Repayment of under-charged insurance benefits

[EdRep]

A teacher in Connecticut was undercharged for insurance benefits for a period in excess of 2 years. It was the fault of the district. The district is (rightfully) seeking repayment, but has asked for the repayment of money over only 6-months. Is the teacher liable for mistakes made in previous fiscal years? What recourse does the teacher have to defining the term of repayment and is there a generally accepted term?

 

[cbg]

The district may have made the initial mistake but if the teacher at no time in the two year period looked at her paycheck and noticed the error, she is just as much at fault as they are. Therefore, yes, she is liable for mistakes in previous years. She is free to ask for an accounting of the amount due back but she's stuck with repaying it.

 

[pattytx]

Yes.

Only what the teacher can negotiate.

Although I agree that the error definitely should have been caught right away, the teacher also should have known the amount that expected to be deducted, and questioned the payroll department if it was not.

I think 6 months to recover the difference underwithheld over 2 years is perfectly acceptable. How much is the underpayment in relation to the employees per-pay-period salary?