David Lock

I have a 24 year old niece living in London. She is trying to get work as an actor but times are tough for her at the moment. A couple of years ago she took a part-time job with Hammersmith Council as a youth worker working 2 evenings and Sat mornings.

Ever since they have been paying her an amount straight into her bank account. They have never given her a payslip or any of the usual end of year P60s etc.

But the amount paid was too high and my niece kept telling them that. Now they are saying that they have paid her £3,000 too much and want it back.

Can they do this or have they been so negligent that she can tell them to bugger off? She stills work for them but only on Saturdays.

She has contacted CAB and a couple of free advice law firms but all she has got are we'll phone you back messages.

Anyone got any thoughts or comments please?

David

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

I've seen this before, and she is unfortunately obligated to pay it back

2 years worth of overpayments though? That's just nuts, they should be able to come to an arrangement over repayments at the very least.

scud8

iTrader: (1)

Did they ever reply to her telling them they were paying her too much? If she has anything that tells her she was wrong then she may be in a stronger position. If she was continually telling them and just got no reply then they will just say she should have taken steps to repay the money or at least held on to it.

what would scooby do

If she knew she was being overpaid then she should have placed the overpay into a savings account so it was ready to pay back, rather than pissing the money away on booze and drugs.

tony de wonderful

I have a mate who got paid too much when he was a student after a summer job and they never contacted him to ask for it. It was not quite 3 grand but every quid helps when you are a skint student.

David Lock

EFA

dl

David Lock

OK, replies above make sense.

But say she now leaves Council. Would they be likely to take her to court (she couldn't pay it anyway in foreseeable future)?

They don't even seem to have her current address despite her filling in forms with it on.

dl

what would scooby do

David, if that was a genuine EFA it would be shoes and handbags oh and shiny things

David Lock

Sorry my friend I'll have to defend my niece on this one. I assure you she does not chuck money away on shoes and things. She does not moan about having a rough time but if I can help her out on this one I wil bloody well try

d

what would scooby do

Fair play, but if you knew you were being overpaid you should never spend it as they will get you in the end.. unless she waits it out for 7 years and uses the statute of limitations.. Which if they don't know her new address may just work.

The Zohan

Rights and wrongs of spending the money aside. I suggest she speaks to the council explains the situation and sets up a payment plan to pay the monies back

mart360

How do the council know she has been overpaid?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employme...ay/DG_10027228

She should have been given a payslip, its a legal requirement (subject to a few limited exceptions)

As covered in the employment rights act.

A paper P60 is a legal requirement according to HMRC, so they wont be to chuffed either.

Could turn quite messy, she needs to see CAB pronto, and not just phone

calls.

Mart

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

If it were me, I'd contact their head of wages and say, "Look mate, I'll tell no-one you never gave me a payslip, never gave me a P60 and didn't respond to my letters saying you were overpaying me, if you drop the claim."

I reckon they would.

AudiMan

As above, I think it is a legal requirement for the employer to provide P60 and pay slips, Councils are all pretty useless, and most dont have the money to chase these small amounts through the courts.
Doubt they would be even chasing her is she were an immigrant etc.. just the good old honest UK people who get stiffed all the time.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Is it a Labour council? f so, they'd chase an immigrant to give them more

Lady Luck

A similar-ish thing happened to my husband when he left a job, they paid him a month + 2 days wages instead of the 2 days he was owed. They sent him an incorrect pay slip to show the full amount (month +2). About 3 month later they realised and demanded it back.

He got in touch with ACAS who were super amazingly helpful and it all got resolved quickly. Because they'd issued a payslip with the same amount on that went in to his bank, they didnt have a right to demand it back, hubby could pay it back if he wanted , but he didnt need to.

Give ACAS a try.

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

That's a ******'s reply if ever I've read one.
I'd imagine 99% of people wouldn't do the savings account thing. As for the assumption about booze and drugs that tells me exactly what sort of person you are!

David,

The best advice here is for your neice to do as mentioned and challenge the lack of P60 and lack of payslips, they are a legal requirement.

what would scooby do

Owning a Subaru tells me exactly what sort of person you are!



p.s. there was a moral in the story and the booze and drugs comment was merely an aside..

David Lock

Thanks guys and Lady Luck,

Some comfort in the comments and some helpful links posted. Of course she might have done things differently with the benefit of more experience in life but even I find it astounding that a public service employer can behave in such a shoddy manner.

As I said she started off as a low level youth worker and on the first evening of her job she was sent to a youth club to help out and expected to meet someone in charge to learn the ropes. Instead she arrived to find about twenty 16+ year olds in a pretty angry state because their usual youth worked hadn't turned up. Talk about in at the deep end

If there are any developments I will post them up. I promise you I am not exaggerating any part of this stupid saga.

In the meantime if anyone here is a TV producer or similar and looking for a decent young white middle class actor please let me know - she has got all the cv/profile stuff to send out if needed

David

Leslie

Certainly unwise not to put the overpayment on one side for possible repayment.

Les

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Pics?

David Lock

nah she gets the job first

And in writing

d

Pjamie

I had a similar situation a few years ago where is was overpaid (a few hundred) over a period but I didn't have to pay it back because of the type of overpayment. The phrase "mistake of fact" springs to mind (I'm too lazy to look it up to confirm it) but it has something to do with the type of mistake that was made by the employer and some other criteria, and whether the money needs (legally) to be paid back as against any moral obligation to re-pay it.

David Lock

That's very interesting so thanks for that. I think we'll try and check that out.

Can I add that I sent this thread to my sister who is trying to sort this mess out and she sent me the following "Thanks for this! I do think it's wonderful that all these people have put into it - even if some of them are slightly judgmental, it's genuinely nice to see people thinking through and advising on a problem, "

So SN is appreciated

David