Repayment Of Salary

[Budlet]

My son has just received a letter from his employer stating that they have been overpaying him since September 2015 and have requested he pay back £4000. Anyone else had anything similar happen to them. He doesn't know what to do.

[Islay]

Yes ask for a payment plan and an explanation

[raydounahammed]

Repayment Of Salary is 31 december

[Cloverjo]

I don't think they can ask him to pay it back in one go. They should arrange instalments that he can afford.

[Islay]

Of course they can ask for him to pay it back in one go, they just won't get it!

It is an individuals responsibility to check that their salary is correct within their T&C's and highlight any issues to their payroll dept, failure to do so will result in a request for full repayment.

[SherryBea]

Hi Budlet. This is a tricky one as if he has been overpaid, then he has been paying too much Tax and NI deductions. Is he part of a Trade Union? if so consult them, otherwise this link may help you decide which organisation to help you out:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/mediation-conciliation-and-arbitration-workplace-disputes

I'm afraid its not just a simple case of paying it back when if and how.

[chelle7272]

The employer should sort out any overpaid contributions via payroll.

As Isaly says he needs to get an explanation as to how he has been overpaid, and if it is correct then arrasnge for a payment plan to repay the amount.
T

[Islay]

Sherrybea, you have provided a link to the northern Ireland site remember that many rules differ in northern Ireland.

I am not sure if Budlet is in Northern Ireland

[fiction-factory]

Dare I mention estoppel? Although I doubt it would work here, especially if the employee should have known, then estoppel is unlikely to succeed- but it maybe worth trying.
I agree with asking for a repayment plan- maybe over the same period as the overpayment occurred.
As others have said, the NI and tax overpayments will all be corrected in time.

[diddlydo]

Was he aware that he was being overpaid?

[Budlet]

Yes diddlydo. He rang HR as soon as he got his payslip to query the overpayment. The answer he got was 'it is what is on the system so it must be right'. He asked on two separate occasions and was told 'you must have had a pay rise or something'! He is asking for all his payslips and records of phone calls made to prove that he queried it.

[Peter Pedant]

well here is the acas advice

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5313

FF how is estoppel gonna work ?

[fiction-factory]

PP - it probably isn't but I know someone who was to our surprise let off an overpayment when she got a solicitor friend to help her write a letter saying how she had changed her lifestyle etc based on her higher salary and had spent it and wouldn't be able to repay it. Some employers don't like cases like this coming out in the press either , especially if they position themselves as caring employers, and are faced with pictures of someone with their starving kids because the mean employer has taken all the last 3 months pay off them.
If it was me I would not push that one too hard though. I would have kept the extra money in a high interest account for a few months and then said "hey i have just noticed...." and would have offered to pay it back over the same period for which I had been overpaid . Budlet's friend should ask to repay it over 16 months and see what the employer says

[fiction-factory]

^ changed their lifestyle arguments could be moved to more expensive house, put kids in private school, bought a new car, gave up an evening part-time job...although this assumes they could also show they couldn't be reasonably expected to have realised the money was paid in error

[thugulike]

He can use the defence of equitable estoppel if it was reasonable for him not to know of the overpayment AND he can show that he spent to money on everyday expenses. The company needs his written permission to make stoppages from his salary otherwise it's an illegal deduction from wages under The Wages Act