Wage overpayment- no longer employed by that company

Teamhar

Hi,

Last November, I resigned my position with an IT company and on leaving, I received my P45 and final wages including holiday pay. There was also another amount and I'll do my best to explain where it came from.

April 2008, I sat with my employers for an annual review and we negotiated the following: they would cover my study expenses for the year, €1500 fees for first semester, in lieu of a €2,000 raise. My college fees were paid by cheque and all was well. By the time October/November 2008 came around, I was very unhappy with my circumstances in this company. With the worsening economic climate, there was a definite lack of suitable project work for me, my boss was making things difficult for me, conditions had worsened and I felt it was time to take a break then move on. I had hoped to stay on 'til Christmas, but they asked me to leave end of November instead. On my departure, they rightly or wrongly wanted to recoup the amount they paid for my college course. We hit on their paying me the raise I would have got instead, and that was worked into my final pay, taxed accordingly and the €1500 fees were then deducted. As I was paid on a weekly basis, even with the couple of days holiday pay owed, there was very little cash leftover and I left disappointed.

Sometime later, I was notified that there had been an overpayment and it was explained to me that I had been given the full €2000 raise as opposed to a portion of the raise appropriate to a period end of April - end of November. It was calculated to an amount of €444.22 and they are now demanding an immediate repayment. I don't have this money- I remain unemployed despite my best efforts and in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit which is stretched extremely thin.

I understand an employer is legally entitled to recover overpayments made to an employee, but I'm not sure how it works when a person is no longer employed by the firm, the overpayment had genuinely gone unnoticed and a length of time has passed. I'm an honest person and if I had the money, I would repay it. But then another part of me thinks I was very poorly treated by them- I left a week before the Christmas party and wasn't invited to attend- petty of me, I know, but still... along with other things, like no payslips, unpaid overtime, work above and beyond the call of duty, contract changes unwritten... Anyway, that bitchy part of me would like to see them go down a legal route along with the expense, but then I couldn't afford that and I wouldn't like it to effect my credit rating. If it doesn't, fine!

Any advice?

Thanks,
T.

messrs

they cant 'force' you to pay the money back in full, if you are not working or cannot afford it, then all they can do is make you pay back installments of what you can 'afford' so you could tell them all you can spare right now is €1 per week and they cant dispute that.
on the other hand my cuz was working of a bank (this was bout 5 years ago now) but like you , got unexpected work to do ect and in the end she left on very bad terms, someone in payroll f**ked up and payed her a months salary the month after she left! took them couple of months to notice, and then they started chasing her for the money, she felt she deserved to keep it after the way she was treated, so she just ignored their calls, eventually they stoped trying and she was left with the money.
at the end of the day its your call how you want to handle this - but id make them wait a while and wouldnt go juming thru any hoops just to help them out!

Diva242

In the case above, the employee was paid an extra month's salary which would be easy for the employer to prove. In your case, however, it is more difficult to prove agreements regarding college fees versus a pay rise! If you have not signed off on any of it then it is your word against theirs with no proof on either side. If this is the case, you should bring this to your employers attention and the likelihood is that your employer will not take it any further than letters and phone calls!
You can get further legal information from your local Citizen's Advice. Also, as you are unemployed, you can apply for Free Legal Aid, the number for which should be available from Citizen's Advice. Thay are qualified solicitors and legal advice is only €10 I think!
Best of luck!

mountainyman

You should offer a derisory amount 1euro per month and leave it with them. They may well not revert. However it will stand to you if this goes any further.

Essentially you must repay at your convenience.