On Sat, 10 May 2008 02:32:13 +0100, "Joe Lee"
wrote:
>>> The letter may have been a mistake on their part. You are not entitled to
>>> keep an overpayment as a result of an error made by your employer.
>> Err...yes you are - sometimes, anyway (unless the law has changed
>> recently). If you are overpaid as a result of a mistake made by your
>> employer AND you had reasonable grounds to believe the amount received was
>> correct AND you have already spent the money (and would therefore suffer
>> hardship paying it back) then the employer may not reclaim the money -
>> it's the same with excess balances in bank accounts.
>Surely the last condition does not hold true in this case.
>There is no requirement to pay it back other than working a number of hours
>in lieu of it - & here it should be borne in mind they are not his
>contractual hours, but what the OP terms as "extra hours".
>IMO the OP has _in effect_, been paid in advance of work done & therefore
>has sufferred no loss, indeed he has gained a benefit in the form of payment
>in advance of work done.
If the income from additional work is sopmething that the person has
come to rely on, then the removal of that money has the same impact as
a reduction in salary. The overpayment cannot be regarded, post-fact
as an advance payment because it would at the time have been regarded
by the employee as a windfall and therefore may easily have been spent
on a luxury rather than saved for use to pay future living expenses.
--
Cynic
|