What are my options if my job says I owe them more money than I do regarding an accidental overpayment?

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What are my options if my job says I owe them more money than I do regarding an accidental overpayment?

I went part-time at my job at the beginning of last month. They continued paying me full-time for 3 paychecks semi-monthly despite being notified by my branch multiple times of my status change. They are now saying I owe them $6700 for overpayment. I owe them $5400. It’s

pretty simple, figure up what my check should have been and subtract that from what it was. I don’t know where they got their numbers but regardless, they won’t back down and neither will I. What do I do?

Asked on April 1, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Texas

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

You do have to repay the overpayment. You don't have to pay more than that. Offer in writing to pay what you believe you owe, backing it up with copies of the paystubs and calculations. If they won't accept that and demand more, reiterate in writing that you will repay the actual overpayment but do not owe anything else, and invite them to share with you why they believe you owe more.  It's not impossible that you are doing something wrong and owe more, but if that's the case, they should be able to provide verifiable evidence.
If you and they can't work it out, you can either unilaterally send them the amount you believe you owe and see if they sue you for the rest, or else send nothing and wait for them to sue you. In either event, in court, your defense would be based on what you actually owe, on the fact that you offered to pay that, and/or on that you did send them a check for the correct amount. You might, if they sue you when you were right, even seek sanctions or compensation from them, such as for frivolous litigation, for suing when there was no reason to.


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