Getting Paid Too Much

magiceire

For the last two weeks i have been getting paid about double the amount i should be i think i have figured out why this is happening but was just wondering if i am legally obliged to give it back if they figure it out. i work for a big company and dont think they would spot this for a while

feylya

Whenever they spot, they can claim it back. Let them now know and get it sorted out before you owe them thousands.

magiceire

I kinda knew it was too good to be true thanks anyway though

Stargal

I don't know if you'll necessarily be legally obliged. However since it's clearly a large amount of money, if the mistake is discovered then it will be obvious that you knew about it and didn't do anything, and that could have more serious repercussions. It'll might be tough but it'd probably be better for you in the long run to just go and tell them asap.

Although having said that:

The summer after 6th year, I worked in the civil service and they accidentally put me in a pay grade above the one I was meant to be on. Meant I was getting about €120 more than I should have been getting, every week for 3 months, so it was pretty sweet! I just presumed that was average pay so didn't question it, but they noticed a few days before I left. Someone vaguely mentioned that I'd have to pay it back, but nothing was ever done about it or said officially to me.

Man, that was a good summer:)

dermot_sheehan

magiceire wrote:

For the last two weeks i have been getting paid about double the amount i should be i think i have figured out why this is happening but was just wondering if i am legally obliged to give it back if they figure it out. i work for a big company and dont think they would spot this for a while

From a legal perspective, such situations are tricky, provided you didn't deceive them into overpaying you a claim for fraud can not proceed. They could possibly argue an implied term of contract that mistakes be rectified. The area of law that really covers this however is the law of restitution and in particular the doctrine of unjust enrichment. This is a very little litigated area of law however a classic example of unjust enrichment is payment by mistake.

kc66

Hold onto it and dont spend it for a year or so. If they want it back you can give it back. If not- happy days
Or maybe thats dishonest
They are a big company. They can afford it. It shouldnt be you that would get sacked, it should be the person in accounts that is overpaying thats not doing their job properly.

gilroyb

kc66 wrote:

Hold onto it and dont spend it for a year or so. If they want it back you can give it back. If not- happy days
Or maybe thats dishonest
They are a big company. They can afford it. It shouldnt be you that would get sacked, it should be the person in accounts that is overpaying thats not doing their job properly.

right so, so he should just hope that someone else loses their job over this thing? how nice of you.

If it was the other way around and they accidently underpaid you, would you expect them to give you the money? Something tells me that you would expect to get the money you were owed. In the same spirit, they should get their money back.

Thirdfox

Indeed, the law should only be used as a last resort - common sense and morals/ethics etc. would tell you that you should return the money (but then again maybe that's just me...)

Jonnie_Onion

When they find out they'll just start docking your wages by the difference I would imagine, and what will you do then, realistically?

mountainyman

gilroyb wrote:

In the same spirit, they should get their money back.

No.
An employer is held to standards other than and higher than those which pertain to his employees.

To refer to mutual expectation in this context is naive at best, meretricious at worst.

In practise employees must repay any amount owed through an 'overpayment' however this cannot be deducted unilaterally but rather by agreement with the employer.

If you are unable (and this is in no sense legal advice) to repay them at once make an offer to repay at the rate of (say) Euro 25 per week for 40 weeks. The employer is at fault and in rectifying that fault he cannot pass the burden to his employee.

Nevertheless there is a legal responsibility to repay the money.

As personal as opposed to legal advice if I had a ****ty job and this happened I'd quit as soon as they found out, make a series of offers to repay 20% of the amount over a decade and let them pursue me though the courts.

If I had a good job and this happened I'd pay the full amount back over 3 times as long as I got it and if the HR fluffy bunnies got shirty I'd A get them sacked B get my lawyer.

If you can't get people sacked and have no lawyer you don't have a good job.

MM

MM

testicle

Something similar happened to me. What resulted was that it was taken out of my next 2 pay packets.

Carb

mountainyman wrote:

If you can't get people sacked and have no lawyer you don't have a good job.

I knew there was something wrong with my job.:D