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Employer claiming wage over payment but no signed contract (Alberta, Canada)

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mahchine

Junior Member
Long story short I applied for a job online and was sent an email basically saying that I was hired. That email did have the details of employment offering me x amount of dollars etc.... But then verbally with the admin it was mentioned that there is an uplift in wage for the area I was working in. For the past 5 months my employer has been paying me more than what the initial email stated and I thought this was correct due to the mention of uplift in wage by the administrator.

But now they are trying to say that I was overpaid and referenced the initial email where it said x amount of dollars. It is about a $8.50 difference in wage so it is substantial over the 5 months. I did not sign a contract but am I screwed from what the email says regardless of what was verbally spoken about with another person? Or does the fact that I didn't sign a contract make it fair for me to keep what they consider an over payment?

I have called the labour board in Alberta where I've but they were not much help stating that this is more of a contractual issue and that they only deal with stuff an employer doesn't pay etc.. Is it worth fighting, lawyer fees would probably be way more than what they are asking for me to pay back.
 


eerelations

Senior Member
Because there are actually two contracts involved here - the written contract (the email) and the unwritten contract (the conversation with this admin person, who may or may not have had the authority to elaborate on your written contract), and you would be relying on the unwritten contract (which by its nature carries less weight) - your chances of prevailing in a lawsuit seem slim.

You might want to consider finding a lawyer who gives free initial consultations to discuss this issue and get a more accurate read on your chances of prevailing.
 

mahchine

Junior Member
Yes that is what I figured which I feel puts my in quite the situation as the only documented piece is the email.

Basically what I want to know is does it really matter if I did not sign a contract? That's one main point to argue I feel
 

eerelations

Senior Member
If the admin person had given you a contract to sign, and that contract specified the higher wage, then you would have a case. Since this didn't happen, then you should go back to my previous response.

Question: when you spoke to the person who notified you of the overpayment and told him/her the admin's name and what he/she told you about the higher wage, what was the response?
 

mahchine

Junior Member
The response was basically that's what it says in the email so they would like the money back. I've explained my case but it seems like they want to go off from the email
 

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