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Barclays worker paid double salary for years sues bank when they realise mistake and slash her wages | Mail Online
Barclays worker paid double salary for years sues bank after mistake is uncovered and her wages are slashed
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:01 PM on 28th April 2009
Barclays paid Natasha Keenan, pictured with her husband Brent, double her salary by mistake for three years. She is suing the bank after the blunder was uncovered and her pay cut in half
A Barclays worker paid double her salary by mistake for three years is suing the bank after the blunder was uncovered and her pay cut in half.
Complaints advisor Natasha Keenan, 36, was given a contract stating that her annual salary was £17,000, but the contract omitted to state that her pay was on a pro-rata basis as she only worked 19 hours a week.
Mrs Keenan's pay should have been more like £9,000-a-year to take account of her part-time status, and bank bosses now insist the higher salary only applied to a full-time position.
But the mother-of-two was left incensed when the bank slashed her salary just days before Christmas.
The 'extra' money she had earned amounted to more than £20,000.
Speaking at an industrial tribunal in Ashford yesterday, where Mrs Keenan is suing bosses for unfairly docking her pay, she insisted she had no idea she was being overpaid.
She told a panel she believed the sum was reasonable for the work she did - considering her 16 years of experience in the finance industry and the fact full-time colleagues were earning more than £25,000 for doing the same job.
The customer complaints advisor now faces financial ruin after using her income to secure a mortgage on the three-bedroom home in Erith, Kent, she shares with her husband Brent, 31, and their two young children.
Her bosses at Barclays even provided a reference confirming her salary when she applied for the loan last year, and gave her regular pay rises - including a £3,000 performance-related bonus - without spotting the error.
Mrs Keenan told the tribunal: 'If I had realised they'd made a mistake with my salary which could be spotted at any time, I wouldn't have put my family's future at risk and used it to apply for a mortgage.
'I certainly wouldn't have asked Barclays for a reference.
'I have repeatedly allowed Barclays staff access to my account. I clearly stated my salary when I applied for a Barclaycard. My manager and team leader must have known what I was getting paid.
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'If it was a mistake, how did it take three years for them to notice?
'The first I knew about it was when my pay was cut nine days before Christmas. My kids didn't get their Christmas presents until March.'
She added: 'I work in customer complaints, so I know about the tens of thousands in compensation Barclays pay out to customers each year because of administrative errors.
'But as soon as they spot an error that affects a loyal member of staff like me, their attitude changes and I'm thrown to the wolves.'
Mrs Keenan started as a full-time customer advisor for Woolwich in Dartford, Kent, 16 years ago, before going part-time after her son was born - earning £9,500 a year.
The business was taken over by Barclays three years ago, and staff were assured they would receive 'significant' pay rises, the tribunal heard.
When Mrs Keenan received her new contract stating she would be paid £17,000 a year, she assumed the firm had based the salary on her long service and high performance.
However, Barclays now claim the amount was the full-time equivalent, and she should have been paid on a pro-rata basis.
The error was eventually picked up in December last year by managers brought in to conduct a review of expenditure.
David Lascelles, for Barclays, told the tribunal: 'We say Mrs Keenan realised, or at least should have realised, a mistake had been made.
'There were mistakes in the way her case was handled, but when she saw her salary had almost doubled, we say she should have raised the matter with her manager.'
The tribunal heard Barclays produced an amendment to staff contracts, clarifying the 'previously vague' point that part-time staff would be paid on a pro-rata basis.
However, this amendment was not sent directly to those affected - merely posted on the firm's intranet site for staff to view.
Mrs Keenan was on compassionate leave at the time after her second son was stillborn, so never saw it.
She said: 'I would have thought staff affected by such an important amendment would at least have been sent a copy directly, if not asked to sign it.'
The tribunal heard that Barclays believed her salary can be reduced because she realised, or should have realised, she was being overpaid - voiding her contract.
Mrs Keenan argues her £17,000 salary should stand.
The tribunal panel sitting at Ashford, Kent, reserved its verdict. It will rule on the case in the next 28 days.
Barclays worker paid double salary for years sues bank after mistake is uncovered and her wages are slashed
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:01 PM on 28th April 2009
Barclays paid Natasha Keenan, pictured with her husband Brent, double her salary by mistake for three years. She is suing the bank after the blunder was uncovered and her pay cut in half
A Barclays worker paid double her salary by mistake for three years is suing the bank after the blunder was uncovered and her pay cut in half.
Complaints advisor Natasha Keenan, 36, was given a contract stating that her annual salary was £17,000, but the contract omitted to state that her pay was on a pro-rata basis as she only worked 19 hours a week.
Mrs Keenan's pay should have been more like £9,000-a-year to take account of her part-time status, and bank bosses now insist the higher salary only applied to a full-time position.
But the mother-of-two was left incensed when the bank slashed her salary just days before Christmas.
The 'extra' money she had earned amounted to more than £20,000.
Speaking at an industrial tribunal in Ashford yesterday, where Mrs Keenan is suing bosses for unfairly docking her pay, she insisted she had no idea she was being overpaid.
She told a panel she believed the sum was reasonable for the work she did - considering her 16 years of experience in the finance industry and the fact full-time colleagues were earning more than £25,000 for doing the same job.
The customer complaints advisor now faces financial ruin after using her income to secure a mortgage on the three-bedroom home in Erith, Kent, she shares with her husband Brent, 31, and their two young children.
Her bosses at Barclays even provided a reference confirming her salary when she applied for the loan last year, and gave her regular pay rises - including a £3,000 performance-related bonus - without spotting the error.
Mrs Keenan told the tribunal: 'If I had realised they'd made a mistake with my salary which could be spotted at any time, I wouldn't have put my family's future at risk and used it to apply for a mortgage.
'I certainly wouldn't have asked Barclays for a reference.
'I have repeatedly allowed Barclays staff access to my account. I clearly stated my salary when I applied for a Barclaycard. My manager and team leader must have known what I was getting paid.
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'If it was a mistake, how did it take three years for them to notice?
'The first I knew about it was when my pay was cut nine days before Christmas. My kids didn't get their Christmas presents until March.'
She added: 'I work in customer complaints, so I know about the tens of thousands in compensation Barclays pay out to customers each year because of administrative errors.
'But as soon as they spot an error that affects a loyal member of staff like me, their attitude changes and I'm thrown to the wolves.'
Mrs Keenan started as a full-time customer advisor for Woolwich in Dartford, Kent, 16 years ago, before going part-time after her son was born - earning £9,500 a year.
The business was taken over by Barclays three years ago, and staff were assured they would receive 'significant' pay rises, the tribunal heard.
When Mrs Keenan received her new contract stating she would be paid £17,000 a year, she assumed the firm had based the salary on her long service and high performance.
However, Barclays now claim the amount was the full-time equivalent, and she should have been paid on a pro-rata basis.
The error was eventually picked up in December last year by managers brought in to conduct a review of expenditure.
David Lascelles, for Barclays, told the tribunal: 'We say Mrs Keenan realised, or at least should have realised, a mistake had been made.
'There were mistakes in the way her case was handled, but when she saw her salary had almost doubled, we say she should have raised the matter with her manager.'
The tribunal heard Barclays produced an amendment to staff contracts, clarifying the 'previously vague' point that part-time staff would be paid on a pro-rata basis.
However, this amendment was not sent directly to those affected - merely posted on the firm's intranet site for staff to view.
Mrs Keenan was on compassionate leave at the time after her second son was stillborn, so never saw it.
She said: 'I would have thought staff affected by such an important amendment would at least have been sent a copy directly, if not asked to sign it.'
The tribunal heard that Barclays believed her salary can be reduced because she realised, or should have realised, she was being overpaid - voiding her contract.
Mrs Keenan argues her £17,000 salary should stand.
The tribunal panel sitting at Ashford, Kent, reserved its verdict. It will rule on the case in the next 28 days.
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