Work overpaid me, am on SMP, are they allowed to claim it out of that?

[CheeseEnforcementAgency]

They are still paying me for a contract ghat ended October 09. I didn't notice due to a few months of complicated payslips(kicking myself now) but am currently on month 6 of SMP and can't afford to lose much of it. Am happy to pay it out of my wages when I go back but £500 a month doesn't go far as the only earner.

TIA

[Grevling]

They can't make deductions from SMP however they can reclaim overpayed money back by asking you to pay it back on anything over SMP.

[CheeseEnforcementAgency]

I only get SMP but they've not yet approached me directly , I'm getting some stuff passed on from what they ask my boss. She said they told her they will stop the overpayments this month & start recovering however they've not informed me officially. I've asked for a schedule as they spent most of last year getting my wages wrong which probably contributed to me not noticing.

Just done an approx calculation of £5K I didn't realise I earnt enough to be over paid that much!

[Grevling]

They can't made deductions out of SMP end of.

You could swap the last few weeks of your mat leave for holiday and then pay the holiday pay back. Its rubbish but they are allowed to take it back.

[CheeseEnforcementAgency]

Am ok about paying it back but going to be over a long time. My manager will push them to contact me. Thanks

[prh47bridge]

I'm sorry but Grevling is wrong. They CAN make deductions from SMP. The relevant page of the SMP Manual is here. It specifically states that previously overpaid wages can be recovered from SMP.

[CheeseEnforcementAgency]

Ok, thanks. Will wait for them to get in touch & negociate.

How much should I offer? SMP pay is £500 a month ish & normal pay is £1000 a month, so if I owe £5000 approx how can I pay this off as quick as possible without zapping all my wages as I'm the only earner at present.