Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

[Sacha1969]

This is very long winded so I'll try and condense it! In 2007 I left to go onto Maternity Leave and had in my possession a letter from our Head of Personnel stating which periods would be with pay, which would be annual leave and which would be unpaid leave, including dates of each period. I went from Maternity Leave to a career break which I extended to the full 5 years, on agreement with my Line Manager. I was overpaid by 2 weeks money the month that I left work in 2007, I informed the HR and they said it would be taken back, so I gave it no more thought when at the end of my paid period of leave in 2008 I was missing 13 days money, I just assumed that they had finally taken back the overpayment from 2007. In May 2008 when my maternity leave finished I returned to work and applied for a career break which was agreed, on nil pay.

In November 2008, I received an e-mail from our pay services (a letter had been sent in August 2008 but to my previous address, they had the new one on file!) informing me that I had been overpaid by £1944, I queried this with our Head of Personnel, who had originally sent me the letter with all the dates of paid leave etc. She informed me that I had been paid correctly and e-mailed the pay services to tell them so (she cc'd me). Then in July 2009 I received another letter from pay services informing me that I had been overpaid by £6184! It turns out that instead of the 39 weeks full pay that I had been told I would receive for maternity pay (in writing from HoP) I should only have been paid for 26, the other 13 weeks should have been SMP. I, again, contacted the Head of Personnel and again, she e-mailed them back stating that she was correct, no mistake had been made with my pay and that she would like this finished with. This was the last I heard of this until January this year when I had another demand for the £6184, stating yet again that it was for the period of maternity pay.

I have been on a career break for the last 5 years and have earned no money, three times now I have been told by the Head of Personnel that I was paid correctly, I had no reason to believe otherwise, especially after the disputes back in 2009, when she confirmed not once but twice to them that this was the case! I am due back this year but want this cleared up before hand, can they actually make me pay this money back? I checked over and over what I would be paid before leaving on maternity leave, to make sure that I could afford to take that time off, only to be told at a later date that this was wrong, it was too late then, I had already spent the money. Help please?

Sacha

[Eloise01]

Re: Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

This isn't a straightforward situation. If an employer makes a mistake in pay, even after insisting that they haven't made a mistake or stating otherwise, then legally they are entitled to repayment (and such amounts can be legally deducted from salary). However, in the first place, it isn't clear whether a mistake has or has not been made! If a mistake has been made in the payment, then in law you do owe the employer the money back. But if they were to pursue this through the courts, they would probably lose - not because they aren't owed the money, but because there is a small "get out clause" that says that if you spent the money and could not reasonably have known that it wasn't yours to spend, then the money isn't recoverable. I would say that several written confirmations that the money was yours would constitute not knowing it wasn't yours! Of course, the catch to this is that they don't have to take this to court - they can lawfully deduct it from future wages, even without your agreement, because correcting errors in payment is one of the lawful deductions!

Since this is an agreed career break you are technically still in employment, so the most obvious answer is that you must raise a grievance outlining what has happened, including evidence to support what has happened (copies, not originals!), and pointing out that you have sepnt the money some years previously having absolutely no reason to assume that the money was not yours because you had been told that it was, and that position has subsequently been confirmed again. On this basis ask the employer to waive any repayment which may be due, if indeed there is one, on the basis that they have repeatedly contradicted the claim that money was due, insisted that you did not owe them it, and repayment now at this stage, when the money is long gone and you have no income, would cause you severe hardships.

[Sacha1969]

Re: Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

Thanks, ive tried to understand how it happened to begin with but I'm at a loss as to how our Head of Personnel could have got it so wrong, she does nothing without checking in triplicate usually! I've also written back to pay services saying that I do not dispute the overpayment from the beginning of my leave period of 2 weeks pay but no, they want the whole amount back. Today I have had another e-mail from pay services saying that they have investigated (on my behalf) and the pay was incorrect, they are really sorry but they want a payment plan. I've tried to explain that after 5 years of no wages I have no extra money, but they are insisting that I arrange to start repaying the debt, looks like a grievance is the next step, thankyou.

[Eloise01]

Re: Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

I would suggest that you tell payroll politely where to stuff their expectations. They are employees, not the employer! Tell them that you are submitting a grievance and have written confirmation that no matter what they say, the money has been confirmed as not owed; and that the matter is no longer in their purview as they do not have any jusrisdiction over grievances. Politely, of course.

[Sacha1969]

Re: Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

Sorry to be back again but now, a year on they have denied me an appeal against the overpayment, I've accepted redundancy and left, they paid me a months pay by mistake and I notified them and paid it straight back (as this wasn't mine to spend!) and they are still chasing me for the alleged 'overpayment'! They paid me my full redundancy and didn't take a penny of the 'overpayment' from this but they owed me 30 days annual leave and they have decided to use this towards reducing my 'debt'. Now they have sent an e-mail telling me that as I refused to fill in their living expenses form ( I didn't receive the e-mail they stated they sent) that they are sending my case to their solicitors where I will incur extra charges, any guidance would be helpful? Is it time to get solicitors involved, it would probably cost more to pay them than what they allege I owe.

[Sacha1969]

Re: Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

I have just received an e-mail from a debt recovery firm saying that if I don't pay in full the 'debt' to their client I will be taken to court and charged fixed court fees and interest at 8%, I have tried to contact a solicitor but as I now dont live in the UK none are interested in taking me on, I only had one answer and they wanted to charge me £225 per hour for initial advise! I am getting so down by all their hassling, do I just roll over and agree to a payment plan for a debt I dont even agree with as I can't fight it in court if I'm not there and the solicitors would cost me more than the debt at that price? Any help would be appreciated?

[Amethyst]

Re: Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

You don't owe the debt to the company.

accepted redundancy and left, they paid me a months pay by mistake and I notified them and paid it straight back (as this wasn't mine to spend!)

How did you repay the overpayment?

If it was from your bank then your bank statements will show it up. It will also show previous payments going in.

So really a letter, with copies of evidence showing uou had already paid it, should stop the hassle. Unless I have missed something ?

Also regarding solicitors, there are plenty of free half hour consultations ones about, have a look at quality solicitors for example, they have a network of firms across the country with free half hour consultations. But as I said I don't think you need a solicitor.

[Sacha1969]

Re: Overpayment of Contractual Maternity Pay help?

Thanks Amethyst but I still have the original 'overpayment' to deal with from 2007/08, they took the money equivalent to 30 days holiday off the amount as they owed me this and last year when they paid me by mistake for a month and I paid it straight back, this has also been taken off but they are still coming after me for a debt that I feel is unjust. hey paid me redundancy last year and still didn't take off the money they said I owed, I don't understand why if they thought it was owed? I have no chance of fighting this through the courts though as I have left the UK, so, although it is wrong after confirming that I was due the monies paid in maternity pay three times in writing (by e-mail) I just want to negotiate a settlement and get on with my life. I can just afford to offer them 70% of the figure they presented to me, but what chance do I stand that they will take this as f&f settlement? As I worked for the Government they are too big a firm to take on in court, as experienced by colleagues in the past they will fight cases that they have no chance of winning just because they can, I dont want ccj's against my name in case i move back to the UK so............