Overpayment by €9500, now company want the money to be paid back

Hi,
Just before Xmas,the company I work for realised they have been over paying me since August 2008.I immediately dropped €118 per week.They now say I might have to repay all the monies I have been paid.This amounts to about €9500.My union say I should not have to pay the monies back as it is the companies mistake.Any advice or input would be graetly appreciated as I havent slept in days.

Thanks in advance

look at it this way, if they underpaid you same amount you would want it paid. Very same principle applies. What you should try for is a compromise, ie pay it back over years rather than months, explain your situation calmly.

Have the figures double checked and triple checked. how was the error spotted, say you received money in good faith etc etc.

be calm and take it slowly dont get bolshie. and what will union do, will they bat on your behalf?

noah

Hi Noah,
I was getting paid the over payment since day 1 with the company.There was seemingly a mix up in how many hours my contract was for.All parties thought I was on a 45hr contract but as it turns out,I am on a 39hr one.

How many hours did you actually work a week 39 or 45?

I had the same problem in my new job overpaid just under 1k before the noticed and its in my contract to pay it back. I pay it back monthly. I was overpaid by mistake so I owe them money.

So if your wages went in twice in one month by mistake you would be expected to pay this back, any overpayment in any job would always need to be paid back.

You will have to pay this back the union who are advising you are having a laugh if they think you wont have to. Like previously stated if you were underpaid you would want the underpayment paid back to you.

Sorry I know how you feel getting told the same news before but have to bite the bullet and face the facts you owe them money just come to a suitable arrangement eg paying them back 100 a month over 5 years etc.

I'm afraid you are liable for repayment of the sum. However, you should negotiate the period over which you should repay it. I would suggest at least double the period over which you were overpaid. This is because you are down on the double when you start repaying. Slim

Also look at the tax situation as you paid paye/prsi on that money.

Robbie, I work 45 hours a week.

Jhegarty,can you expain further,sorry for seeming dumb lol

They claim they over paid you by €9,500 however you didn't receive the full €9,500 - you would have paid tax and PRSI etc on it so it's not quite as simple as you repaying them out of your wages, there are tax implications to it.

Ok so you work 45 hours each week, can this be verified by a clock in system or anything?

If your contract is for payment of a 39hr week surely the other 6 hours each week would be an overtime entitlement meaning you shouldnt really owe them anything.

There are a number of threads on this topic already, consensus is you are liable to repay the money.

robbie00 said:

If your contract is for payment of a 39hr week surely the other 6 hours each week would be an overtime entitlement meaning you shouldnt really owe them anything.

Click to expand...

Many contracts do not allow payment for overtime.

jhegarty's point is make sure you only pay them back the amount you were paid after all deductions.
Leo

Why would you pay them back? They and you both though you were on a 45 hour week. You worked 45 hours per week and they paid you for them. The fact that they now say you should have been on a 39 hour week is immaterial, and I can't see how they can legally require you to pay it back.
Your union has also advised you this.

It's your money, you earned it, they paid you it. If they want it back let them bring you to court for it. They'll probably lose.

That changes the whole complexion completely.

Contact says 45 hours you worked 45 hours end of story.

I take you have now received a contact variation to bring you back to 39 hours.

And a contract has to be signed by both parties.

I am amazed a company is trying this. Are you sure you have the right end of stick? Did you get any on call alowances etc, did you have paid lunches or unpaid.

Best of all did you get a signed contract and did you keep a copy?

noah

Noah,
I signed a 39 hour contract when I joined the company but when it was being read out to me ,to be honest I was miles away.the problem is that I was set up on our payroll system for 45 hours basic.this meant that no matter how many hours I worked I would only recieve my 45 hours (even if I worked 39 I would recieve 45).i was also being put in for 6 hours at time and a half.So they now say I was being paid 6 hours basic too much.