This is a long story so I'll try and make it as brief as possible:
I worked at the same company for over 5 years, and I was in quite a senior role for the last 3.5 years. I'd never had a written contract with them but my hours were consistent. It was a termtime only position but my projected annual income was averaged out so I'd get the same "basic wage" each month regardless of whether it was school holidays or not. 5/6ths of this money was paid in to my account by standing order and the remainder was paid by cheque, to allow for any additions/deductions.
We had to leave our premises this Summer. It was agreed that a new building would be funded for us and this was due to be ready by early September. As often happens in these situations that date was pushed back further and further by the builders... late Sept, early Oct, mid Oct etc. I was informed of this delay towards the end of August. I asked my manager what would happen about pay, and confessed that not being paid would be an issue because as a lone parent I would need an income from somewhere. I wasn't too sure of the legalities but I felt that not being paid could mean that I was no longer their employee and I would need to claim benefits to tide me over until I was able to return to work. My manager didn't know the answer to my question at the time, but a few days later she texted me and said that "money will go in to the bank as usual". At no point were any terms and conditions attached to this - it wasn't made explicit that I would be expected to work for free throughout the year to pay it back. Looking back, my manager did drop a hint or two (e.g. about how she personally didn't mind putting in some voluntary hours when we re opened) but I didn't really get the significance of what she was saying. I'm still not 100% sure now!
As expected, the bank portion of my wage was paid in to my account at the end of September. I did some bits of work here and there which I was asked to keep a record of but it was nowhere near my normal hours. Then, at the beginning of October I was offered another job, which I decided to accept. I was determined to do everything 'properly' despite not having a contract to refer to so I sent a letter of resignation in which I stated that I was giving notice to leave at the end of the month and would fulfill any required duties until that date. Receipt of this letter was never acknowledged and nobody ever told me what I could expect. I did say to my manager that if she didn't want me to work a notice period under the circumstances I understood and I'd find a way to manage financially, but she said "oh no I think it would be nice". At this stage completion of the building was expected 10 days later, so I was fully expecting to do a couple of 'normal' weeks before my last day. As it turned out it was delayed once more and I only clocked up 11 hours for the entire month.
I wasn't honestly sure whether I'd get paid for October or not under the circumstances, but the money went in to my account as normal and I assumed they'd made the decision to pay me for my notice period. I now realise that this is a legal obligation anyway, even if the employer doesn't have any work to offer. My employment has now ended and I've started my new job.
HOWEVER... I've been having real trouble getting my p45 and last couple of wage slips out of them. I've been told by the chairperson that they'd be sorted out by the end of the week, that she'd phone me, that she'd put them through my door... nothing has materialised. Last week, out of the blue, my ex manager phoned me and asked me to do some work related things for her. I was completely baffled by this, but she explained that my money wasn't meant to have gone in to the bank for October (this was 23 days after the payment had cleared in my account!!) and "don't worry about it, I'll just get you doing a few things for me instead." I couldn't believe it! Fast forward to this week and I finally managed to catch the chairperson (by bumping in to her - otherwise I imagine I'd still be in the dark). She told me that there had been an overpayment of over £850 between the two months, that October's money was meant to be stopped but the bank paid it to me anyway, that the manager was intending to get me to do some IT related work for her to make up September's shortfall, but October was very much an overpayment. I was completely lost for words. I told her that this money has now gone and I can't just hand it back, which she appreciates, and she said she'd go back and have a discussion about what they expect me to do about it.
I've spoken to ACAS and they said that despite not having a written contract, it's clear that my contract is X hours per week and that they were obligated to pay me even if they couldn't fulfill their side of the contract by giving me the work, as it's wasn't my fault. Had I been able to go in to work I would have done so. The lady I spoke to also confirmed that I was entitled to be paid for my notice period. However, she did mention the possibility of them taking court action against me if I refuse to accept their proposal on how to resolve this, and I'm really scared. Even if things don't progress that far, I have visions of them turning lots of people against me for screwing them over and refusing to give the money back (I suffer from social anxiety so I'm not sure if this is something I'm blowing out of proportion, but realistically it could happen).
All I want to do, really, is what is right. I don't feel it's right to retrospectively attach terms and conditions to this money because had they made it clear what their expectations were from the beginning, I wouldn't have accepted it and I'd have started looking in to what benefits I could claim. I also really, REALLY don't want to be obligated to do any work for them ever again! I just keep going over and over it, worrying that I've missed something vital somewhere along the line, rehearsing what I'd say to them in this scenario and that scenario, but what worries me the most is that the chances are I will be unable to say any of it at all and burst into tears instead (stupid anxiety). I've requested my P45 several times over the past few weeks - pay roll at my new job need to see it, as do the council, but nobody seems to care about these deadlines or the stress they're causing me. If they suggest I pay back X amount per month until the 'debt' is cleared it probably wouldn't be the end of the world, but surely it can't be right?! What on earth do I do?? At this stage I'm waiting to see what they come back with but I would like to be as prepared as possible.
If you got to the end of that, thank you for reading 