Overpaid ?

ciaran76

Hi All,

I hope this is the correct forum for this.
Basically a friend of mine has left her job(in Feb.) and started a new job(in March).
She got her months wages when she left and a few holiday pay which was also owed to her so no big deal.

Anyway at the end of March they paid her again 1 months wages which she was not owed. Anyway she not told her previous employers about this and hasn't touched the money as she thinks it will be taken back pretty soon.

My question is, does anyone know if they can take it back ? Or do they have to send a letter requesting them to return the money ?

TIA,
Ciaran

ciaran76

Sorry can we move this to the Work forum please. Don't know why I thought Consumer Issues !

padi89

Did she work a month in advance when she first started?

ciaran76

No she started the start of the month and got her 1st wage 3-4 weeks later.

padi89

If i was her i would leave it there and see if money goes in again the next month.If it does i would contact the previous employer and tell them and give it back.If it doesnt id leave it another month and if i heard nothing id be booking myself a holiday.......;)

Culchie

moving to 'work' as requested

Beruthiel

ciaran76 wrote:

My question is, does anyone know if they can take it back ?

once it goes into her personal bank account, it cannot be taken back.

Or do they have to send a letter requesting them to return the money ?

they will request it back, remember, someone does the wages each month, eventually they will notice that they've made a mistake, they will most likely have a little heart attack as it will get them in trouble for handing out company money like that. She should ring and tell them.

dubgirl

hi - yes they can request for this money to be paid back however can't demand it all back at once. If your friend didn't notice and had spent it she has the right to pay it back at a rate she can afford.

Zulu

Beruthiel wrote:

once it goes into her personal bank account, it cannot be taken back.

You sure? I seem to remember a friend having to give it back, and when I say 'give' I mean 'taken' by the bank.

...now that was a long time ago, and the old abacus isn't what it used to be...

chump

Beruthiel wrote:

She should ring and tell them.

I would do the very opposite to the above.

Hold onto the money for a few months, if after say 3 months I'd spend it.

That's just me though.

Problem will arise if they continue to pay money into the account though. Then she definetely won't get away with it.

If it's a once off though she has a good chance.

mountainyman

She must return the money if asked to do so. Why would it be hers if paid in error.

However:
If say she has been overpaid by 4000 euro and spends it she need not repay 4000 euro at once,
She could (when requested by the former employer to repay the money)just write them a letter saying:

I cannot repay 4000 eur, however, I can and will repay 50 euro a month for the next 7 years.
etc.
The company might then request 4 payments of euro 1000

Eventually a judge would require to repay the money but the schedule would be derived from her ability to repay. (say 16 payments of 250 euro) .
Normally no interest would be charged.

Result for your friend, however Dublin can be a small town and I personally would return it. But I have clients not an employer.

MM

The_Conductor

In my previous job I was put on the wrong salary scale and paid about 130 Euro too much per month for over 2 years before they discovered their mistake. I did not know that I was being paid the incorrect amount. When the company accountant discovered the error I was summarily called into the head of Personnel and made feel that somehow I was to blame (for not noticing that I was getting over paid?) and was told that unless I agreed to repay the sum as quickly as possible that I would be fired. I had of course paid tax on this as well (so after tax it was a little under 100 Euro a month in net take home pay more than they ought have been paying me). For the next two months my salary was stopped totally (the only income I had was a tax rebate as my credits were being used against a non-existant income). But for the fact that my girlfriend was in a position where she could lend me sufficient money to pay the rent I'd have been out on the street. I was almost in tears of relief when they paid me my salary again 3 months later. I handed in my notice shortly thereafter- partly because of how they had treated me over what was a genuine error on their part (and of an amount small enough that it was entirely plausible that it be correct), and partly because of the way they had made me feel that somehow I had done something wrong- and I was just so disgusted with them.

No moral to this story really.

mountainyman

smccarrick wrote:

In my previous job I was put on the wrong salary scale and paid about 130 Euro too much per month for over 2 years before they discovered their mistake. I did not know that I was being paid the incorrect amount. When the company accountant discovered the error I was summarily called into the head of Personnel and made feel that somehow I was to blame (for not noticing that I was getting over paid?) and was told that unless I agreed to repay the sum as quickly as possible that I would be fired. I had of course paid tax on this as well (so after tax it was a little under 100 Euro a month in net take home pay more than they ought have been paying me). For the next two months my salary was stopped totally (the only income I had was a tax rebate as my credits were being used against a non-existant income). But for the fact that my girlfriend was in a position where she could lend me sufficient money to pay the rent I'd have been out on the street. I was almost in tears of relief when they paid me my salary again 3 months later. I handed in my notice shortly thereafter- partly because of how they had treated me over what was a genuine error on their part (and of an amount small enough that it was entirely plausible that it be correct), and partly because of the way they had made me feel that somehow I had done something wrong- and I was just so disgusted with them.

No moral to this story really.

Yes there is and it is Join a Union

WhiteWashMan

ciaran76 wrote:

Hi All,

I hope this is the correct forum for this.
Basically a friend of mine has left her job(in Feb.) and started a new job(in March).
She got her months wages when she left and a few holiday pay which was also owed to her so no big deal.

Anyway at the end of March they paid her again 1 months wages which she was not owed. Anyway she not told her previous employers about this and hasn't touched the money as she thinks it will be taken back pretty soon.

My question is, does anyone know if they can take it back ? Or do they have to send a letter requesting them to return the money ?

TIA,
Ciaran

well, they cant 'take' it back, becuase they dont have access to her bank account.
they can 'request' it back, and by law your friend is legally entitled to inform her former emplyer. at that point its up to both parties to decide how to approach the matter and what, if any, repayments are made.

TheMonster

WhiteWashMan wrote:

well, they cant 'take' it back, becuase they dont have access to her bank account.
they can 'request' it back, and by law your friend is legally entitled to inform her former emplyer. at that point its up to both parties to decide how to approach the matter and what, if any, repayments are made.

spend it and if they come looking tell them she thought it was a leaving bonus:D

seroiously thought if its a once off she could let on she thought she was being paid a month in arreats.

WhiteWashMan

mountainyman wrote:

Yes there is and it is Join a Union

i dont agree. unions are useful in their place, but depending on what you do then theres a time and a place for a union.

by the way, a company is not entitled to stop your wages fo work done. if you owe them money through being overpaid, the fault is theirs, but you still have to pay back the money.
you can pay them back 5 quid a month if it suits you. but it is not legal to stop your wages full stop.
rtaher than a union, id engage a lawyer in that situation. or just leave the company. most companies will not persue it after that (although, it really depends on how much youve been paid!)

WhiteWashMan

TheMonster wrote:

spend it and if they come looking tell them she thought it was a leaving bonus:D

you still have to pay it back regardless of whther you spent it or not. the obligation is on you to ensure your pay is correct for some reason....

ciaran76

Thank you all for the replies.

She has has very mixed opinion/view on what to do. She wants to tell her old employer but also doesn't as the extra money would be nice. Personally I think she will ring them very soon and explain what happened as she is not that type of person and believes in karma etc etc.

If it was me it would be a different story !

misterq

Well I empathise with the temptation of keeping it, but the bottom line is, it's not her money, she knows it isn't, so she should give it back.

It will only come back to bite you in the ass someday if you don't.

I have to say I'm shocked someone would be so shabbily treated as you were smmcarrick - thats outrageous.

The_Conductor

I got out of there, thankfully!