Unfair repay dismissal

[Blojappre]

This is over 14 years ago so I won’t seek any legal help for it but just want to find out if I’m right to feel it was unfair. I was employed as a live in nanny for a family. I worked with them full time- then they went away to their summer house in France where their aupair joined them and I got paid for annual leave. I travelled using the payment for my annual leave. Upon my return they said they no longer needed me and I ceased employment. Then two weeks later finding another (Fantastic) position (I stayed for 15 years with this family) they then instructed me to pay back every week of my holiday pay. I was only just employed with a new family and they expected me to pay back a full summer of pay when I had no idea that I was about to be made redundant on my return. To make it worse the boss was a barrister. Looking back I’m so shocked, but at the time I just did as I was told.

How long had you worked for them? Holiday entitlement accumulates on a monthly basis over the year so if you use more than you have accumulated when you leave then you owe them.

I think you’re right to feel it was unfair - they are the ones that went away and didn’t have work available for you. They should have taken the loss.

What shitty behaviour from them. Of course you spent the money, you did not know you were about to lose your job. Some wealthy people are so stingy.

How much holiday did you get? How long had you worked for them and how much did you take?

say you had work there 6m and were entitled to 5 weeks a year and at the point your contract ended you had used 4 weeks. You would have accrued 2.5 weeks so owe back 1.5 weeks. Also were you entitled to notice and did you get a?

Whether they were legally right or not it was crappy of them.

I agree with PPs about the accrual of annual leave over the year which could have meant you owed them some money back or that they owed you. However, also what did your contract say about notice? And, if you had worked there for over two years, surely you should have been entitled to redundancy pay since an au pair is arguably not filling the same role.