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Can they fire me after the have overpaid me?

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hogwald

Guest
What is the name of your state? Texas

I was notifed that over the past 18 months I have been receiving an overpayment per diem on every paycheck. I never looked at my paystubs until they notified me. I have acknowleged the error and have agreed to pay back the money ($30,000) without question. It is their money and I have no problem with that.

The issue is that I think I may get fired for "gross misconduct" and this does not make sense to me. It was not my error and I never knew of it until they notified me. Can they legally fire me for this?
 


Beth3

Senior Member
Yes, they can legally fire you for this. Your employer is seriously doubting that you never noticed you were overpaid to the tune of nearly $1,700 per month and is questioning your honesty. Failure to report an error on your paycheck of that magnitude certainly can be deemed gross misconduct if the employer wishes to consider it so.

I recall an employee who would go running to HR or his supervisor if he thought his paycheck was five cents short. When a new payroll clerk made an error and he was overpaid nearly $500/week for six weeks running, the employee claimed he never noticed it. We didn't buy it and terminated him for dishonesty. He should have reported the overpayment immediately and had an ethical obligation to do so.
 
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hogwald

Guest
Ok..But I am not that employee who complains over $.05..I just don't (until now) look at my pay stubs and I've agreed to pay back what I admit was not mine. This "seems" to be very big sum and it is but the first year I had many relocation funds that were added for various things and my W2 showed a enlarged amount that I attributed to the relo not my inflated paycheck.

But I agree they can fire me at will and i will go on knowing that I took the fall for a bad accounting department that does not know how to audit their own books...
 

Beth3

Senior Member
I wasn't suggesting you were that type of individual - just giving you a real world example of why an employer would terminate an employee for not reporting an overpayment. All you can do is plead your case to your employer and hope for the best. Good luck.
 

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