Employee overpayments.

[Itsalongwaytothetop]

Around 6 years ago I took on a part-time position with the NHS. Unfortunately at the beginning of Oct 21 my personal circumstances changed and I decided to leave. I handed in my notice offering to work until the end of November less any holiday entitlement.

At the end of October I still had not been issued with an actual leaving date. I contacted my line manager who informed me my last day of work would be 5th November.

At the end of November I received what I thought was my final pay for the month of November. It was more or less equal to a month's salary....I assumed this jac taken into account holidays I was due (approx 5 days) and thought no more about it.

Then at the end of December I received another month's salary. This was clearly an error and i informed payroll of this right away and also told them about the payment that was made to me in November. I received a response telling me that my line manager had failed to terminate my employment and this was the reason my salary has been paid in error. This was the last I heard from my former employers.

Fast forward to January 2025 and I receive an invoice from NHS demanding that I pay back these 'overpayments' for 2 months Salary. I do not dispute the December payment and I have the proof that I was the one who brought it to their attention and offering to return it.

However I do dispute the payment I received for the month that I left. There always was and still is confusion over my holiday entitlement.

I know that employers have 5 years to reclaim overpayments made to employees. My argument is that I told them about it at the time, they did nothing about it and I had no contact from them in over 3 years.

As an ex employee I am now going round in circles with various NHS departments trying to sort this out.

As I say I do not dispute the December payment which was a clear error and have told them that I am willing to pay it back.

However where do I stand with a payment which I believed I was entitled to ? In addition I also had to pay tax on this money through my own self assessment as the NHS did not deduct tax directly (I am also self employed) and they gave not taken this into account on their invoice.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated.

Regards

 

[Newchodge]

Around 6 years ago I took on a part-time position with the NHS. Unfortunately at the beginning of Oct 21 my personal circumstances changed and I decided to leave. I handed in my notice offering to work until the end of November less any holiday entitlement.

At the end of October I still had not been issued with an actual leaving date. I contacted my line manager who informed me my last day of work would be 5th November.

At the end of November I received what I thought was my final pay for the month of November. It was more or less equal to a month's salary....I assumed this jac taken into account holidays I was due (approx 5 days) and thought no more about it.

Then at the end of December I received another month's salary. This was clearly an error and i informed payroll of this right away and also told them about the payment that was made to me in November. I received a response telling me that my line manager had failed to terminate my employment and this was the reason my salary has been paid in error. This was the last I heard from my former employers.

Fast forward to January 2025 and I receive an invoice from NHS demanding that I pay back these 'overpayments' for 2 months Salary. I do not dispute the December payment and I have the proof that I was the one who brought it to their attention and offering to return it.

However I do dispute the payment I received for the month that I left. There always was and still is confusion over my holiday entitlement.

I know that employers have 5 years to reclaim overpayments made to employees. My argument is that I told them about it at the time, they did nothing about it and I had no contact from them in over 3 years.

As an ex employee I am now going round in circles with various NHS departments trying to sort this out.

As I say I do not dispute the December payment which was a clear error and have told them that I am willing to pay it back.

However where do I stand with a payment which I believed I was entitled to ? In addition I also had to pay tax on this money through my own self assessment as the NHS did not deduct tax directly (I am also self employed) and they gave not taken this into account on their invoice.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated.

Regards

Where do you get the idea they have 5 years to recover overpayments? Is this contractual in the NHS? Legally they have 6 years.

1. Did you give your notice in writing?
2. Did your line manager confirm your leaving date in writing?
3. How did you notify payroll of the error over December, in what format did they respond?
4. Why did you not repay December in January 2022?

Why nor respond to the invoice by paying the amount not in dispute and including a letter setting out why nothing else is owed?

I do not understand what you mean about tax - if it went through payroll it should have been taxed in the same way as every previous month.

 

[Itsalongwaytothetop]

Where do you get the idea they have 5 years to recover overpayments? Is this contractual in the NHS? Legally they have 6 years.

1. Did you give your notice in writing?
2. Did your line manager confirm your leaving date in writing?
3. How did you notify payroll of the error over December, in what format did they respond?
4. Why did you not repay December in January 2022?

Why nor respond to the invoice by paying the amount not in dispute and including a letter setting out why nothing else is owed?

I do not understand what you mean about tax - if it went through payroll it should have been taxed in the same way as every previous month.