Former employer salary invoice

[Brazilnut25]

Hi I’d really appreciate some help and advice. I left my former employer in August of last year. My last day at work was the 1/8 after they told me to go home. There was some discussions about returning but for my mental health I couldn’t. My resignation was confirmed by them on 21/8. I was paid August salary (including some holiday owed) and now they want it back. I’ve been sent an invoice. I don’t have this money, what do I do?

Op said her manager tried to get her to return.

I wasn’t off sick. I went home home on the 1/8 as advised to by my line manager. Resignation was accepted by my manager on 21/8. Paid until that date plus holiday pay owning.

Owing

What was the content of the ‘back and forth’ emails?
were you being asked to go in to work, and did you refuse?

this sounds stressful, but it’s important to understand the devil
is in the detail here.

It was emails saying she thought I was good at my job and could we resolve things? I thought about it over the 3 weeks and came to the conclusion that nothing would change.

You were sent home on 1/8 - under what basis? Suspended / failed probation / sick/ compassionate / garden leave? Were you given a reason?

if you were asked to return, but for whatever reason you didn’t, then you could be in breach of contract and therefore not entitled to be paid for those days.

I’m in HR. I’ve terminated contracts with immediate effect and not paid people their notice because they have breached their contract or terms of notice.

it should however be clearly set out in writing to you, and you should have the opportunity to respond.

its also not as easy as ‘pay it back’ as there are tax and NI implications - ideally they need to provide you with a gross to net calculation. I.e if they overpaid you £2,000 then you don’t pay them £2,000 out of your own pocket, as you have already paid tax and NI in this. You wouldn’t have received £2,000 in your bank account. Have they provided this explanation, or any explanation of how it will be reversed through a payroll system?

I can understand you are distressed. I think it sounds like you were sent home on the 1st but it was not the case they wanted you at home for a prolonged period so I can see their perspective that you didn't follow proper procedure for resignation.

You were not working, no lt off sick, not suspended nor on annual leave so probably the only status left is abandonment of your post. That doesn't take away that they may have treated your badly before that though.

How far they will pursue this claim is a different thing though. I doubt your pay is significant enough to warrant more than a few threatening letters (you should respond to each stating your position just in case). I don't work in the public sector though so their threshold for pursuing claims may be lower.

Thank you for your reply. It’s real useful. I should probably add that I was still supernumerary when I left. There were at least 4 other seniors there that day. I told my line manager I’d had enough, I was in tears and she said just go home. Nothing was said about what this would be classed as.

Hi I was supernumerary when I went home so I don’t know if that makes a difference? There were lots of other staff and people around who just carried on. I wasn’t in the numbers. That’s why saying I deserted my post really irks me as it wasn’t like that.

And did you get a sick note to get signed off?

But I think it's becoming apparent that the line manager only sent her home for the afternoon, and then expected her back in work for the rest of the time.

I didn’t no but wish I had

So you only worked at that trust for one month? So you may have been owed maybe two days' holiday pay, I'd say, so you might expect to be paid until 1st Aug plus two more days. I'm sorry, OP, but without a sick note, you can't just decide not to go into work and expect to be paid.

I don’t think you really have a leg to stand on here to be honest OP- you went home on the 1st and then stayed home until the 21st with no authorisation, no sick note, no notice handed in, so you were not authorised to be off & therefore not entitled to be paid.

The term about “abandoning your post” is accurate, you left, and you then failed to return with no authorisation to do so- that’s what the term means.

I would say you are liable for the amount back so just set up a payment plan.

I was in this situation being over paid with current employer, negotiated not to payback but took a few months. A Co worker who had left and was also overpaid, had to paid back but as she was unable to afford it they could only take £5 per week.

The other days would be unapproved unpaid leave.

No GP would do that 8 months later, that's unconscionable.

Did you engage with the emails? It sounds like you were told to go home as overwhelmed, but unless there was a conversation about remaining off for a period they'd be expecting you back the next shift.

I think the main point here is that your manager sent you home for the afternoon, not indefinitely.

I completely understand why you feel like you didn't desert your post with everything that went on, but you undeniably did and that is why you'll be banned from working for that trust as you were in serious breach of contract.

Your manager sent you home on day 1 due to you being upset, if you chose to stay off you could self cert as sick for 7 days so up to that point everything is fine. The following two weeks you were AWOL so shouldn't have been paid for these, no one had told you to stay home. You weren't sick/suspended with relevant documentation so you absolutely made the choice there to desert your post, the policies didn't cease to apply to you on the basis you were upset at the lack of support.

I’d send them a copy of the email where a manager states that your resignation date was 21 August and then not engage again. I’d 100% not be paying this back. They have already banned you from working there so can’t make life worse for you in that way. I doubt they are going to pursue a debt of a few hundreds pounds, especially given the questionable circumstances of your leaving, and that they have already left this for several months.

I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard time.

Thank you I appreciate what you’re saying. I worked at the trust for 8 years prior to taking on a more senior role.

Did they send you a P45? If so, what termination date was on that?

Thank you

That’s a good point they did yes. I’ll find it and have a look