strong case for him to claim that the original overpayment led to a 'change of position' (he could not reasonably have known that the overpayment existed) and the (former) employer has acknowledged their error in writing and agreed to repayment on terms which the employee was willing to abide by. Although the contract (loan agreement) specifies that anything owed could be deducted from final salary it does not state what would be the case if this left a balance outstanding. This (as far as I am concerned) would then create a simple matter of a debt which your friend's son can propose to repay only on terms that he can afford. Whilst they could sue for the balance outstanding, I believe that no court would order him to repay the balance in full, and depending on circumstances, may even order him to pay less than at present. He certainly doesn't have to pay £2400 at once if he doesn't want to and (I don't believe) they can do much about it in the circumstances.

[vjohn82]

I agree, this is a complete mess and thanks for your comment.

 

As stated, there is nothing in that agreement that covers the eventuality that a payment from the final wage will not extinguish the "loan".

 

It will be interesting if anyone else has another slant on this???