Overpaid Wages By Employer

[buffymad]

Hello, other half was paid full wages at the end of last month by his employer. He should only have been given SSP as he was still off sick (and all his sick notes have been sent to the relevant department). He informed them and whoever he spoke to said it was a "big mistake", sounded panicky and said she'd need to speak to someone higher up to see what to do. Over a week and a half later, no one has been in touch. Now he knows he'll have to pay it back and obviously has the money to do that - but my question is, do they have the right just to deduct the overpaid amount from his next pay (he's back at work now) without consulting him? Or are they meant to get his agreement first as it's a large (to me!) amount (over £1,000)? As it's their mistake, he thinks it should be up to them to sort it out and let him know what's what, rather than him having to chase them all the time.

Oh by the way, they've made many mistakes before, ie giving too little SSP, not paying overtime when they should have etc. Bit all over the place for a large company methinks!!

[fiction-factory]

Yes they can reclaim it in one go. It may be too late now for the next payroll though. If he has put the extra money aside it shouldn't be a problem but if it may be a problem he could ask the employer if it can be repaid over 2 or 3 months- a caring employer may help provided it has the right systems