Ex Employer Threatening Daniel Silverman Over Overpaid Holiday.

[xemployerrus]

Hello ive been reading around the forum but im still unsure on what to do.

 

My ex employer is threatening to sell a debt to daniel silverman () if i dont pay up to there demands.

 

when i resigned from my post back in august i was sent a letter stating i had been overpaid which comes too 200 quid, i rang them up to dispute it and the man on the other end of the line said it was because i owed them holiday pay, which i took.

 

since then i have not contacted them and have received a few letters the last one being a final notice that if i do not pay up they will sell the debt to Daniel Silverman and that if that happens it will be very unlikely i will be aloud back to work for them.

 

my worry is i don't want it to effect my credit score.

 

my problem with paying up is i have been with the company for 5 years and never once herd of it, also i dont remember signing a contract that said that they could do that and i dont feel like they have explained why. no breakdown of when i took the holiday, nothing. just -ok youve left and you owe us this much.-

 

any advice would be brilliant!

[citizenB]

If you have resigned from the employment, why are they saying you wont be allowed to return to work for them ?

 

If you took the holiday, then you wouldnt be entitled to receive pay for it as well ?

[xemployerrus]

1st letter.

 

Dear *****

 

Employee ref: *****

 

On leaving out employment on the 19/08/2013 it apprears a sum of money is left owing to ***** for the following

 

Basic pay owed in the sum of : 265.20

Holiday pay owed in the sum of : 30.90

 

Amount due to ***** les PAYE and NI 198.85

 

Can you please contact payroll in the first instance on 0161...... regarding any queries on the outstanding debt or ******* on 0161.......... to arrange repayment.

 

We hope to hear from you within 10 days from the issue of this letter.

[xemployerrus]

2nd letter.

 

Dear *****

 

Further to my letter dated 9th january 2014 i am dissapointed to note that you have failed to make contact to discuss the repayment of the debt owed to the company in the sum of 198.85

 

it is now my in intention to pass your file to our nominated debt collection agency daniels silverman for collection which will result in an additional administration charge of 15% of the original debt.. once the file has been passed to the agency the additional charge cannot be removed therefore i suggest you contact me on 0161....... or alternatively please email me at ..... before monday 21st april 2014 to discuss a payment plan. i would also like to bring to your attention that should this course of action be required it would seriously harm any future application for a position with the company.

[xemployerrus]

apparently they give you holiday pay daily

 

i took my holidays at the start of the financial year. 3 weeks between april and may

 

?? so when i left in august i still had not accumulated enough work days to cover the expense of my holiday? ?

 

im thinking they are saying it will effect any future application just to entice me into talking to them?

[Staraker]

If your leave year ran from April to March, and you left in late-August, you would only have accrued around 40% of your leave entitlement. If for example your total leave for the year was 20 days, that's eight days accrued by late-May. You said you took "3 weeks between April and May." If that was in a single chunk, it would be 15 days less the May Day Bank Holiday, so 14 days in all. That would mean that you took six days more than the eight you had accrued by the time you left in late-August. You would therefore owe the company your salary for those six days. The flipside would have been that if you hadn't taken any leave, then they would owe you six days pay, or the time as early release in lieu of notice. This is all fairly standard practice.

 

Under normal circumstances they should have deducted the overpayment from your final salary payment, but if you left suddenly there might not have been time for payroll to do that.

[renegadeimp]

Nice of them to admit they're placing a UE charge on a dubious 'debt'.

[xemployerrus]

If your leave year ran from April to March, and you left in late-August, you would only have accrued around 40% of your leave entitlement. If for example your total leave for the year was 20 days, that's eight days accrued by late-May. You said you took "3 weeks between April and May." If that was in a single chunk, it would be 15 days less the May Day Bank Holiday, so 14 days in all. That would mean that you took six days more than the eight you had accrued by the time you left in late-August. You would therefore owe the company your salary for those six days. The flipside would have been that if you hadn't taken any leave, then they would owe you six days pay, or the time as early release in lieu of notice. This is all fairly standard practice.

 

Under normal circumstances they should have deducted the overpayment from your final salary payment, but if you left suddenly there might not have been time for payroll to do that.

 

 

That is fine, but the last payment i received from them was very late late August, the 19th was a Wednesday, got paid on the following Friday then again the next Friday, if they had to deduct payments they should have done it then and also, they did not explain it the way you have and its their bloody debt! the way they have gone about the situation just seems dubious to me....

[renegadeimp]

Ask them to prove the overpayment. They wouldnt just send the debt to a dca who cant do anything but harass you.

[xemployerrus]

Thankyou for the advice renegadeimp!

 

how should i structure the letter? what kind of proof will they need?

[renegadeimp]

Just ask them for full proof of the overpayment and why they never deducted it from your final wage.

 

Also, ignore the dca and the UE admin xharge.

 

The fact that an admin charge is even mentioned makes this entire thing sound shady.

[spamheed]

You might also ask for a copy of the document that you signed allowing them to add "admin charges" to an alleged overpayment

[renegadeimp]

Especially a dubious, non specific 15% charge. That smacks of a penalty fee and not an admin charge.

[xemployerrus]

sent a letter off awaiting a reply thanks so much guys for the help

[renegadeimp]

Just remember, that they cant simply charge a random 15% flat fee. Any admin charges have to match up with how much it costs them. If they are adamant you have to pay it, demand a fully itemised breakdown of the charge and how they figure it's a flat 15%

[xemployerrus]

just sent this letter to the ex employer

 

 

************************

 

 

Dear Madam

 

Employee Reference

 

 

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself. Can you please prove that this alleged overpayment has been made, why it had not been removed from my final wage and a document signed by myself allowing you to add a 15% "administration charge".

I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question and await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to Trading Standards and also inform the Office of Fair Trading of your actions.

On a lighter note, i would like to avoid harming any future application i make to --- because i still think ---- is a great company to work for.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

***********

 

they have replied and have documents in route that i will display here when i receive them

[renegadeimp]

Again, regarding the admin charge, you want them to justify the amount, as it is non specific and is 99.99% a penalty charge and not an admin charge. They might have a clause that allows them to add on charges, but certainly not that.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Do you have an HR manual is this action laid down in your contract of employment?

[xemployerrus]

no HR manual, no copy of a contract, im usually very good at holding onto these kinds of things in case i ever need them for future reference.

 

my problem with paying up is i have been with the company for 5 years and never once herd of it, also i dont remember signing a contract that said that they could do that.-

[spamheed]

it is not for you to second guess them or their policies, my bet is that there is no such clause and it is an opportunistic attempt to make a few quid from you.

 

 

As inferred by Brig, any such process must be laid down in company policies, normally in consumer debt any charges must be identified in the agreement or the Terms and Conditions directly associated with the agreement, because this is an employment matter, then such charges absolutely must be outlined in the contract itself or in company policies referred to within the contract.

 

 

ie, "If we make a payroll error in your favour, we reserve the right to farm out this alleged debt to an external blood sucking parasite and add a non specific amount based on a random percentage"

 

 

not very likely really is it, whilst it may be the case that you owe the initial amount to some degree or other, they have shot themselves in the foot by providing you with a cast iron dispute in the shape of this unwarranted and (in my opinion) probably unlawful admin charge.