Overpaid wages

[gratedcheeseislife]

In a bit of a panic atm so need some advice if possible!

I'm a HLTA but have an ex-teacher so at my school, my contract changes around quite a lot as they add on teaching elements, etc. when needed.

In July, I took over as phonics lead so agreed to alter my contract to drop one day as a HLTA and add one day as a teacher.

Found out today that I've been being overpaid since then as the council did not drop one of my HLTA days. Not been worked out properly yet but will be around £1000 that I owe back. I know I can do a payment plan and usually I wouldn't be so panicky but I go on mat leave in June so obviously I don't want to lower my wages as they will use my average as a basis for my mat pay. I also don't know if they can take anything off SMP because when it drops down to just this, I have worked out that I can barely scrape by on this amount. Taking any more money from my wages would be awful for us!

I've scoured the internet and I don't seem to have a leg to stand on regarding actually repaying but can this repayment be deferred until after maternity leave? Or will they accept a very small amount of repayment per month so that at least it won't hit as hard?

We are also changing to an academy in September so I'm not sure how this will affect it all as I won't be employed by the council anymore.

Just very frazzled! Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Am an ex-teacher, not have!

Have you taken into account your back pay from the pay rise? Mine equated to around £900

I got £300 extra in December (was £600 but deducted tax, student loans, etc.). Does this mean I shouldn't have been paid as much back pay either? It's confusing me 😣

Off the top of my head

(contracted hours/full time hours..usually 37) X(44 or whatever your council pay you for/52) X 1975

Im sure it’s £1975 anyway could be wrong though. A quick Google will help.

once you have that figure, that’s how much you’d be paid extra for the year.. divide it by 12, then X9 to get you paid up to December.

Then, take off tax NI, pensions etc

How do you know you’ve been paid too much? Your working out or have they told you?

They've told me today. Council have been in touch with our business manager but not given her the full amount yet. However, she's worked it out to be around £1000. She's dealing with them to get the correct amount and to arrange a repayment plan.

Bummer. Are you in a union? Could be worth a call.

It's rubbish but I don't mind paying it back as it was an overpayment. It's just how it will affect my mat pay 🫤

It doesn't. Or at least the paying back of the overpayment doesn't. You will still get the maternity pay that toys have for without the overpayment. Or you should.

What I would be looking at ( and it would help if you have a union) is to either ask for discretionary support to not pay it back due to your situation ( that's a stretch but worth asking) or go pay it back after maternity leave or over a longer period. Don't ask, don't get.

@gratedcheeseislife how much can you realistically afford to repay each month?

Two factors to bear in mind a) the money will be the element most highly taxed, NI’d and pensionable b) the deductions in Jan, Feb and March will see your tax automatically adjusted. NI you need to claim from HMRC.

You need to move quickly but try to get figures from Payroll Manager asap as to the impact. If you can agree to a decent amount starting in Jan.

Also ask payroll about your mat pay, I believe this should be based on your gross pay before deductions including overpayment recovery.

I know it’s hard but realistically unless you are paid one salary for both jobs it should have been obvious on your payslip that your salary for the one job hadn’t changed. The onus is on you to check your payslip.

Thank you for all your advice. I have got in touch with the union for a bit of advice and will speak to school about possible deferral.

I am paid just one wage. This changes according to what my current contract is (this changes quite regularly) but it is always just stated as one overall payment and then deductions such as pension, etc. are made. So checking my payslip (which I do each month) tells me nothing about which hours I am being paid for which portion of my contract. This is why I had no idea of an overpayment.

@gratedcheeseislife ah, that’s not an ideal way to show your payments on your payslip.

Why aren’t they providing you with a detailed payslip detailing what hours you are working as a teacher and what hours you are working as a TA? How can you check if you have been paid correctly. I would ask for backdated full payslips and check them.