Wages

[jimcec29]

After leaving my company to work elsewhere i went to the bank to check my wages, the company had put into my bank account the correct amount but they then went back into my account and took out �800 which they claim they overpaid me. I thought at first that if they had paid me by cheque that they would just cancel the cheque and issue my bank with a new one but as this is a major company with over 20,000 employees its unlikely that they would pay everybody individually. Can they legally do this?

[CheekyChops]

How did they pay you?

They can't just debit your bank account with a sum of money. What they can do is 'recall' a credit - so if they had paid via BACS say �800 in, then they can recall that �800 back out again and pay in say �200 instead.

[khana]

They can only recall credits if they have not yet hit your account. If it's been credited the Bank needs your permission to send the funds back......unless it is a fraudulent transaction or they never received cover for the payment (eg, they received advice of the credit but never the actual funds).

[themas]

I think khana is right. You should take this up with your bank. They should not have allowed it & you could hold them liable if you are entitled to the money & can't get it back from the company.

[CheekyChops]

Well when I worked for NatWest a credit could show on yiour account if you checked your statement but still be recalled the same day. If you then checked your statement the following day, the credit would have disapeared. If it was after this, then permission was needed to debit the account.