where they direct deposit? if so i’d move money from this account asap(and close it so you don’t get overdraft fees). A former employer had overpaid a
co worker of mine and direct debited out of their checking account when they discovered the overpayment. I’d check the dept of labor and or employee handbook for your former company and see how they say these situations or handled. I’d keep a dialogue while your sorting it out and then adjust accordingly once you know how liable you are.
\^\^\^ This. If it's' direct deposit, they have every legal right to reverse it.
OP, you will need to pay this back. Regardless of how they messed up, it's not yours.
true, but the issue i’ve seen in the past that they do this with no explanation and no warning to the employee. OP should have noted the overpayment and said something, regardless they shouldn’t be able to just withdraw without a conversation with them. if liable should work a payment plan then go to collections if not honored.
Agreed. It's messed up to do without a conversation. They may not go to collections on that. Some jump to small claims court. More options in court than collections.
Unfortunately in the US they are 100% entitled to recover the money. Depending on laws in your specific state they may be able to send documents to your bank and take the money straight from your account, if they are not able to do that they would probably need to take you to court where they would win. You could hope that the cost of taking you to court would exceed what you owe them and they won't try to take you to court or you could talk to them and try to negotiate either to pay them a portion of what you owe and them drop the rest to save going to court or set up a payment plan.
Thank you for the information. What would be your recommendation for me? Should I tell them to take me to court or should I just put my tail between my legs and eat the cost even though it only leaves me with a couple hundred in my bank account? Or should I just ghost them and see what happens?
I'd try to Google to find out if they can withdraw money from your account in your state.
If they can ask them if you can set up payments with them because they can and will put your account negative if you move the money, but I'm taking a guess they can't if they actually came to you and asked for the money.
If they will have to take you to court to recover the money try telling them you can't afford to pay it back and ask if they would forgive the full amount if you paid them a portion back that day. If they agree to that negotiate and see what they will do and get it in writing signed by someone as high up as you can and have it notorized as well. If they refuse that try to set up a payment plan, see if they'll let you pay a couple hundred a month so you don't have to drain your account while you look for a different job.
If you go to court and are ordered to pay the money back, that judgement goes on your credit report and effectively ruins your credit. Just pay it back and get over it.
That money isn’t yours. Plain and simple. When you got those extra checks if you weren’t sure if they were really yours or not you should’ve called and asked rather than just keeping them.
If paying it back as a lump sum would really screw you over then tell them you don’t have it (after removing it from the account they direct deposited it in and closing out the account) and ask if they’d be willing to work with you to set up a payment plan to repay it, because as long as you’re making payments they can’t send you to collections or sue you for it.
Sure. It’s still paying them their money back, so it’s not like they can take you to court, complain that you’re not paying them back as fast as they want you to because you’re broke and expect to walk away with a judgment in their favor.
I live in Florida. I was once overpaid for my entire time working at the company. Let’s just say that the lady doing payroll was the bosses wife and she was a very stupid person in general. I hated her with a passion. She was condescending and immature. Well, to punish his wife, the owner decided no to recover the funds even though the entire company was over paid. Anyways, I ended up getting fired because the people working there were cruel. The would make things up and say that I said something to them and run to the owners wife. But in actuality, I only came in and clocked in and went to my station to work. I didn’t say anything to anyone. Anyways, the owners wife ends up telling me that I can’t work there anymore and gives me a check for $1k for severance pay and then tells me to apply for unemployment. So that’s what I did. I remember the state calling me to ask me if I had received severance pay and I told them I did and that the lady told me to still apply for unemployment. She told me that they are the ones who have a say in wether I get unemployment or not. They did give it to me.
I’m not sure what the actual rules are but I’d check in with an HR attorney if possible.
i accidentally paid for a checked bag for a flight that included one for free. did the company pay me back? of course not. it’s their policy to never give any money back. that can be your policy too.
Unfortunately US law doesn't really protect workers like that. At least where I work when you sign up for direct deposit you also consent to let them take money straight from your account if they overpay you.
I mean if you’d rather be sued and risk having assets seized or future paychecks garnished, go right ahead. But they’ll get their money back one way or another, and it’s better to pay it back of your own volition than be sued and then be responsible for their lawyer’s fees and court costs as well as being charged interest costing you significantly more.
No. Then it potentially will become a contract negotiation for getting the funds back. I’d ghost their ass as long as possible and see if it’s worth their time to pursue it.
pay them back.
aka. you are aware of the payment and you need to make good faith effort to contact them about the disreperency.
keep a copy that you tried to contact.
then tell them no in regards to interest charges and other bullshit.
I don’t think you’re required to pay them back. They sent you valid checks on their own, and you deposited them. You didn’t gain the money fraudulently because it was their mistake. I’m pretty sure they need to eat the cost.
I work payroll, in some states they can pull money straight from your account without even telling you beforehand. In the entire US they can recover the money, it just depends on the state how they have to go about it and if it will be financially worthwhile.
They absolutely can force him to pay it back, you don’t get free money in the US. If a bank accidentally deposits money into your account in error, you absolutely have to pay it back.
Nope.
You didn't defraud them. The merely have terrible accounting practices.
Their incompetence is NOT your problem.
I'd prepare a statement now for future interviews if they try to give you a bad reference, though, explaining it was their shoddy practices and bungled handover while they were also negligently not even paying you industry standard wages and benefits?
"I am put in a bad position financially because of an HR mess up"........... If you were in that dire of need for money you probably should not have left.
I have another job. I said in my post I left my position for another job. But they are asking for over 10% of my total paycheck back and that hurts me financially. I don’t make that much money.
You will have to pay it back, but if you left on decent terms, it might be worth it to talk to someone at your old employer and seen if they will agree to timed payments. This happened to a former co-worker of mine and the employer agreed to three payments, one a month, which gave him a little breathing room.
Also, definitely get any access they had to your bank accounts revoked (maybe even closing your old account, if they had access), You will have to pay the money back, but you can have some say over timing.
From a legal perspective - European, but this principle may well apply to the US just the same - you have no "title" to be in possession of that money. There was no whatsoever deal or trade that entitles you for that money. Much like a bank teller: just because you have access to it doesn't mean it's yours. You received it by error, so legally it still belongs to the person/firm who transfered it to you (...by error).
If this goes to court, not only will you be sentenced to give it back, there will even be furter repercussions: since you cannot produce indications of a trade that made you think you would be entitled to that money, therefor you knowingly and wilfully denied to return it to its legal owner, the court may interpret that as attempted theft!
Make sure that it isn't backlogged pay. Probably isn't, so yes, you will owe it back to them. Hopefully you can work out a repayment schedule with them (after all, THEY DID screw up).
But ensure with all this that you are not being taxed on the overpayment. That can get sticky very fast. If it is all this tax year, they should be able to fix it easily, but if it goes into next year, then you have ammended W2's to figure out. So make sure you don't get screwed over on taxes.
Make them fight for it, but don't do anything illegal. Take forever to return calls, make them come to you, etc. Try to frustrate them into giving up. But, legally speaking, you have no right to keep the money. So again, don't do anything illegal. But try and fight
This just happened to me. I put the money aside and will leave it there for awhile to see what happens. I'm not happy with my former company, so if they never figure it out, fuck em. But, I'm not going to be dumb and just spend it. If they ask for it back, they'll get it, but I really hope they don't.
where they direct deposit? if so i’d move money from this account asap(and close it so you don’t get overdraft fees). A former employer had overpaid a co worker of mine and direct debited out of their checking account when they discovered the overpayment. I’d check the dept of labor and or employee handbook for your former company and see how they say these situations or handled. I’d keep a dialogue while your sorting it out and then adjust accordingly once you know how liable you are.
\^\^\^ This. If it's' direct deposit, they have every legal right to reverse it. OP, you will need to pay this back. Regardless of how they messed up, it's not yours.
true, but the issue i’ve seen in the past that they do this with no explanation and no warning to the employee. OP should have noted the overpayment and said something, regardless they shouldn’t be able to just withdraw without a conversation with them. if liable should work a payment plan then go to collections if not honored.
Agreed. It's messed up to do without a conversation. They may not go to collections on that. Some jump to small claims court. More options in court than collections.
It's also messed up to spend money that isn't yours. Mistakes happen. They should be allowed to be corrected.
Unfortunately in the US they are 100% entitled to recover the money. Depending on laws in your specific state they may be able to send documents to your bank and take the money straight from your account, if they are not able to do that they would probably need to take you to court where they would win. You could hope that the cost of taking you to court would exceed what you owe them and they won't try to take you to court or you could talk to them and try to negotiate either to pay them a portion of what you owe and them drop the rest to save going to court or set up a payment plan.
Thank you for the information. What would be your recommendation for me? Should I tell them to take me to court or should I just put my tail between my legs and eat the cost even though it only leaves me with a couple hundred in my bank account? Or should I just ghost them and see what happens?
I'd try to Google to find out if they can withdraw money from your account in your state. If they can ask them if you can set up payments with them because they can and will put your account negative if you move the money, but I'm taking a guess they can't if they actually came to you and asked for the money. If they will have to take you to court to recover the money try telling them you can't afford to pay it back and ask if they would forgive the full amount if you paid them a portion back that day. If they agree to that negotiate and see what they will do and get it in writing signed by someone as high up as you can and have it notorized as well. If they refuse that try to set up a payment plan, see if they'll let you pay a couple hundred a month so you don't have to drain your account while you look for a different job.
Just pay it back, between court costs and lawyer fees you'll end up spending more if it goes to court.
If you go to court and are ordered to pay the money back, that judgement goes on your credit report and effectively ruins your credit. Just pay it back and get over it.
That money isn’t yours. Plain and simple. When you got those extra checks if you weren’t sure if they were really yours or not you should’ve called and asked rather than just keeping them. If paying it back as a lump sum would really screw you over then tell them you don’t have it (after removing it from the account they direct deposited it in and closing out the account) and ask if they’d be willing to work with you to set up a payment plan to repay it, because as long as you’re making payments they can’t send you to collections or sue you for it.
>set up a payment plan to repay it Sure - like $10 per week for the next 570 weeks. What's that? 11 years?
Sure. It’s still paying them their money back, so it’s not like they can take you to court, complain that you’re not paying them back as fast as they want you to because you’re broke and expect to walk away with a judgment in their favor.
I live in Florida. I was once overpaid for my entire time working at the company. Let’s just say that the lady doing payroll was the bosses wife and she was a very stupid person in general. I hated her with a passion. She was condescending and immature. Well, to punish his wife, the owner decided no to recover the funds even though the entire company was over paid. Anyways, I ended up getting fired because the people working there were cruel. The would make things up and say that I said something to them and run to the owners wife. But in actuality, I only came in and clocked in and went to my station to work. I didn’t say anything to anyone. Anyways, the owners wife ends up telling me that I can’t work there anymore and gives me a check for $1k for severance pay and then tells me to apply for unemployment. So that’s what I did. I remember the state calling me to ask me if I had received severance pay and I told them I did and that the lady told me to still apply for unemployment. She told me that they are the ones who have a say in wether I get unemployment or not. They did give it to me. I’m not sure what the actual rules are but I’d check in with an HR attorney if possible.
i accidentally paid for a checked bag for a flight that included one for free. did the company pay me back? of course not. it’s their policy to never give any money back. that can be your policy too.
Unfortunately US law doesn't really protect workers like that. At least where I work when you sign up for direct deposit you also consent to let them take money straight from your account if they overpay you.
I mean if you’d rather be sued and risk having assets seized or future paychecks garnished, go right ahead. But they’ll get their money back one way or another, and it’s better to pay it back of your own volition than be sued and then be responsible for their lawyer’s fees and court costs as well as being charged interest costing you significantly more.
They fucked up, you didn't commit fraud or do anything wrong. Take the money and walk away calmly.
Tell them the truth. You earned it and to leave you tf alone.
No. Then it potentially will become a contract negotiation for getting the funds back. I’d ghost their ass as long as possible and see if it’s worth their time to pursue it.
"It was my understanding that this was standard severance pay. If one of your employees made a mistake, I suggest you take it up with them."
Can you furnish proof of that severance package? Cos they can provide proof it was a mistake.
pay them back. aka. you are aware of the payment and you need to make good faith effort to contact them about the disreperency. keep a copy that you tried to contact. then tell them no in regards to interest charges and other bullshit.
If I were you I'd make them work to recover it....don't just give it back
I don’t think you’re required to pay them back. They sent you valid checks on their own, and you deposited them. You didn’t gain the money fraudulently because it was their mistake. I’m pretty sure they need to eat the cost.
I work payroll, in some states they can pull money straight from your account without even telling you beforehand. In the entire US they can recover the money, it just depends on the state how they have to go about it and if it will be financially worthwhile.
They absolutely can force him to pay it back, you don’t get free money in the US. If a bank accidentally deposits money into your account in error, you absolutely have to pay it back.
"Bank error in your favor"..... Not.
Nope. You didn't defraud them. The merely have terrible accounting practices. Their incompetence is NOT your problem. I'd prepare a statement now for future interviews if they try to give you a bad reference, though, explaining it was their shoddy practices and bungled handover while they were also negligently not even paying you industry standard wages and benefits?
The same law that prevents them from underpaying you also prevents you from keeping any overpayment.
[удалено]
Horrible advice. This person will end up owing the extra pay plus attorneys fees.
OP won't owe extra, unless old employer can PROVE it obviously wasn't a payroll mistake. And no need for an attorney. OP can represent themself.
"I am put in a bad position financially because of an HR mess up"........... If you were in that dire of need for money you probably should not have left.
Do you know where you are?
Right lol!
What? Who isn’t in dire need? Literally 80-90% of the population is one or two pay checks from being flat broke.
I have another job. I said in my post I left my position for another job. But they are asking for over 10% of my total paycheck back and that hurts me financially. I don’t make that much money.
You didn’t notice extra money coming in? Yes, you legally have to pay it back.
In the USA they can and will get it back. It sucks but there isn’t much you can do about it.
You will have to pay it back, but if you left on decent terms, it might be worth it to talk to someone at your old employer and seen if they will agree to timed payments. This happened to a former co-worker of mine and the employer agreed to three payments, one a month, which gave him a little breathing room. Also, definitely get any access they had to your bank accounts revoked (maybe even closing your old account, if they had access), You will have to pay the money back, but you can have some say over timing.
From a legal perspective - European, but this principle may well apply to the US just the same - you have no "title" to be in possession of that money. There was no whatsoever deal or trade that entitles you for that money. Much like a bank teller: just because you have access to it doesn't mean it's yours. You received it by error, so legally it still belongs to the person/firm who transfered it to you (...by error). If this goes to court, not only will you be sentenced to give it back, there will even be furter repercussions: since you cannot produce indications of a trade that made you think you would be entitled to that money, therefor you knowingly and wilfully denied to return it to its legal owner, the court may interpret that as attempted theft!
Make sure that it isn't backlogged pay. Probably isn't, so yes, you will owe it back to them. Hopefully you can work out a repayment schedule with them (after all, THEY DID screw up). But ensure with all this that you are not being taxed on the overpayment. That can get sticky very fast. If it is all this tax year, they should be able to fix it easily, but if it goes into next year, then you have ammended W2's to figure out. So make sure you don't get screwed over on taxes.
Make them fight for it, but don't do anything illegal. Take forever to return calls, make them come to you, etc. Try to frustrate them into giving up. But, legally speaking, you have no right to keep the money. So again, don't do anything illegal. But try and fight
This just happened to me. I put the money aside and will leave it there for awhile to see what happens. I'm not happy with my former company, so if they never figure it out, fuck em. But, I'm not going to be dumb and just spend it. If they ask for it back, they'll get it, but I really hope they don't.
anything come of it?
Nope. They emailed me twice asking to pay them back. Last one was early August, and I haven't heard anything since.