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?

Thank you

Thank you

Legally, abandoning your post generally means failing to attend work for an extended period without prior notice or legitimate explanation, often resulting in a termination of employment

I don’t think they can say you abandoned your post as you were told to go home.
Your employment did not end until you resigned and they accepted therefore you should be paid up until that time as you were technically still employed there

I wouldn’t pay it back to them, as someone else said, write a clear response to them stating why you will not be paying, get all your points in there and after that ignore them, if they attempt to go down the legal route they know that you could possibly fight back and bring the “bullying issue’ I doubt they will risk doing that for the sake of a few thousand, at the end of the day we are talking about less than a months pay here not thousands and thousands.

The pp mentions a debt collection agency, worth bearing in mind that a bailiff can only collect against an order of the court.

They can write, threaten etc, but without a warrant they cannot act on collection. Keep a close eye on your post for any court summons letters, initially you will be asked to submit your evidence in writing - if it comes to it via the court process you can offer to pay £10/month which the court will almost always accept.

Just keep an eagle eye on the post and respond promptly to any court documents, should they arrive.

And, should any bailiff attend your home, do not invite them in, best to talk through a window ajar.

I don’t think they can say you abandoned your post as you were told to go home.
On day one, but was repeatedly told to come back and didn’t?

Then that’s the first piece you have to understand before you offer any repayment plan. You at least need to defend your position.

The fact that you were supernumerary is irrelevant.

If you didn’t follow the trust’s absence reporting policy, you were absent without permission and therefore would not be paid.

Sorry OP but it sounds like you did abandon your post. She sent you home for the afternoon… not for however long you wanted. Until your next shift. You didn’t come back so you abandoned your post.

I don’t really understand how this has come to pass. If you had been working for the same employer for 8 years you had full employment rights and entitlement to notice. If you wanted to resign with immediate effect that should have been a negotiation which included pay dates. They agree to let you go, you agree no notice pay. If there was a suggestion of bullying impacting your mental health I’d have expected them to pay you in lieu of notice to shut the matter down typically, but whatever, it seems that HR has dropped the ball here as the terms of your exit should have been agreed at the time.

You just need to double down and say it was the manager that asked to stay at home and that your date of leaving was 21 August. The amount is not going to be worth the bother of them continuing to pursue this. Even if they try to go to small claims court you defend on the basis that your last date of employment was 21/8 and indeed clearly they thought the same at that stage because they paid you until then and that someone is now looking to be petty and rewrite the narrative.

No but she was following the manager's instructions to remain at home and her resignation was effective 21/8.

The employer did not tell her to go home and stay home though.

Instructions?

I bet the invoice has not been calculated for income tax, pensions holidays etc so you'll be paying for those twice. I'm going to pm you an employment lawyer I used recently. You can get a thirty minute free consultation. They'll outline whether your employer has a case and you can go from there. I know you just want to pay your employer to go away, but I think a few well written letters will soon put them off. Employers don't like going to court - it's expensive and looks bad. Dig deep and find some anger about this.

You have no basis to assume that.

it would have been a net amount calculated when I was in the NHS.

Is that OP on a name change fail?

Fine, just trying to help you avoid getting screwed but will step out.

I’m not the OP, no. But as I’ve said elsewhere up thread, I am ex-NHS HR.

I see. Well, in that case OP I recommend speaking to ACAS and/or an employment lawyer. My experience is that employers are absolutely capable of screwing you over, even the supposedly decent ones, and it's rarely in your best interests to just accept the first request.

Agree with this. NHS Payroll is run centrally and they calculate the net overpayment after taking deductions into account. They should have sent OP a statement detailing their calculations.

Hi @Brazilnut25 I just wondered how you got on?