What are my rights regarding the repayment of a wage overpayment?
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What are my rights regarding the repayment of a wage overpayment?
My employer overpaid its employees due
to an error. They are trying to make us
sign a form online allowing them to
garnish our wages for 12 weeks. I want
the repayment to be in one lump sum, and
any documents I sign to be paper. Do I
have a legal right to demand those two
things?
Asked on January 25, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Kentucky
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Wages being mistakenly ovepaid are subject to recoupment by the payor/employer. This means that your employer has a right to get any money paid in error back. Otherwise, the payee/employee would be "unjustly enriched", something which the law disfavors. And when you think about it, it makes sense becasue had you been accidentally underpaid, you would be entitled to the difference of what you were paid and the amount that you actually received. If not, then your employer would be unjustly enriched.
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