Overpayment during maternity

[Guest]

Hi,

I went on maternity leave in March 2019. Prior to this I tried to obtain from my employer how much maternity pay I would receive. They said they could not tell me as it was too soon and a letter would be sent to my home address. A letter never arrived.

During maternity leave I repeatedly asked my employer for pay slips to be sent to my home address. Eventually 2 pay slips arrived but both were incorrect in that the name and address were mine, but the financial section referred to an unknown person. From month to month I had no idea how much to except.

In January this year (maternity had finished and I was using accrued holidays) I received zero wages and no correspondence from my employer. It took over a week of stressful phone calls to get some money from my employer. This and other issues made me look for other work and I actually handed my notice in at weekend.*

Today I have been contacted by the area manager who mentioned payroll have realised I have been overpaid. I am meeting with her later in the week to discuss.

The money was taken in good faith - i.e. it was a believable figure that I imagined had been averaged out over the year to include holidays. The money has gone on simple living costs. I am more than happy to repay the overpayment, but would like to know my legal position.

I have in mind to offer them £50/month as this is all I can afford. As stated above I will no longer be an employee of the company next month so not sure what the position is.

Many thanks,

Sarah
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[ULA]

Couple of things here. Firstly, what does your contract state in regard to overpayments and the recovery of any money? Secondly, either before or at the meeting I suggest you request that you are provided with a clear breakdown statement of the overpayment situation i.e. what you should have been paid each month and what you were actually paid.

Does the company just pay statutory maternity pay in which case it should be quite easy to determine what you should have been paid.

[Sarahc77]

Hi Ula,

Many thanks for the reply. The contract says this:

"The associate authorises the Company to deduct from their remuneration any sums due from them to the Company during their employment or in any event on termination including but not limited to any overpayment of salary.....".

So, that's fairly clear. However, I have read several things such as an employer shouldn't ask for more than 10% of monthly wage. Also, I have read that if the payment wasn't an obvious errror to the employee and the money has been spent on living costs, as in this case, then no money is owed.*Having said that, I want to repay the money but this was their mistake after a catalogue of other mistakes during my maternity. At this stage with a 10 month old baby the prospect of them demanding a significant sum in one lump is obviously very stressful.

My employer offers a combination of statutory and enhanced maternity pay - this is what I asked them about many months before my child was born and no information was forthcoming. So I knew I was due more than statutory so the amount I was paid monthly was reasonable in my mind - but without payslips, despite asking for them on numerous occasions, it was impossible to check what was what.

I will ask for a breakdown of payments when we meet - thanks.

Regards,

Sarah**

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[ULA]

The 10% is in relation to shortfall in tills etc for staff who work at retail stores/restaurants.*

The case you are referring to is*

Lipkin Gorman v Karpnale Ltd 1991 where a change of position defence was made - you had a

belief that at the time the first payment was made after you went on maternity leave and subsequent pay, all the money in your account was yours, and therefore the money has now been spent on living costs.

Thanks for the clarification that you had both SMP and an enhanced payment, they really should have provided you with the details of the payments to expect in advance of you going on maternity leave.

Let's see what the breakdown of payments information gives you and then it will be easier to work out what the actual situation is. Once you get that if you have any questions please pop back to this thread.

[Sarahc77]

Hi,

Just a quick update. I had a meeting with my employer on Friday. They have not yet compiled details of what I should have been paid - they indicated they would provide bank details when I leave the company so I can repay by an affordable monthly amount (which was a relief).

They stated the computer system says I was sent details of how much maternity pay I would receive before I went on maternity. This is the same computer system that paid me no wages in January and sent me 2 pay slips in 9 months with my name and address but an unknown person's financial section. No maternity letter ever came - I have received other letters from HR before and after.

I am meeting them again next week by which time they will hopefully have figures. I asked them to resend the letter they supposedly sent which laid out my maternity pay but they said they couldn't due to a computer issue.

So no much new information yet sadly.

Many thanks,

SArah

[ULA]

Thanks for the update, a shame it seems to be taking so long to get information that should be readily to hand. I would just caution agreeing anything until you have had the figures and time to review them and see whether you agree or not.

[Sarahc77]

Hi again,

A meeting was setup for 2nd March to speak with the regional manager - who cancelled it during a very quick phone conversation and call at a later date to re-arrange. Nothing was heard since.

Today (20th March) I received a letter from her with a claimed over-payment that is clearly wrong (it would mean I would have earned something like £3000 in an entire year including 3 months of full pay/holiday pay and [worst case] 9 months of statutory maternity pay). Again, no figures were provided during the period when they failed to send me pay slips - just a single total in bold with no indication whatsoever of how they've arrived at the figure.

I am writing back to ask, again, for a full breakdown of any payments made to me during my maternity period.

Given that the figure they are asking for is so clearly wrong (and worryingly large) I think my only option now is to get legal advice once I have received the information from them as this is very stressful.

Thanks again,

Sarah

[ULA]

Agreed that you need to write back and get from them details of what you were paid each month during your maternity break and the calculations of what you were entitled to based on SMP payments and the enhanced package your company provides.

Do you have any documentation about the enhanced maternity rates if not also ask for a copy of that as well then you will be able to check back their calculations.

Also have they sorted out the computer problem that meant they could not provide a copy of the letter regarding your maternity pay. They should be able to produce that by now.*

Post back here when you get the information. I would suggest that you work everything through first and get to a figure you believe you owe or prove that you don't owe anything.*
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