To be worried to bring this to manager's attention?

[emmalouise83]

Last year I requested a reduction in my hours from full time (37.5 hrs) to 32 hrs. I did this through formal channels with my manager and have the paperwork to back up my request. I have never looked at my payslips (all electronic, don't get them through the post), and just took for granted that this had been correctly processed as requested, and therefore assumed that the new amount I was being paid reflected the number of hours I'd asked for.

I have looked at my payslip for the first time properly today and noticed it says 33 hours at the top. I've looked back and they are all the same, since I requested the reduction. This means for the best part of a year I have been paid for 1 hour more per week than I've worked.

I am now really worried that if I raise this with my manager I will owe back a lot of money. 😩 Can to be made to pay it back if I raise it, do you think? This obviously wasn't my error as I was very clear in my flexible working request that I wanted to reduce to 32 hours. But could they argue that I should have checked my pay slips before now? What should I do?!

I thought this. If you're working less hours you might be entitled to shorter breaks, so if you're having 20 minute breaks instead of 30, for example, that might make up the difference, depending on shifts

Make sure you aren't out of pocket for deductions. I was overpaid for two months but it was a big difference. Due to the change in my hours and it happening around the tax year end I would have been massively out of pocket if I had done what they wanted and just paid the full whack back. I fought and they eventually accepted to sink the costs of the tax, national insurance, student loan and pension themselves. In hindsight they should have reversed it properly and got the money back from each place but they didn't and it isn't my job to be payroll.

It needs to be regularised but I would suggest that instead of paying anything back, you get paid for 32 hours a week but work 32.5 hours per week for the next 2 years, and you will then have worked all the time you were paid for.

Alternatively if your employers give more than the statutory minimum of Leave you could ask to sacrifice some of your Leave (still retaining the legal minimum) to rebalance some of the hours owed.

It's their mistake. You can work out the least inconvenient way to deal with it and insist on that. Magicking money out of a tight budget is not the only way

@Testina

Thank you that's very helpful! I'm not in a union unfortunately.

Then very likely you’re a union member?

And also very likely that your employer will have a standard way of dealing with this so likely to at least reply quickly.

No, not in a union 🙈

Over the course of the year it's 52 hours pay though.

To give you a little bit of hope OP, I had something similar. Reduced my week after Mat leave from 5 days to 4 and my company got something wrong and were overpaying me for around 8 months.

They actually brought it to my attention but said as it was their error they weren’t going to ask me to repay it. Fingers crossed for you!

This exact thing happened to me, also NHS. It was ten years ago though. I went down to 23 and they paid me 24 for a year. HR noticed not me.
At first I was told I would need to pay it or I could sell some annual leave. I asked for a breakdown of the full amount, with an email outlining my various options (lump sum, pay back monthly and selling leave). I also pointed out I was paying childcare vouchers out my pre tax amount and whether that was going to affect anything and whether I would be entitled to tax or NI back and pension.

They went away to get me all the information and never came back to me. Nothing ended up happening. Certainly there was no pressure or horribleness from them, it was very much their mistake and I was going to be given lots of time and options to pay it back.

Is it really common to not check one's payslip? I always check mine!

Oh this does give me hope! Thank you.

Here’s the ACAS page about overpayments, and it includes their free helpline number.

https://www.acas.org.uk/check-if-your-employer-can-make-deductions-from-your-wages

It will tell you, that they have an obligation to make a fair repayment plan with you.

If they'd been paying you for 31 and you had o my just realised the error- you would be expecting that mo ey to be given to you. The company will probably expect the same. Let your manager know ASAP, and they should let you work out a payment plan.

No because my hours and pay don't ever change. I get the same amount every month so I don't bother looking at it.

This is a very good point. If they do ask for it back, OP, make sure they work out how much NI, tax, pension, student loan etc you've paid extra and deduct that from the figure you owe

Honestly though, whether you repay or they write it off, it’s not as big a deal as you think right now - and the sooner you raise it the better you’ll feel. Honest!

@GoodChat thank you, will do. Oh god I feel sick at the thought of raising it 🙈

They're much more likely to be reasonable if you raise it rather than waiting for them to realise so don't worry. As you say, it's not your error.

Mine doesn't change either, I still always look at it. Especially when I know there's been a change, like hours worked or COL increase.

Anyway, I hope HR has a reasonable response, OP. Best to address it ASAP.

It's been around 11 months of this, so about 44/45 ish weeks. That means I potentially owe 45 weeks x my hourly rate 😭

Likewise in my sme.

I suspect if you've reduced your hours it's unlikely you're giving many for 'free', but if you do work lunches/log on at home sometimes, and aren't a complete clock watcher they may still suck it up as an admin error their side.

Don't mention paying it back just inform him that the payslip mistakenly says 33 hours and needs to be reduced to 32 as per your agreement. With any luck they'll just adjust future payments, or as others have said will work out a payment plan that works for you.

Depends if yours is a nice friendly email. Or if it's a PDF password protected pain in the ass.

For my last 3 jobs mine have been password protected and a PITA to access. So what's the point in checking? You work the same hours every week

@toiletinacupboard

Yeah mine is also a pain to access - passwords and all that. And I always forget them! So I don't bother as I know what I got paid last month so it's just the same etc

Our rule of thumb for paying back payroll errors is that it's paid back gradually over the same period of time that the overpayment was in place for. So if you've been overpaid for a year, you pay back over a year - hopefully that wouldn't be too painful.

I am NHS and had this along with 4 other employees who work with me (management not the brightest or most computer literate). It was 4 months and HR noticed but it was when the void bonus payment was made plus emergency tax so my wage hadn't changed by much but had to pay £1k back. Took it over about 4 months.

You have to tell them and will most likely have to pay it back but you can negotiate how long for.