Work overpaid me by 20k, can’t pay back

[WhatsMyUsername89]

My work has overpaid me by £20,000.

I recieved a 5k bonus. Then for the next 4 months I got the 5k every month.

I rang my boss after I realised & she said I need to contact HR. Called HR, they said put it in an email.

Emailed HR saying think I’ve been overpaid let me know exact amount and how to pay it back. I CC’ed my manager

I also called another manager and she said the same thing as my manager and told me to email it.

I travel a lot for work, and when I saw our HR member in Singapore I did say “have you looked at my pay issue.” She said she’ll get back to me.

I’ve heard nothing. It’s been 10 months.

what do I do? They haven’t asked for it back. It’s just sat in a separate account, I haven’t spent it.

Wondering if someone is trying to hide it to not admit their mistake? Potentially thinking could it be picked up at end of financial year?

I definitely agree that an independent accountant, paid for by the company, should be used to assess how much should actually be paid back, and the company cover any out of pocket expenses in terms of tax, benefits, etc that may have been affected.

Just keep escalating, OP. That's all you can do.
or post a picture of your new car on the intranet and say "thanks HR, the 20k came in handy!" (as a joke) and see if anyone bites (that's not a serious suggestion)

Contact your Finance Director/CFO, they'll want to know.

I'd be inclined to send a final email saying something along the lines of -

following my previous emails, which have not been actioned, I would like to remind you that I was overpaid by xxxx on these dates - xxxxx.

If you would like me to take any action on this matter, please can you advice me on what that action should be.

As this is my 3rd (?) email regarding this matter, I will not be chasing it up again. Please feel free to contact me at any point if you wish to discuss it further.

Then like others say - pop it in a savings account, premium bonds etc.

If / when you do have to pay it back though be careful you don't overpay it because you may have paid tax etc on that money.

This!

When I left a previous role, my employer paid me my usual salary the month after I left, by mistake. I emailed payroll, they said "Aargh! Here are our bank details," and I transferred the money straight back again, the same day. It never occurred to me there might be tax/NI implications. Oh well, water under the bridge.

Ah fair enough I’m not a finance person

Can you actually talk to a person by phone or in person rather than email?

This could impact your tax brackets,your child benefit. Needs adjsuting prior to the end of the tax year.

Ok, so I am a lawyer and those talking about being prosecuted for fraud in a scenario in which OP has alerted the company more than once and kept money separate so that she can immediately give it back are very wide of the mark. There is clearly no intention permanently to deprive and OP doesn't need to lie awake or turn up with bank notes. The company has created this, the OP doesn't have to spend an unreasonable amount of time chasing them.

That said, there has not been sufficient time that OP could ever assume that they won't ask for the money back (might well be picked up on audit, so could be another year before someone queries it). Therefore, it must be kept separately - a separate interest bearing account would be fine (don't spend the interest though, just keep separate for now) premium bonds would absolutely not. Keep it there for at least 2 years if company doesn't chase it.

If picked up later, it will be inconvenient for OP for tax purposes etc. Therefore, OP, you need to escalate it. Write a letter and tell them what you have done so far. Send by email cc'ing the finance director and your boss. Explain that you are escalating as you really need it sorted before end of tax year because otherwise it will mess up your tax and their payroll.

Something similar happened to me once, although with a smaller amount! I was paid double one month and notified payroll several times but got no response. I then left the job and moved to the other end of the country. Years later, I was applying to rent a flat and discovered that I had a CCJ! They'd eventually come after me for the repayment but only wrote to my previous home address and of course I didn't respond because I never got the letters. I did manage to get the CCJ struck off because I could demonstrate that I their letters never reached me. Got to keep the money as well as it'd been about 8 years since the overpayment at that point 😁

No fraud prosecution could conceivably get off the ground. Emailing the department which deals with the payroll plus alerting two managers plus keeping the money separate so that it can be paid back would be more than enough evidence to show she has no fraudulent intention, which is essential to prove any crime.

A company which went to the police and said "We overpaid our employee, she told us more than once, we paid enough attention to her communications to stop the payments but never got round to sorting out repayment, now we want her arrested for fraud because we think she should have pestered us till we did something about it" would simply be giving the police a hell of a good laugh.

Bloody hell @Blessedwithsunshine there was no need to be so abrupt and threatening in your tone! At no point has OP implied any intent to either keep the money or give up trying to give them it back! You're bang out of order

To those who are saying the OP is potentially in trouble; for what exactly?
She's trying to give it back. It's sitting there unspent. What can she get done for exactly?

OP keep sending emails and keep an audit trail. And make sure you talk about the tax implications for you too, aa this could leave you out of pocket.

That was an hysterical and rather inaccurate response. I was gently pointing out the facts not suggesting armed police burst through the door 🙄

I will say I am quite surprised by the suggestions to ‘keep quiet’ and the dishonesty on this thread. It is theft if it is not returned and you sit quietly on company money, fact.

I would point out that IF it is part of a bigger case of fraud (wouldn't be the first) dressed up as a ‘mistake’ and op is implicated, and doesn’t have a strong evidence trail that is genuine and convincing that might be an issue. Not everything boils down to ineptitude and incompetence!

I've got a similar issue. I got paid by two different agencies for the same shift. Let them know as soon as I realised. But chasing it is getting nowhere. It's a much small amount of money though. It's been 2 months now!

Except you weren't pointing out facts, because no prosecution would come near getting off the ground in the facts as given by OP.

When you repay it, deduct the HMRC tax you've paid on it through PAYE or else you'll have to chase HMRC for it. Make your employer chase them. Ideally get it sent back in the same FY if possible.

Thanks everyone. Have emailed CEO today. Can’t be asked for things to get sticky.

Good move. Hope they give it to you as a gesture of goodwill. 😊

You have an email trail to show you have raised it multiple times. (Print this and keep do you have a record if you leave the company). As far as I’d be concerned you had discharged your liability to report. As someone who regularly reconciles payments this should flag up as an anomaly but because they have so many it probably isn’t material. As others have said, stick in premium bonds and leave it and pay back if requested.

Bloody hell, she's not going to be arrested for fraud. The company overpaid which she had no part in, the company has to ask her to repay, and she has the money set aside to do so. If she refuses to repay they can take it to court to recover costs, why on earth would anyone try to scare her with the possibility of criminal charges... madness!

This happened very recently to my DD in her part time job, they had clearly paid her twice, she told the company who sorted it really quickly, the payroll manager thanked her for being honest and sent her a link to bank details to pay it back. It should be that simple, particularly for such a large sum.

If OP put the money in Premium.Bonds and won surely winnings wouldn't be hers because it's not her money, this would also be misuse of company funds I would imagine

Surely though by that logic, any interest accrued in any account would also be gaining from company funds... I don't recommend stuffing the money under a mattress until they ask for it back