Overpaid - what now?

[Haypanky]

I have just found out that since I was promoted in March 2018, I have been overpaid. I am part time, working 24hrs, and have been paid for 27hrs. My company are sending me a letter regarding repayments. I'm bricking it that they will want a big lump of cash in one go. I don't have any savings. Has anyone got any experience of this? I don't think it will make any difference, but for the record this is their mistake as they put my hours wrong on an internal system. My mistake was not checking my payslip now thoroughly. My only defence is that I didn't have an easy comparison as I was on maternity leave and came back to the promotion. I'm an idiot still.

Check your contract. Many contracts will say that they can extract money you owe them. But similarly, there's also often a time limit on that ie they can extract money as long as it's within 3 months.

Other than that, you may have to wait to see what the letter says and then take it from there. Certainly, if they propose taking it all at once, I'd go back to them and ask if you can agree a payment plan.

My firm mucked up my pay one month and they agreed I could pay it back per a reasonable schedule, a repayment schedule is pretty standard

Thank goodness, maybe I'll at least be able to sleep tonight. Thank you both.

I'm sure they'll accept a repayment plan. As the overpayment period is roughly a year, could you afford to repay it over six months?

Don't worry about having a defence, it was a mutual mistake and as long as you're not difficult about it, it's unlikely they will be either.

Rules for making deductions from your pay
Your employer is not allowed to make a deduction from your pay or wages UNLESS

it is required or allowed by law, for example National Insurance, income tax or student loan repayments
you agree in writing to a deduction
your contract of employment says they can
it is a result of any statutory disciplinary proceedings
there is a statutory payment due to a public authority
you have not worked due to taking part in a strike or industrial action
it is to recover an earlier overpayment of wages or expenses
it is a result of a court order
A deduction must not reduce your pay below the National Minimum Wage rate (except a limited amount for accommodation). This applies even if you have given your permission for it.

I'll be asking for a repayment plan then 😔

Make sure that you get the tax and National insurance back, it’s not a straight forward three hours pay as you’ve possibly paid tax and NI on it as the company will have deducted this