Ive been over paid at work?

Question

In last months wages I was overpaid by about £750 before tax.
My employer is now asking for over £500 back by cheque or they say it will be deducted from my next months wages in one hit! No explanation is being offered how the overpayment is broken down ie. how the tax, N.I. is being made up or refunded.
Whilst I appreciate it has to be repayed it is difficult as I am trying to reduce my overdraft, on instructions from the bank, so the money was swallowed up as soon as it was paid in and the bank are unlikely to let let me extend my overdraft due to my credit rating thus leaving me incredible short next month. Just before crimbo! Does anyone know how I stand legally in asking for time to repay and asking for an explanation? I understand tax will work itself out but I dont know about N.I.
Please help

Answer 1

Shhhh, don't tell them.

Answer 2

Speak to your HR or Payroll department and ask what happened and if you can pay it back in installments. There is generally something in most contracts that says overpayments or mistakes will be rectified in the next payroll run, but there is no harm in asking if it can be deducted at say £100 per month until it is paid back, it wont hurt the company's pocket as much as it would hurt an employees. If you try to explain it from your point of view they might be able to sort something out for you, but try not to get angry with them otherwise they might not be very helpful!

Answer 3

I was overpaid by nearly £1500. My wage was £800 take home. Part of my pay was for a different role, paying me £75 a week.
After the summer hols, the school realised their mistake and with out warning took, on two seperate months £800. It was November and December.
I took them to a tribunal and lost because I didnt mention the over payment to the school, nor negociate a way of paying it back.
It is illegal however to take someones pay like that, although it is even more illegal to hold on to the cash. Yes! it baffled me at the tribunal too.
You cannot win were money, as in an over payment, is the subject.

Answer 4

You will have to pay this back . There is no other way if you remain there. So except that decision. Your best bet is to take your copy of your over drafts back and show them the shape you are in, Tell them you need help and ask them to allow you time to pay it off. This is your only chance of getting time.
You don't say if this was direct deposit in which case you would not have noticed the difference until it was too late. I ran into a situation once where I was just putitng my pay stubs in a drawer without checking them as they were not checks I was on direct deposits. however the company without telling me for some reason was writing my checks instead of direct deposits. I thought i was banking 1200/ to 1600 a week but it was in my drawer at home and two of them was in my back pocket. I only found out when the bank called me about non-deposits for two months. The company assumed no responsiobility
but onec when they did over deposit me they asked me how I wanted to pay back.

Answer 5

They wont give up..... they have a contract that you agreed to pay £35 a month for 18 months and because of this if taken to court they would win no doubt about it ! Your phone if not already will be cut off and They will send it to a collections agency now and you will be hearing from them shortly - they will arrange easier terms with you to pay your bill BUT if you default on those payments you will receive reminder letters then a court letter.... (this happened to my friend who had his phone under his mums name - this will affect your credit in future) Best wishes but if i were you I'd call your network and discuss this to find out the exact details.....

Answer 6

They've got every right to demand it back, as it is their money. However, you should ask if you could pay it back over time - come up with a reasonable solution for them, like say over 4 months. Also, they should sort out the NI contribution - and if it comes out of your wage, that will be sorted out anyway. But unfortunately, if they don't want to play ball, they can just take it out of your wage. That's tough, but you shouldn't have spent it.

Answer 7

I was overpaid once and the law states that if you query the overpayment and the employer tells you it's right then you keep the money and they cannot ask for it back. If you didn't query the overpayment then I think they have the right to take it back in one lump.

Answer 8

Contact your union rep. I don't know where you stand with your employer but I used to work for a bank and if we deposited money into the wrong account we had to give the customer 28 days notice that we were debiting their account. If they couldn't afford to pay it pack in one go we had to give them the option of a repayment plan. Hope you sort this out:)

Answer 9

It's a horrible thing to go through but at the end of the day you are just a name and a number to your employer and company.

Answer 10

If your boss is reasonable you should be able to negotiate a payment plan if go to your local citezens advice bureau. While the money would need to be re-paid I do not think your boss has the right to determine how it should be paid particularly if it was their error.

Answer 11

tell your employer the situation and if you are a revered employee they will understand. You will probably have to pay it back before the end of financial year in March though.