Ex Employer being awkward about paying money owed......

[lisadp1970]

Hi

 

Hope someone can offer advice.

 

My husband left his old job on 20th March after being on long term sick.

He was no longer receiving any sick pay from them but on his final pay he was due to receive a months outstanding holiday pay for which the amount had been confirmed by his ex employers.

When this was paid to him they had deducted almost £700 as they stated he had been overpaid for March, even though he only got a grand total of £35 for that month.

Anyway after a lot of arguing and spreadsheets being drawn up, someone high up in payroll looked at it for him and agreed not only had they incorrectly deducted the holiday pay, they had also underpaid him on 3 other occasions during the past year!

They asked for him to return his P45 and final payslip so these could be amended and the money refunded to him.

He sent back the top part of his P45 and original payslip and they have got in touch saying they need all 3 parts of the P45 before they can refund the money they owe, but this isn't possible because they were handed to the Job centre to claim Job-seekers allowance.

 

Are they just finding excuses to mess him around or do they need his complete P45 before reworking his final payslip?

 

Thanks

Lisa

[Gbarbm]

Technically yes they do; the P45 is a 4 part form and all parts have to contain the same information.

However, once the P45 has been issued they can't recall it. What they should do is write you a letter on company notepaper giving details if the amended amounts.

Speak to payroll and refer them to the CWG 2 employers further guide to PAYE and NI as the instructions are contained in there. They can download it from HMRC website if they don't have a paper copy.

[lisadp1970]

Thanks for your reply my husband will let them know this tomorrow.

 

This is the email he got from them earlier today -

 

Hi Mr ******

 

We have received Part 1A of your P45 today, but unfortunately we require all parts issued, (3&4) if we are to rework your payslip and send out an amended P45.

 

If you could return to us at your earliest convenience.

 

regards

*********

 

So I can only assume what they say here is wrong?

[honeybee13]

Thanks for your reply my husband will let them know this tomorrow.

 

This is the email he got from them earlier today -

 

Hi Mr ******

 

We have received Part 1A of your P45 today, but unfortunately we require all parts issued, (3&4) if we are to rework your payslip and send out an amended P45.

 

If you could return to us at your earliest convenience.

 

regards

*********

 

So I can only assume what they say here is wrong?

 

Hello there.

 

I think you can assume Gbarbm knows her stuff. If they disagree with you, you can always refer them to HMRC's helpline or their normal contact.

 

My best, HB

[Gbarbm]

Yes page 11 of the CWG 2 is quite clear... If the employee has already left and adjustments are made to the P45, a duplicate P45 cannot be prepared/issued.

The reason for this is that a P45 can be used for repayment purposes.

Your hubby could google CWG 2, copy and paste the section on page 11 and put it on a response e mail to the employer and see what they come back with

[lisadp1970]

Thank you all very much for your advice it's been a great help.

Scary how little these people know especially as it's a very large International company we're talking about here:!:

[honeybee13]

I'm not sure I'm that surprised. My OH has worked alongside HR type people for many years and a lot of them don't know as much as they think they do.

 

HB

[Gbarbm]

I could tell a few things about some large well known companies that would make your hair curl!

As the saying goes; you're only as strong as your weakest link, most of whom seem to be in payroll and HR

[lisadp1970]

Hi

 

Got the following email back from payroll today after having sent them advice regarding CWG 2 -

 

 

Hi

 

Yes this is correct, we must not issue another P45, if payments are made after leaving as your payslip will reflect the Tax and NI paid. We would then have to tax you on OTM1 code which means you would not be entitled to any tax allowance

 

However we are intending to rework your last payslip and cancel your P45 and reissue an amended P45 and payslip, therefore we will be able to use your tax allowance when calculating the underpayment. This will be financially better for you.

 

Please confirm which method you would prefer us to use. If it is the latter then we will need parts 3 and 4 of your P45 returned to us.

 

Regards

 

Surely they know his tax allowance from the payslip and part 1 of his P45 that was returned to them?

 

Are they just messing him around or does what they say make sense?

 

Thanks for any help

Lisa

[Gbarbm]

I can see what they are trying to do, but the point at issue is that DWP will not give you the copies they hold as it is not correct for them to do so.

The monies your hubby is due constitute a payment after date of leaving and must be treated in the way described in the CWG2.

[lisadp1970]

That's what he pointed out to them but they still came back with this!

He's emailed them again stating they should have all the relevant details regarding his tax code etc it's just getting really frustrating now and feel they are just going out their way to be awkward

Is their anyone who he can officially complain to about their conduct in handling this refund bearing in mind he no longer works for them?

 

Thanks

[Gbarbm]

In all honesty, they realise they have, for want of a better phrase "cocked up" and are trying to do some damage limitation in order to mitigate their error.

They probably realise that this error will be picked up on an internal audit and they will get it in the neck.

The best that can be achieved based on the existing circumstances is this;

 

1) the ex employer should pay the monies to your hubby and provide details of the date the amount was paid, the gross amount due, the tax code operated and the net amount.

 

2) Code BR(or 0T) should be operated by the employer, this will deduct tax at 20p in the pound

 

3) once full details of your husbands income are held, which will comprise the P60 from the employer he was with at 5 April (if your hubby was in receipt of JSA a P60U will be issued) and the letter regarding the monies paid from the ex employer; your hubby should pass the details to his tax office which will be the one that dealt with the previous employer, they will then deal with any refund of tax due.

 

If you need details of the tax office address, come back to me on here and I can provide them.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Gbarbm
spelling errors

[lisadp1970]

Thank you so much for your help!

My husband basically copy and pasted your last post into an email and today they've got back saying they've processed the payment under code OTM1 Looks like they needed your advice to know what to do!

 

Thanks again

Lisa

[Gbarbm]

No probs, glad it's sorted, just keep all the paperwork safe as he will need it to claim a refund of income tax for the period from 6 April 2011 to 5 April 2012

 

Kind regards

 

Gbarbm