They want me to return my wages

[Honeybear58]

Posting here for traffic as I need urgent advice please

I left my previous job over a month ago, I gave in my notice during August. As I worked in a school I timed the notice so I wouldn’t have to return in September, but I gave my correct notice and followed the correct procedures. I was still in my probation period so it was just 2 weeks notice expected.

I have now received an email from HR stating they have overpaid me my last month wage and want it back in full or they will take me to court because I haven’t worked my notice period therefore breached my contract.

1- I could not have physically worked my notice period as the school was closed for summer
2- I’m on a pro rata pay so a wage month is from the 10th-10th, I physically worked until the 22nd July when the school closed for summer. After that and before my last day of my notice period (1st) I was still technically employed and wouldn’t have been entitled to the pay up to the 10th August, is that correct? They did not pay me anything from the 10thAugust to my last day although I was still technically an employee and hadn’t handed in my notice at that point.

Im now very worried about it going to court because I’m in severe financial difficulty right now, to the point where I haven’t eaten all weekend so my children can. I can’t spare a months wage to give back to them. They won’t offer a small payment plan where I pay what I can afford each month either.
can anyone advise if they are correct or if I can challenge this due to not being able to work my notice period as they were closed? I will attempt citizens advice but I’m hoping someone here will have the knowledge to help. Thank you

If your company overpays you then you are entitled to pay back the amount in full immediately despite it being their mistake

You are correct it is not your fault they were closed during your notice period, did someone accept / acknowledge your notice?

I believe this is correct and they can claim it back. I would offer to pay in instalments and plead lack of funds or offer to work notice fully, whatever works best for them. Put the ball back in their court with those options.

How are you paid? E.g. some places are 2 weeks ahead and 2 weeks behind. Could that explain some of it?

What date did you hand in your notice, and was it acknowledged?

Ask for a breakdown and calculation of the overpayment as it sounds like you don't understand where it's come from.

If you have been paid though you will need to arrange a repayment plan.

Given the short time you were there it is possible you hadn't accrued enough leave - I get 5 weeks paid, and 5 weeks unpaid leave.

Were you working elsewhere in August? ie Did 2 different companies pay you after term finished?

If there us an error then they should offer a payment plan, it is unreasonable no to.

TTO contracts are difficult because unless you leave on the anniversary of you starting there will be a holiday pay adjustment. You will either be owed or have a deduction holiday pay.

It sounds like you haven't been employed there for long but without dates I can't tell you how much holiday pay you should have earned.
A rough calc is about 12.1% of the time worked. Eg worked 100 days entitled to 12.1 days holiday at your daily rate.
If your last working day was 22/7 & you were paid to 10/8 then you were paid 13 days holiday so should have worked 107.4 days for that pay.

Each pay will include an element of holiday pay so you will have to factor in the pay received and previous holidays.

How long have you worked there? If you’re paid pro rata and have been there a while there may be an argument some of it must be paid?

Where I work, if you hadn’t worked the full year, you wouldn’t accrue enough holiday pay to be paid all summer. It might be that?

I’m sure they would rather a payment plan than court fees though, can you speak to someone higher up in finance?

So they can penalise me for not working my notice period when they weren’t even open for me to work it?
I was never given a proper contract just a sheet of paper with my job title and hours I was asked to sign, but they never made this clause clear to me or I would have handed in my notice during July.
its paid in arrears so the August pay was for July, which is what they’re asking for.

Taking you to court doesn't mean they would get anywhere with the case. And even if they won, the court would absolutely not be expecting you to pay a lump sum that would mean you can't pay your priority bills.

Were you paid over 12 months for term-time hours?

I was there for 4 months and they’d stated regardless of how long you’d been employed, each employee would receive their full pay every month. if it was because i hadn’t worked long enough to build up pro rata, they’ve had 2 months to inform me so I’m not sure why they have queried this now.

Have you asked them for a breakdown of their calculation?

Yes my notice was acknowledged I emailed it to my manager and to head office, they replied with confirmation of acceptance. I didn’t hear from anyone after this as they could see I would not return on the day the school reopened as my notice period would have ended the day before.

I have emailed asking for confirmation of all the details and the clause in the contract, but as of yet I have not had a response.

If you're still in probation it sounds like you have been overpaid for the period of time you were there and hadn't accrued enough holiday. Term time only contracts are not well explained to the people on them, happens quite a lot in my workplace

So they can penalise me for not working my notice period when they weren’t even open for me to work it?

I think the point is that in a school, your contract usually reflects that the school holiday is non working time (similar to weekend). If your intention was to stop at the end of term, why didn't you give notice before that and work it out as normal?

Did they confirm your last day? Is it possible that your notice period didnt kick in until.term time so you would have had to work them in September? You should have a contract though

I don’t really know but I expect it’s just threats. Surely it would cost them fees to take you to court? For two weeks pay I can’t see how it would be worth their time and money.

Ask for the breakdown tell them you cannot afford to pay back in full and you will agree to a payment plan .
they can take you to court but I highly doubt it if you offer a payment plan , and if they did the court would accept a payment plan anyway so it would be no benefit to them to take you to court . the only way I can see them doing this if you avoided and ignored all contact .
put all this in writing and to them .

I thought most places had to at least accept a payment plan? It wouldn't stand up in court if you've offered a payment plan that you can afford (in writing) keep a trace.

From what I am aware that is correct but could be wrong.

I worked term time and had to pay back some of my pay when I left in August. As its pro rata you will get your wages split between 12 months so you don't have August with no pay normally - in theory.
I handed and worked my notice but was overpaid and had to pay them back.
That's my experience anyway

I would be tempted to tell them to do one. They'll have a hard time collecting the money via court order especially if you've evidence that you've asked for a payment plan and you have severe financial difficulties in paying priority bills and for food.

If you haven't already write a recorded letter to them exactly what you have put here including that you are able to manage a payment plan, your reasoning for when you handed your notice in and your financial circumstances.

It’s not that you haven’t worked your notice period (the school holidayS count as part of a notice period) it’s that you’ve been paid for holiday you haven’t accrued. You accrue holiday in term time to use in the school holidays and you’ve been paid as normal, as if you were working the full year and the holiday pay/accrued would therefore even out across the full year.