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Original poster

to think this is an abhorrent attitude?

100 replies

faithinthesound · 13/02/2017 23:02

The person in my company who is in charge of payroll had a bit of a bish up in November, and a handful of people were overpaid. It's... well, frankly, it sucks for the people affected, but these things happen, right? We're all only human.

There have been letters go up in our staffroom detailing what happened and making it clear that the money has to be paid back. In all of the cases that I've been made aware of, we're talking about less than $100.

So most people are saying "wow, that sucks, I'm really upset about it" and things along those lines. But they're doing things like, negotiating with the company about spreading the repayment over more than one pay, or rejigging their budgets to get it done. Basically, acknowledging that it's a suboptimal situation, but recognizing what has to happen, and taking steps to do it.

There's at least one person who is taking the opposite stance. A selection of gems heard straight from her mouth:
"Well, how much does the company make in a day? More than enough to cover this!"
"It's the company's fault, why should I suffer!"
"The company screwed up, they should take the hit, not me!"

I interjected here. I said, "If you're walking down the street, and you trip over a wallet full of cash, yes, the person who owns it should have been more careful, it is their mistake... but it still doesn't belong to you.

"I don't care!" she responded. "I don't care that it isn't mine. They screwed up, and I don't see why I should have to give it back."

Well, there's no arguing with stupid and selfish, so I was going to leave it. Until she said this.

"I don't even care if the company goes under." And "I'm going to fight it."

I said "Go ahead. Take it to small claims court. You don't have a legal leg to stand on."

And if the company goes under, it's not just her who loses her job, it's EVERYONE. All the people taking steps to fix the mistake, all the people who weren't even affected by the mistake, everyone. Everyone's out a job if the company goes under... but you don't care about any of that?

"Nope."

Am I being unreasonable to think she's revolting? Don't get me wrong, I'm fully on board that the situation sucks but that doesn't change the facts... right?

For the record, I wasn't one of the ones overpaid, but if I had been I would have given it back without hesitation - it wouldn't have been my money, you know? That's right and fair, I think.

I already disliked this girl for other reasons, but now she's really made my blood boil!

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 14/02/2017 07:49

People should check their payslips straight away. A lot are emailed or available online now.
Mistakes can rectified asap then.

ExcellentWorkThereMary · 14/02/2017 07:51

Honestly if people are well off enough to not even need to know what comes in their pay every month, and so don't notice being overpaid, then they can probably just deal with it and pay the extra back! OP your colleague does sound a bit awful!

If I got overpaid by even a tenner, I'd know and I'd be straight on the phone to HR...

BarbaraofSeville · 14/02/2017 08:12

More like someone giving you £20 for your birthday, which you duly spend on something nice and then 3 months later they tell you they only meant to give you £10 so can they have the extra £10 back

It's not like that at all. People were overpaid by a relatively small amount and they were told that it had happened. The company has reacted by saying it will just deduct the extra money from the next payment, which is the logical solution.

So the colleague is making herself look like a total idiot by making a fuss over what is a small amount of money coming a bit earlier than she expected. Does she have no clue what is in her bank account and what she needs to spend it on? If things are that tight, she should really pay a bit more attention.

There seems to be an awful lot of over-reaction if people are 'really upset' and talking about 'fighting it'. Not painting a good impression of themselves at work at all.

AuntNancy · 14/02/2017 08:15

It sounds like the kind of hormonally influenced dramatic thing someone says, realises how stupid it is as it's coming out of their mouths, but then can't retract without losing face, especially when pressed again and again by an astonished co-worker.

Like when someone says they're going to build a wall somewhere and get someone else to pay for it. Absolutely they will. Yes, siree, etc.

DianaMemorialJam · 14/02/2017 08:30
Hmm
Gwenhwyfar · 14/02/2017 08:34

"People should check their payslips straight away."

We don't know that the payslips were wrong - only the amount that was actually paid.

Gwenhwyfar · 14/02/2017 08:35

"if people are well off enough to not even need to know what comes in their pay every month, and so don't notice being overpaid"

I'm certainly not well off. When I used to be overdrawn every month I would have immediately noticed being underpaid (payments not going through!), but not being overpaid.

enterthedragon · 14/02/2017 08:36

I got overpaid and informed my line manager about it as soon as I got my pay slip, it didn't get sorted out by the end of the next month so I was expecting it to be sorted by the end of the following month but it wasn't and again I was overpaid, I reported it again and at the end of that month I discovered that I had been overpaid yet again, so 3 overpayments, I then received a letter (2 months after the third overpayment) from payroll telling me that I had been overpaid on 3 dates and I was required to repay it, the letter went on to say that they would write to me again with details of how much the overpayments were and how to pay it back, 3 months later I finally got the letter and an invoice with a payment slip, the total amount overpaid was almost a month's pay and I had to repay it within 7 days (about 8 months after the first overpayment), I paid it back ( no problem as I hadn't spent the overpayments) to add insult to injury at the end of that month I didn't get paid at all, when it was raised with payroll they agreed to do a bacs payment for half the amount that I should have received and the rest would be paid the following month, that bacs payment took 10 working days to appear in my account.

I work for a national company and as far as I'm concerned that whole saga should never have taken so long to sort out, but our contracts clearly state that any overpayments will have to be repaid and legally there is nothing I can do about it.

You sound very overly invested in the whole situation, if you're worried about the company going under talk to your manager, if you're just annoyed by someone who you don't appear to get on with then ignore it. Check your contract of employment for any information on overpayments, if you don't have contracts see your company policy on overpayments.

It is the company's mistake but it is the employees responsibility to check that they are paid correctly.

southall · 14/02/2017 08:38

She is confused. Because we live in blame culture these days. She thinks she has been wronged or ripped off.

But she suffered a financial profit by someone else mistake not a loss.

She was not harmed by the mistake, she needs to understand the difference.

If she cant afford to pay back then she should be given the option of working extra hours to make up for the over pay.

Sparklingbrook · 14/02/2017 08:39

I would know if the amount on my payslip differed to what was paid into my bank. That's because I would check my online payslip and I also check my bank account daily.

I used to work in a bank. That may be a factor.

If people don't want to keep an eye on their finances that's up to them.

saoirse31 · 14/02/2017 08:39

Tbh I think you've v little empathy op. There are people for whom 100 is a massive part of their disposable income. She might not tell u this o certainly wouldn't. Your hand flapping over 'the dont care if co goes under' is frankly ridiculous. Sounds to me like she's v annoyed, upset over thus or possibly something else, but why you're so annoyed about it, I just can't understand

BarbaraofSeville · 14/02/2017 08:46

But she's been overpaid. It's not like she's £100 short and can't afford food/petrol/any extras for the month. it's a minor annoyance at most.

She's just making herself look a bit stupid and if I was her line manager I would think badly of her to be honest.

If you get overpaid, you just put the extra money aside, tell work about it, and wait for them to tell you how they plan to take it back. You don't make a big childish scene about it FFS.

BertPuttocks · 14/02/2017 10:07

"Abhorrent" and "revolting"?

I agree that the money should be paid back, but it all sounds a bit melodramatic.

And as others have said, when push comes to shove, your company won't give a shiny shite about 'family'.

Gwenhwyfar · 14/02/2017 18:05

"If people don't want to keep an eye on their finances that's up to them."

Keeping an eye on their finances doesn't have to mean checking daily, I find that quite obsessive, but then internet banking doesn't work for me so I can't do it anyway. I check the statement.

Sparklingbrook · 14/02/2017 18:07

To me it means checking daily. To others it means less frequently. That's fine. I used to work in a bank as I said, not obsessive at all when you have seen the other side of it all.

I have the banking app on my phone. It takes seconds.

TinselTwins · 14/02/2017 18:10

People should check their payslips straight away.

My overtime is rarely paid chronologically, overtime I did this month may be paid before overtime I did last month depending on which manager was on duty and how quick they are to sign off on it. There is very little itemisation on my payslip either, so although I do make sure that over the course of a few months it all tallys up, you can't tell that immediately if there's been a mistake.. you have to look at the running totals over time.

TinselTwins · 14/02/2017 18:11

& things like expenses take ages, I'm still due some expenses from last year, they all get paid at once so if I had a big extra lump next month I'ld assume that the expenses I've been chasing up have finally gone through. They will just appear as hours though on my payslip.

Ethylred · 14/02/2017 18:12

She does sound unpleasant but you still have a choice: let it make you angry, or let it go past you.

Sparklingbrook · 14/02/2017 18:13

In places I have worked they tell you when the cut off is for pay dates, and the payslips have been informative.
If they aren't there's not much point to them.

ShoutOutToMyEx · 14/02/2017 18:15

She does sound awful. Money really brings out the worst in some people.

bloodyteenagers · 14/02/2017 18:18

•People should check their payslips straight away.•

This only works if -
you are getting paid the exact same each month.
You have no unpaid leave for dependency or other unpaid leave.
You are not new to the company so you know your normal wage down to the hourly wage. Pro rata confuses things more with payslips
You get a detailed break down in your wage slip
You never work over time - if you work overtime depending on how this is structured you are paid at least a month in arrears. Your rate may be different to your normal rate.
You haven't been underpaid the previous month and this is added to your next pay along with any overtime and time off unpaid..

Plus checking your wage slip is useless when you notice an error flag this up, and are told its fine.

bloodyteenagers · 14/02/2017 18:20

Tinsel
Does that mean then that you are paying tax and NI on your expenses?
One thing my place doesn't cock up is expenses when they are finally paid. Got some money back on Friday for expenses from back in September. But they pay us via cheque to avoid tax and Ni. think if these were added to payroll, the personal there heads would explode lol.

Sparklingbrook · 14/02/2017 18:22

Ok I get it. Some people don't understand their payslips. Grin

missyB1 · 14/02/2017 18:25

Op are you the owner of the company by any chance?!

redexpat · 14/02/2017 18:28

I think neither one of you is unreasonable tbh. It is annoying when you feel as if youve got a good team vibe going at work and then someone else puts a bomb under it, but equally am a bit surprised that its only been noticed now. Did no one on the team notice or mention it at the time? Because that would tell you everything you need to know about their loyalty.

Littlelegs is a smart cookie.