What do I do??? Am I going to have no money?

[namechanged707]

Okay...
I work part time and would expect between £500-£600 on a normal month for my job (that was the expectation).
I claim childcare for my baby in a baby wing and get help with housing costs as my DP is in education full time until summer.
December was my first month working there and I was paid close to £1,200! I assumed Christmas bonus - I did email the manager to enquire and double check but heard nothing.
I have to give my payslip in on Monday to be able to reclaim for temporary help with childcare and rent. The payslip says nothing about a Christmas bonus, just a basic wage of £1,280 and then tax/NI deductions.
Are they going to think I'm lying and tell them that that shouldn't be my normal wage? If I don't get my temporary help from them then I wouldn't be able to pay rent or nursery fees.
If it was a mistake on works part, are they going to make me pay it back after a month???

I'm so stressed that I won't be able to pay rent or childcare!

Actually I was being helpful.

If an employee came to me and told me that they had spent a hundred per cent overpayment I would question their judgment.

Therefore I suggested that she thought carefully about how she asked for repayment plan with work to stop them finding out and questioning her judgment

Could you call CAB? Since the error was on their part, it would be reasonable that they offered an instalment payment plan.

Your employer may be assuming that you didn't spend it and so can easily repay it. That's not the case. You need to propose a repayment plan that means you still have enough each month to pay your bills.

Anyone you could possibly borrow it from?

If you can pay it back; you could get a letter from them stating your pay was incorrect and the overpayment has been returned which will help with your benefits claim.

It'd also avoid any issues with work given that you're so new.

I wouldn't have thought anyone who has just started a job would expect to be entitled to a bonus of that size within a month?

Sorry that you find yourself in this situation, OP. Hope you get it all sorted without losing out financially.

And I echo others about suggesting if you can possibly borrow it from someone then do so.

Work are not going to have expected you to have spent it- 20 maybe even a hundred but not at least six hundred pounds. So they will expect you to easily be able to pay it back

Fucking hell you posters that are holier than thou, berating the OP for being reckless and irresponsible and even suggesting her job may be in jeopardy because of this mistake.

Leave her alone for goodness sake. She said she is sorry and is upset and she knows she has to pay the price of this mistake by paying back the money.

The posters who claim they would never ever do anything so irresponsible because THEY are superior to us mere mortals (and yes in the same situation as the OP I admit I may have been tempted to spend the money on my child, especially as it was Xmas) would most likely prefer the OP be thrown in the stocks and publically humiliated for her mistake.

Stop putting the boot in and try jumping down from your ivory tower and perhaps acknowledge that she is human and made a mistake.

@Since the error was on their part, it would be reasonable that they offered an instalment payment plan.

They’re not obligated to - the error was OP’s in spending the money she didn’t earn. It’s no one else’s fault.

Anyone to borrow it from? Family, friends?

@FrogsAreMean

Because it wasn’t a mistake I’m not trying to put the boot in, but OP knew full well she didn’t earn that money and shouldn’t have spent it. Stop trying to absolve her of responsibility. Christmas is irrelevant.

No one is trying to put the boot in. Actually everyone is trying to help by presenting the employers view so that the op can think about how to approach them. And not be surprised when they turn round and say please pay it back now.

If she spoke to work expecting unadulterated sympathy she would be in for a shock and thus not able to prepare

I remember when I left a job once they paid me for a whole month instead of th few days I actually worked. I asked them to correct it, and when I said I’d pay it back all at once they were very surprised I didn’t request instalments!

My current employer overpaid me, I pointed out the mistake and even stil, they were quite tricky about agreeing a repayment plan, even thought I’d been overpaid slightly over many months and recovery in one month would have meant I literally couldn’t have fed my child never mind pay my bills.

It would be better to pay it all back out of this month’s salary if you can afford to (feb is a short month remember) then you’ll be back on track.

And to add context I once had a payroll error of two percent which I did spend because thought it might have been extra.

It is the scale of the error and the overspend. At least a one hundred percent overpayment

Frogs: it’s not holier than thou to say you wouldn’t spend £600 that isn’t yours!!

MrsAriadneOliver

I am not "trying to absolve her of responsibility" so try reading my post again. She has admitted (several times) she made a mistake. Whether you choose to SEE it as a mistake or not is entirely up to you.

Christmas may be irrelevant to those who have no money worries, but to some it is very relevant!

And you and other posters ARE putting the boot in and that is MY opinion, to which I am entitled.

You have your own opinions and I accept that.

You don't need to be holier than thou or live in an ivory tower to point out that no good will ever come from spending money that you know isn't yours.

Would you prefer that we all pretend that we would have done the same and say oh no hun, not your fault?

It's entirely reasonable for posters to point out that as a new employee it's not going to look good to admit the money is gone, suggesting trying to borrow it, work for free or sell whatever was bought is better than asking the employer to fund the repayment period imo

It wasn’t a mistake. She knew she didn’t earn it, so shouldn’t have spent it. But that’s done now, so she needs to focus on how to repay it quickly.

yes in the same situation as the OP I admit I may have been tempted to spend the money on my child

That’s just ridiculous.

MrsAriadneOliver

Well then I stand convicted of being ridiculous. You may have to come to terms with the fact that there are a lot of ridiculous people in this world.

There are a lot of boots being stuck in imho. Especially since the OP has said she feels like an idiot and is ashamed of what she has done. I'd expect this level of kicking for a person who was still blaming someone else...not someone saying how wrong they got it and how bad they feel.

Some posters love to put the boot in and then disguise it as advice.

Frogs, this is just one of those things that most people think “you cannot possibly have done that” because we just can’t believe someone would spend that money. Knowing it isn’t yours, and spending it when you know you’re going to end up losing 10-15% of your income for the next 12 months... we just can’t believe someone would do that. Even if you think there’s a chance it might be a bonus, you’d wait to find out for sure so you don’t end up in that situation. And to spend that amount in just a couple of weeks... when you’ve got a baby on a low income...most people would think “oh, we can save that and it gives us a buffer for if things go wrong”. It’s just one of these situation that most people sit open mouthed at. So there’s been some telling off aimed at the OP, but there has also been advice.

PattiStanger
Would you prefer that we all pretend that we would have done the same and say oh no hun, not your fault?"

Not really Patti, I don't really like the use of "hun" and there is no need for you to pretend to have done anything you haven't done. That is dishonest.

I was just being honest and ridiculous it seems to some.

It's entirely reasonable for posters to point out that as a new employee it's not going to look good to admit the money is gone, suggesting trying to borrow it, work for free or sell whatever was bought is better than asking the employer to fund the repayment period imo

Again, your opinion is your opinion, but maybe her employer will be helpful and do what they can to help her rectify her mistakes.

I don't recall the OP saying she was going to request her employer fund the repayment period though - perhaps I missed that bit.

I don't understand the panic. You got paid more. So if you don't get your help it is because you have more money anyway?

Potatoscone, RTFT.

potatoscone OP has spent the extra money

Oooops. Silly me. Almost as silly as spending the money!

Frogsaremean - if the OP asks to repay by instalments the employer is effecting funding it over however many months it takes, it would take me quite while to pay back a whole month's salary if I was double paid, it sounds like the OP has a tight budget so I'm thinking she'd need months rather than weeks,.