what's your experience of being overpaid at work, or anyone you know?

DorisLessingsCat · 24/04/2021 10:33

A member of my staff was paid as FT instead of PT for a year! She was so ditzy she didn't realise. We reclaimed the money over 6 months.

I was overpaid once as a promotion due in September was applied from May. I don't think anyone would have noticed but I alerted HR immediately and they adjusted it the following month.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 24/04/2021 10:45

what did your employer do when they realised their mistake

I know someone who was dismissed for not reporting the overpayment as they clearly knew they were being overpaid.

Spb123 · 24/04/2021 10:49

All 3000+ employees at my old workplace were once paid double by mistake! We had to pay it back via BACS I believe. It was some time ago now. I'm not sure what happened to the people who didn't pay it back, it was probably taken off future wages. I'd have hated to be responsible for that clanger!

Hankunamatata · 24/04/2021 10:50

Yep. Had to pay it back. Luckily I realised my pay was different so I informed them and put it to one side as they took months to sort it. Then paid it back as lump sum

Original poster

stupidcomputer · 24/04/2021 10:51

Both those examples are really interesting and such polar opposites! I'm particular interested in public sector examples. I imagine that there will be all sorts of pay problems due to covid.

OP posts:

Mmmmdanone · 24/04/2021 10:53

I was overpaid for 4 months, despite alerting them after the first overpayment. I was allowed to repay over 4 months.

eatyourcake · 24/04/2021 10:57

I got paid £2 extra per hour than agreed for a few months, was very young and didn't even consider that they would want it back! They cut my pay to reclaim the money over the next few months. I'd say you've got to mention it, rather than spend the money and worry about what will happen when they realise.

kickergoes · 24/04/2021 11:01

Happened to DH and I few times, I watch my pay like a hawk now, if I don't understand why it's the amount it is- I ask, if I can see I'm overpaid I alert them immediately. If you keep an eye on it you can set it aside, it'll always need paying back (especially if public sector) though one time I was caught out when younger (the reason I'm more vigilant now) and was able to pay back over a few months for a softer blow!

DH's work has a rule I can't remember if it's 50% of one month or 4 day's pay for maximum they can take in a month, I remember both being mentioned, overpayment is common due to work allowances and cut off dates (another reason we watch vigilantly now!)

I think most reasonable employers will allow an agreed monthly amount if it will put you in trouble.

Whatawaytogo · 24/04/2021 11:03

A member of my staff was paid as FT instead of PT for a year! She was so ditzy she didn't realise. We reclaimed the money over 6 months.

It sounds like she was working for a pretty ditzy company.

*

KingdomScrolls · 24/04/2021 11:04

About six years ago I had a public sector practitioner job, I also had a second 0 hour bank contract to do something similar but in a different part of the justice system, ad hoc and often night shifts. On month I had done one shift on the bank contract, they paid me as though I had worked there full time for the whole month! They also said this to HMRC so my tax codes got messed up. I raised it the day I'd been paid so just put the money in an old savings account. It took me about six months to get them to take it back, they kept offering me payment plans etc, then getting confused saying I did work full time for the MOJ (I did but in another strand), it was a nightmare.
A colleague also public sector was being paid full time when she was 0.8 she didn't realise as she'd been promoted so thought that was the correct salary. It took over a year for her to realise (when a FT colleague made a comment about pay) , she then contacted them and a payment plan was eventually agreed but first off they wanted her to pay everything back in the same month! So in a nutshell they seem to be a bit difficult but stand your ground and they will accept any reasonable suggestion.

Margaritatime · 24/04/2021 11:08

It is an employees responsibility to check their payslips and that they have been paid correctly. Any overpayments should be notified ASAP to enable payroll to be corrected. Some overpayments are more obvious than others and so not always easy to spot.

In terms of recovery, you are asking about public sector, its considered taxpayers money and so every effort is made to recover overpayments. Once the total overpayment has been identified you will be asked to repay. The best outcome is if you agree a reasonable repayment schedule that is achievable, they would rather have £40 a month (£10 a week) than having drawn out negotiations but the min8mum amount depends on the overpayment. Typically you can be given twice the period of the overpayment to repay. It would be recovered, in full/as much as possible, from final salary if you resigned. They can and do pursue through small claims court but this is last resort.

If you have spotted an overpayment please inform HR/payroll ASAP as the longer you leave it the worst it looks.

kickergoes · 24/04/2021 11:12

My DH is public sector, in his payslip when they recoup it's actually labelled as "public debt" really reiterating why they need to take the money back ha.

MaMaD1990 · 24/04/2021 11:16

I work in the public sector and a colleague of mine was overpaid for 4 years! They demanded the money back within quite a short period (taking it out of her pay each month - considering she owed thousands back it left her with practically nothing on pay day). Lots of arguing back and forth she was given a sensible time frame to pay it all back but had to take a second job to keep her head above water. Awful.

Original poster

stupidcomputer · 24/04/2021 11:21

Thanks so much for all these useful answers. In the case in question, it was an obvious overpayment that went on for a while, with the overpayment being ringfenced by the employee (so they didn't spend it all) who didn't have time to sort it out because they have been going thru IVF all this time and dealing with the harsh impacts of covid on their family (both of which they're still having to do). The employee has now started to try and resolve it with the employer, as the employer has finally noticed, but isn't getting anywhere fast and is worried about it as their boss was really angry about it. It just seems a bit mad to me that they should get in trouble for something that wasn't their mistake, especially as they have looked after the money and are able to pay it back. I've certainly never been told by any of my employers that it's my responsibility to check my payslip.

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AdventureIsWaiting · 24/04/2021 11:25

Public sector. Final payslip incorrect (paid me to the end of the month, not the point I left). Told them (twice), they denied & said it was fine.

Three months later got aggressive demanding letter in the post saying I had to pay it all back "within 14 days". Took me a further five months to sort it out as they kept calculating the sum incorrectly... at one stage they had me working my final two weeks for free Lots of weeks without contact on their part. I had to chase each time. Hugely frustrating, made me very angry considering it was their error and they were causing huge stress. We eventually agreed on a figure, but it wasn't what I'd calculated - close enough though.

alaiahagsv · 24/04/2021 11:26

Someone I knew was overpaid for 2 years, never said anything and then left. Due to the nature of our work the incorrect pay scale was continued into her next job as well. Personally I would have said something as I'd be too stressed about having to pay it back at some point, but she took the risk and it worked out. She was lucky though as they did a pay audit a few months after she left and that would have flagged the mistake.

MaMaD1990 · 24/04/2021 11:27

Yes I think they probably should've raised this earlier on to be honest, especially if they've been able to put it to one side. Not sure why the boss is annoyed if items no extra paperwork for them (maybe it does that's why they're irritated?). Hopefully the HR/payroll dept will figure out a quick solution.

EL8888 · 24/04/2021 11:28

It happened to a friend of mine, she had the option to pay back in instalments or in a lump sum out of her salary. She went for the lump sum and had a month with very little money

I have never been overpaid. I always seem to work for organisations who under pay and then take ages resolve it

Phalarope · 24/04/2021 11:31

I was briefly overpaid towards the end of mat leave - I was back on payroll but taking some unpaid leave to extend it. I spotted it and put the money aside - employer’s default position was they wanted me to pay it back in instalments over several months, and were a bit taken aback by me trying to return it as a lump sum. Took a couple of weeks to resolve.

Depending on the size of the company, it must happen fairly regularly and shouldn’t be something to get angry about - but was it flagged as soon as it was spotted? Wouldn’t expect the employee to do more than an email or call to HR/payroll.

DobbyIsAFreeElf · 24/04/2021 11:34

I was overpaid when I left my first job, I left after the cut off date for the month so though I was entitled to it as I'd worked a couple of shifts, until a couple of months later when I received some post demanding the money to be paid back immediately. I'd left my job to do a PGCE so I was unemployed at the time and they had to wait until I'd got my student finance through before I could pay it back.

kickergoes · 24/04/2021 11:36

Oh and I just remembered another time DH was over paid on leaving a job and we moved, next thing we know about a year later he's got threats of a CCJ as it was past to a debt management company but he didn't get the original letters, they thankfully managed to track him down, this was a public sector employer too. So don't run from it!

Hardbackwriter · 24/04/2021 11:40

I left a job and they kept paying me for two months even though I told them after the first payment that I clearly shouldn't have received. HR were completely dismissive about it when I asked how to repay and said they'd 'send a letter' - they did, eight months later (just before the end of the tax year) send a series of really quite threatening and terse letters that continued even after I immediately repaid the money (which I'd put into a separate account). HR were again dismissive that I'd be at all concerned about receiving a letter threatening court action after repaying it - 'oh, it won't have updated on the system yet'. Thanks, guys! This was at a university.

Wiiseoldelf · 24/04/2021 11:40

I'm going through this at the minute.

Went from ft to part time and it took from October to Feb to sort.

I kept the difference but have been told that it all has to be paid back via a gross deduction so that money becomes mine to keep. Luckily they're not asking much back per month and it'll take me 6 years to clear.

It's all I can afford though and it's not my fault.

itbemay1 · 24/04/2021 11:43

I cut my hours at work but they still paid me for 3 months for the original hours. I didn't realise but as soon as I discovered it I let them know and agreed to pay it back £500 per month for 3 months.

Margaritatime · 24/04/2021 11:49

Their manager shouldn’t get angry, but they were wrong to not notify their employer as soon as they spotted they were being over paid. After all wouldn’t anyone notify their employer immediately if they were being under paid.

I appreciate IVF and COVID are stressful but worrying about an overpayment surely adds to this.

The longer an overpayment goes on the more complex it is to resolve, particularly if it spans two or more tax years. Notifying an employer as soon as you notice an overpayment means they can immediately correct your pay to stop the overpayment increasing. They can also rectify tax, NI and pension contributions in the current tax year.

Most employees are unaware they have a responsibility to check their payslips and report overpayments. It’s normally set out in the pay policy, which in my experience no one ever reads. Technically if you know you are being overpaid and don’t report it they could do a disciplinary investigation. In reality they just want the money back so don’t go down this route.
Provided they are truthful going forward and keep cooperating it will be fine.