Overpaid Holiday entitlement

IfWishesWereKisses · 2020-10-26T17:05:10+00:00

I have just received an email from an old employer advising I was overpaid holiday entitlement not taken when I left my employment in Jan 2019. I queried it at the time but they were insistent it was right. I hung on to the money for about 6 months convinced they would ask for it back but then eventually spent it when they didn’t. They’ve apparently just done an audit and realised they did i overpay me and they want it all paid back by cheque no later than 26 November Can anyone tell me my what my rights are in terms of paying this back...do I need to pay it all back in one go?

flowery · 26/10/2020 19:39

How much are we talking? This is an employer you left not far off two years ago?

As you'queried it at the time and it was that long ago, I would probably ignore, to be honest. No sane employer would actively pursue an ex employee for overpaid holiday this long afterwards.

Porridgeoat · 26/10/2020 19:41

How much? That’s too little notice even if you do pay it back

Original poster

IfWishesWereKisses · 26/10/2020 19:47

It’s not a huge amount, a bit less than £200 but I simply cannot afford to pay it back in one go.

OP posts:

LaurieFairyCake · 26/10/2020 19:50

You've left 2 years ago ?

I don't think you have any obligation to pay it back.

If they decided to pursue you through the small claims court you could easily get to pay it back a £1 a week.

flowery · 26/10/2020 19:51

Do you need them to give you good references in the future?

islockdownoveryet · 26/10/2020 19:51

I may be wrong but I very much doubt they can do anything now you've left .
I remember I worked somewhere once and people had left and they hadn't deducted holidays that they had taken , it was last pay so nothing they could do .

Toilenstripes · 26/10/2020 19:54

Ignore. They overpaid, you queried and were assured it was correct. It sounds like an inexperienced payroll or HR assistant trying to cover a mistake.

FatBottomedGurl · 26/10/2020 20:01

Without any future payrolls to automatically deduct from, they are goosed. They could take it to small claims but the filing costs would be almost as much as what they are pursuing for, so I highly doubt they would push it beyond an email or two.

I assume they are going down the route of "don't ask, you don't get" .

But... askin' ain't gettin'!

AndWhat · 26/10/2020 20:05

I had a similar issue and they told me they would pass the debt to a debt collectors. I took legal advice and they said we had a good argument but ultimately it would go down to the judge on the day and I didn’t want to take the risk of a ccj as I was looking to get a mortgage.
I came to an agreement with the company to repay a small amount monthly to clear the debt so offer them what you can pay or take your chances.

Original poster

IfWishesWereKisses · 26/10/2020 20:41

Apologies for being a bit vague.

The employer was an MP however the payroll and HR is carried out by an organisation called IPSA so not a small company nor inexperienced. I actually left in June 2018 but IPSA messed up and so in effect I was still employed in Jan 2019 even though I hadn’t actually worked for them since the previous June.

Both myself and the MP office manager queried the payment when it came through but they were insistent that it was correct. I sadly deleted the email from the office manager confirming these details just recently.

I left to start my own business which has been decimated by the pandemic hence not being able to afford to repay it.

Any reference for future employment would come from the office I worked in rather than from HR so no worries there but I’m worried that they would pursue me in some way if I don’t pay.

They said in their email regarding paying the money back in one payment by 26 November “If this would not be possible, and you wish to discuss an alternative method of repayment, please advance a repayment plan and we will consider your plan.“

OP posts:

flowery · 26/10/2020 21:17

In that case I would ignore completely. They are not going to take legal action against you for £200 holiday for a job you stopped working at 2.5 years ago.

Ariela · 26/10/2020 21:23

Hopefully they will have kept their emails. I suggest you bat back and say please refer to the series of emails between myself and (name)office manager where I queried this in (month, year) and he confirmed the payment was correct.

LilyE1234 · 26/10/2020 21:35

How have they even managed to contact you? For all they know you might have a new email address so never received the request for overpayment

prh47bridge · 27/10/2020 00:09

They could take it to small claims but the filing costs would be almost as much as what they are pursuing for

Rubbish. They are after £200. The court fee would be £25 and would be added to the claim.

I would be surprised if they pursue this but it won't be due to the court costs. It will be their internal costs that make it not worthwhile.

FatBottomedGurl · 27/10/2020 13:45

@prh47bridge

They could take it to small claims but the filing costs would be almost as much as what they are pursuing for

Rubbish. They are after £200. The court fee would be £25 and would be added to the claim.

I would be surprised if they pursue this but it won't be due to the court costs. It will be their internal costs that make it not worthwhile.

Rubbish. They are after £200. The court fee would be £25 and would be added to the claim.

What a petty thing to argue about. Time costs money, so for them to assign a staff member to cataloguing the evidence and then send a representative/employee to court to argue over the £200, plus the filing costs, I would say its safely in the ballpark of £200.

knickybricks · 27/10/2020 19:04

Shocking behaviour from an MP, I thought you were talking thousands - ignore.

Original poster

IfWishesWereKisses · 27/10/2020 20:48

@knickybricks

Shocking behaviour from an MP, I thought you were talking thousands - ignore.

Not the MP...the independent authority who do the HR and payroll for all MPs. The MP was oblivious to the fact they’d even contacted me and is not best pleased about it.

OP posts:

nerdsville · 27/10/2020 21:38

Having worked in payroll for longer than I care to admit, the only thing that makes me hesitant to give my standard advice of 'if you just keep ignoring them they'll give up in the end' is the fact that this sounds like public funds, which can make them a bit keener to pursue recovery.

The private sector employers I've worked for generally had a policy of sending one letter asking for it back and then completely forgetting about it and just writing it off at year end, but back when I did County Council payroll we were pushed hard to recover any overpayment over £50 because they had much stricter rules around writing off anything paid for out of local gov budget.

I'd still take my chances and ignore it to be honest and in the reasonably unlikely event that they keep writing then I'd ask the MP to tell them to sod off on your behalf.

cricketmum84 · 27/10/2020 21:50

As a payroll professional I wouldn't even consider chasing someone who left 2.5 years ago for £200.

Shh don't tell anyone I said this but I would ignore.
They will send two chasing letters and then leave it.

Original poster

IfWishesWereKisses · 27/10/2020 21:52

@nerdsville

Having worked in payroll for longer than I care to admit, the only thing that makes me hesitant to give my standard advice of 'if you just keep ignoring them they'll give up in the end' is the fact that this sounds like public funds, which can make them a bit keener to pursue recovery.

The private sector employers I've worked for generally had a policy of sending one letter asking for it back and then completely forgetting about it and just writing it off at year end, but back when I did County Council payroll we were pushed hard to recover any overpayment over £50 because they had much stricter rules around writing off anything paid for out of local gov budget.

I'd still take my chances and ignore it to be honest and in the reasonably unlikely event that they keep writing then I'd ask the MP to tell them to sod off on your behalf.

I have no real issue with paying it back - it’s public money and it would feel wrong to hang onto it.

My issue is the tone of the email and the demand for it all back at once.

OP posts:

nerdsville · 27/10/2020 22:10

Yeah that's pretty standard language for this sort of thing really, no compassion, just a template letter saying 'oh oops we overpaid you and even though it's our fault we insist you give it back immediately or we'll send the boys round.'

9 times out of 10 it's a completely empty threat and you'll never hear another thing. In this situation, where the overpayment was only 200 quid, it happened 2 years ago and you actively queried it and were told it was correct, I imagine the poor person made to write the letter was probably mortified to have to do so and only did so to tick off a box on an audit report. They're probably half-expecting you to ring up and shout at them so they might even be relieved if you don't respond.