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Wage Adjustment Payment Error Letter

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SalleyJ

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
My son received a letter in the mail today from his former employer, the City of Fort Lauderdale, where he worked as a lifeguardfrom October, 2016, through July, 2017. The letter reads in part:
During a recent audit of the City's payroll records, we discovered an error regarding your wages. Beginning pay period beginning October 9, 2016, you erroneously received a wage adjustment resulting in an over payment of $1,258.60 This amount was calculated from check date 10/28/16 through 7/7/2017.
He was then offered two repayment options: 26 pay periods or 52 pay periods, automatically deducted from his pay until the alleged over payment is satisfied. The letter asks him to return within 24 hours his acknowledgement of being overpaid and his preferred repayment plan. But he no longer works for the City and hasn't since July, 2017. Is he obligated to repay the City?
Thank you.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
My son received a letter in the mail today from his former employer, the City of Fort Lauderdale, where he worked as a lifeguardfrom October, 2016, through July, 2017. The letter reads in part:
During a recent audit of the City's payroll records, we discovered an error regarding your wages. Beginning pay period beginning October 9, 2016, you erroneously received a wage adjustment resulting in an over payment of $1,258.60 This amount was calculated from check date 10/28/16 through 7/7/2017.
He was then offered two repayment options: 26 pay periods or 52 pay periods, automatically deducted from his pay until the alleged over payment is satisfied. The letter asks him to return within 24 hours his acknowledgement of being overpaid and his preferred repayment plan. But he no longer works for the City and hasn't since July, 2017. Is he obligated to repay the City?
Thank you.
Is your son a minor? If not, why isn't he handling this himself?

If he is a minor...what lesson do you want to teach your child. If he (you) agree that he was overpaid, then of course he should repay it. (I noticed that your disagreement with the money being owed is conspicuously absent.)
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
My son received a letter in the mail today from his former employer, the City of Fort Lauderdale, where he worked as a lifeguardfrom October, 2016, through July, 2017. The letter reads in part:
During a recent audit of the City's payroll records, we discovered an error regarding your wages. Beginning pay period beginning October 9, 2016, you erroneously received a wage adjustment resulting in an over payment of $1,258.60 This amount was calculated from check date 10/28/16 through 7/7/2017.
He was then offered two repayment options: 26 pay periods or 52 pay periods, automatically deducted from his pay until the alleged over payment is satisfied. The letter asks him to return within 24 hours his acknowledgement of being overpaid and his preferred repayment plan. But he no longer works for the City and hasn't since July, 2017. Is he obligated to repay the City?
Thank you.
So basically, he thought he received a raise and now they want to take it back?

I don't think that he is obligated to repay the city. Someone else may have a different opinion.
 

not2cleverRed

Obvious Observer
So basically, he thought he received a raise and now they want to take it back?

I don't think that he is obligated to repay the city. Someone else may have a different opinion.
Legally, opinions don't matter.

In my experience, when such errors happen, the employee has to return the money. Because this is not a small private employer, they have no problem going after it legally. It would not be in OP's son's best interest to just ignore this.

We don't know what OP's son thought, and we don't know what the error was.

What OP's son should do is contact his former employer and ask for clarification.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
So basically, he thought he received a raise and now they want to take it back?

I don't think that he is obligated to repay the city. Someone else may have a different opinion.
He likely had an employment contract.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
He likely does not. I've worked for both the federal and state governments and never had a contract. Never had a contract for anybody else I worked as for an employee.
Interesting - all of the government workers I've been familiar with (and that's quite a few) have had contracts...but then again, I'm in a different part of the country.
 

commentator

Senior Member
He needs to call federal wage and hour (since Florida does not have their own state wage and hour) and discuss this situation with them. It frankly sounds a bit odd to me that they'd expect to recoup the money this way from someone who no longer works there, though I'd also bet my last dollar he did not have a contract. I'd be very interested in what Wage and Hour thinks of this. I sort of suspect they may be trying to find those who'll be willing to pay them back, and are pretty safe doing it to people who are still employed by them, they of course have lots of leverage here. But I suspect they may not be willing to sue to try to get legal satisfaction for the overpayment from someone who's now gone.
 
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PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
From a W&HD opinion letter

Q1) Does the FLSA prohibit an employer from deducting compensation from an employee’s paycheck (without the employee’s permission) in order to reimburse itself for an overpayment inadvertently made to the employee in a previous pay check? The employee requested 75 hours of vacation in pay period one and was paid for them. The employee in fact had only 32 hours available and reported it to the department. When the employee was paid for the next pay period, 43 hours pay were deducted.

A1) It has been our longstanding position that where an employer makes a loan or an advance of wages to an employee, the principal may be deducted from the employee’s earnings even if such deduction cuts into the minimum wage or overtime pay due the employee under the FLSA. An employer may not, however, make an assessment for administrative costs or charge any interest payment that brings the employee below the minimum wage. See Field Operations Handbook, 30c10; opinion letters dated March 20, 1998, and November 16, 1977 (enclosed). Thus the amount the department chooses to recoup in the next pay period is at the department’s discretion. It does not matter whether the deduction was made in the next pay period or several pay periods later.
Yes I know this doesn't answer the issue re: the fact that he is no longer an employee.

Sounds to me like they used the same letter for employees and non-employees. They can't go after money they aren't paying him without a court judgment.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Legally, opinions don't matter.

In my experience, when such errors happen, the employee has to return the money. Because this is not a small private employer, they have no problem going after it legally. It would not be in OP's son's best interest to just ignore this.

We don't know what OP's son thought, and we don't know what the error was.

What OP's son should do is contact his former employer and ask for clarification.
Or, come back to use and tell us how the letter says that he was overpaid. Based on the amount of money involved and the fact that it started on a particular debt, I would lay odds that it looked like a raise.
 

HRZ

Senior Member
I don't get it and there may be missing details...even if there was a posted wage of say 7.75 hr for lifeguards in a true at will situation and somebody gave out an unintended "raise" to $8.75 hr ...just where does the law support a rollback ? THere might. Have been some sort of annual budget approval of wages for the community ..but we are not there yet with " facts"

And as posted this has nothing to do with a loan or advancement .
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Interesting - all of the government workers I've been familiar with (and that's quite a few) have had contracts...but then again, I'm in a different part of the country.
He was a lifeguard.

In my areas jobs like lifeguards, cemetery groundskeepers, mowing crews, and other general labor jobs do not have (written) contracts. The governmental entities act really no differently than a typical private sector employer.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
If he was paid [$XX.xx] per hour and he started receiving [$XX.xx + $1.00] hour and he was not granted a raise, yes they can demand repayment. You don’t get to just keep errors in payment.

Just the same, if they told him he would be paid [$XX.xx] per hour and when he recieved his paycheck and it showed he was being paid [$XX.xx + $1.00] per hour, unles is verified he was being paid the correct amount and was assured he was, then yes, they can demand repayment.

The questions I see are:

Was there a change in pay during his tenure that he wasn’t told he would be getting?

Did they pay him a higher rate than they told him he would be paid?


You don’t just get to keep an unintentional overpayment.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
If he was paid [$XX.xx] per hour and he started receiving [$XX.xx + $1.00] hour and he was not granted a raise, yes they can demand repayment. You don’t get to just keep errors in payment.

Just the same, if they told him he would be paid [$XX.xx] per hour and when he recieved his paycheck and it showed he was being paid [$XX.xx + $1.00] per hour, unles is verified he was being paid the correct amount and was assured he was, then yes, they can demand repayment.

The questions I see are:

Was there a change in pay during his tenure that he wasn’t told he would be getting?

Did they pay him a higher rate than they told him he would be paid?


You don’t just get to keep an unintentional overpayment.
I am not at all sure that you are correct. They paid him the rate that the paid him. I don't think that they can come back 7 or 8 months later and claim a mistake that he is liable to repay.

He can always consult a local attorney for a more informed opinion.
 

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