Overpayment over the last year - and now they want it back!!!!

[Reesie]

Payroll have overpaid me over a whole year. I came back from maternity leave and reduced my hours from 5 days to 4 days per week. However, payroll state that they didn't receive my changes form so carried on paying me at 5 days for a whole year!!!

I did think that my salary was good but I had changed jobs and was earning less than my collegues (in retrospect though - this was probably due to my collegues having unsociable hours payments).

A changes form was done and sent from my department but Payroll state that they didn't receive it.

Now I hav been invoiced for the whole amount (£4300.00 - yipes!) - I've written an email to state that I cannot afford to repay and would like to repay by installments - however even over a year this would be over £300 per month.

I work for the NHS and it's going infront of the payroll panel - does anyone know anything of these things? Do you know of the maximum timescale I could be allowed to repay?

I'm kicking myself for not realising before hand and not scrutalising my pay checks - I used to just have a quick look at the bottom figure then file them away!!!

what a nightmare
do you belong to a union? if so, they could give you legal help.

I am sure this has come up on mn before, hopefully someone will come along who has had experience soon.

I work for a similar organisation and we routinely allow overpayments to be paid back over a longer period. It is rare however for them to be paid back over a period longer than a year, but there is no harm in asking.

I'd milk the fact that you are not at fault here. It is not your fault that the changes form did not reach payroll, it is your line manager's responsibility to make that happen. However, you will need to take some responsibility for the fact you didn't notice, and my advice is to put all of the circumstances into a letter to the panel and ask for that to be taken into consideration. It is worth adding that you thought you were getting less because your colleagues get unsociable hours payments, and that you'd changed jobs. It isn't quite as straightforward as a simple reduction in hours.

I'm afraid they do have the right to get this money back. There is probably something in your contract to that effect. Your union may be helpful in acting as an advocate and may be aware of the possible pay back periods.

I think that if they overpay you, as it is their error, they have to accept it back on your terms, so you can suggest an amount that is more acceptable to you.

Thanks for the advice - i have sent an email stating that I was unaware of the overpayment and that I would suffer financial hardship if I had to pay back in short installments.

I have spoken to my union rep....I was hoping to pay back £50 a month over 6 years...even she thought that was a little ambitious!!!!!

It's going ahead to the panel in two weeks - thanks for the advice!!!

Good luck. Is the figure you've been quoted gross or net?

If your finances are anything like ours, 50 pounds a month is realistic though!
you made financial decisions based on what you thought was your pay packet - it's not as though you'd just been putting it in the bank and watching it grow.
Hope your union can help you negotiate a good deal.

tbh it is down to you to notice these things but I suspect they will be willing to barter. Do you have a copy of the form that was sent in?

If so it re-inforces your position.

Start low and negotiate back up. No idea what they might accept but as it is a public sector organisation they might be more willing to go for a longer term than a private business atm.

I understand that it was my responsibility to notice the overpayment - but pay is quite complicated with respect to increments, unsociable hour enhancements and difference in grades. I did put in my email that I would benefit from some training in this area!!!

I do have a copy of my changes form and this has been forwarded.

I think that £50 a month sounds reasonable but as this would be over 6 years - I'm not sure if it would be accepted!!!! I think that starting very low and allowing myself to be 'built up' to £50 a month sounds like a good strategy.

The head of the union has been in touch so will ring her back on Monday! Thanks so much for the advice!!!

Does your trust have an Overpayment Policy? My trust states that overpayments must be recovered within 10 months. We had a recent situation where all part-time staff had been overpaid over a couple of years due to the way payroll were interpreting an A4C allowance. At the time staff rang payroll and queried it, but were told that payroll were calculating it correctly. Fast forward a few years and payroll decide to take back several hundred pounds over 10 months!
From my experience the Union were useless and talking to payroll was like talking to a brick wall. They had a 'policy' and they were sticking to it

To be honest I'll be really surprised if they accept £50 a month. I work for a local authority and the maximum length of time we've ever agreed is one year, and even then that was difficult because it straddled financial years.