Employment Law - Left Organisation But Owe Money

[EliM14]

When my maternity started, the company I worked for paid me my normal salary for the first month instead of maternity pay. I contacted them to tell them that they paid me incorrectly, I then went into work and discussed a repayment with them for when I returned to work (£65 for 8 months). I returned to work for 1 1/2 month after maternity but decided to go part time. I have now left the company and there was no mention of the money I owed them and they did not take it out of my final pay... where does that leave me? Will they contact me demanding the full amount or can I stick to the £65 a month agreement? I am assuming even though I have left I will still need to pay it back?
Thanks.

[Maydup]

I doubt they will bother EliM. It was their mistake in the beginning and the admin is unlikely to be worth it.

Now that you are not an employee there would be no way for them to claim it from you other than going to a small claims court - it wouldn't stand up. Res asy ther will be no more contact about it.

[Maydup]

Ooops - typing too fast there.

rest easy there will be no more contact.

[factor-fiction]

If they do ask for it then the answer depends whether you just want to get rid of the worry and have the money to pay it off in one go. If you prefer not to pay it off straight away then I think you should say you can only afford the £65 a month, and I think they may accept it. You could even say that as you have no income now you can only afford a much smaller amount. I think they may just write it off or may negotiate a small one-off payment

[buildersmate]

Agree with the above. When they send you the P45, see whether the overpaid amounts are included in the totals. If they are, they have kind of accepted it.

[Peter Pedant]

Frankly I would wait and see

[twix123]

Are you sure that you were overpaid? Maternity Pay is calculated at 90% of your normal salary for the first six weeks before it is changed to 90% of your weekly average earnings, or currently pounds 138.18 (whichever is the lower). As the majority of the funds are reclaimed from HMRC, your company probably cant be bothered with the hassle of reclaiming from you to refund HMRC.

[THECORBYLOON]

An employer can claim back SMP but only if it has been properly paid, if it's been overpaid, they will need to recover it from the employee.

[ummmm]

It doesn't sound like much money and sometimes it's too much hassle to reclaim.

[Peter Pedant]

well if you know you have been overpaid,
when they ask you have a duty to repay

I still think you wait and see....the whole lot is £520 and
the office seems a shower so they may well not have noticed - esp if there has been a staff change ( not you - them )