My wife just found out that since she came back from maternity leave 74 weeks ago she's been overpaid by 5 hours a week(she cut her hours from 17 to 12...even filled in a "change in hours" request form)
It works out at about €6,000.
Just wondering what are her options and should it all have to be paid back?
Same thing happened me before, neither myself or payroll realised it at the time, they informed me 2 years after it happened and deducted it in installments from my pay until it was cleared. I wasnt impressed but it wasnt my money in the first place.
If she was not entitled to it then yes it should be paid back. Many contracts of employment include a clause covering such inadvertent overpayments and the right of the employer to claw them back. In general however deductions (other than tax/PRSI) cannot be made from an employee's salary without their agreement. Probably best to contact the employer and come to some arrangement about returninig the money on a mutually agreeable basis/schedule.
She does get a payslip. She was off for seven months, missed a few salary reveiws and along with cost of living increases etc., she assumed this was her correct salary(Payslip doesn't state number of hours worked). Ironically she is employeed by an irish bank.
What should probably happen is that she arranges to repay back the money in installments , say €20 or €30 per week/month until the overpayment has been discharged.Best to enter into negotiations on the matter rather than having a solution 'imposed'.