Jun
14
Can a previous employer collect an overpayment of vacation hours 6 months after leaving the company?
Filed Under Vacation
My husband and I took a 3 week vacation this past summer. Prior to leaving on our trip he sent in his letter of resignation, upon our return he would be accepting another job at a different company. His last paycheck from his previous employer was basically ALL his vacation pay…
So, NOW, 6 months later he just received an email informing him that they, by mistake, made an overpayment of vacation hours and they are asking us to repay a fairly large sum of money. Do they have any legal recourse?
Comments
3 Responses to “Can a previous employer collect an overpayment of vacation hours 6 months after leaving the company?”
Leave a Reply
They might have a restitution case because you have been unjustly enriched. That being said, I might test the waters and see how willing they are to pursue it. Litigation is costly, depending on the amount in controversy it may or may not be worth it for them to pursue it. Consult a contract attorney. (I’m just a law school student).
The costs involved in litigating the recovery are usually prohibitive, unless you get into the $10,000 – $20,000 range.
To be quite honest, they probably do. But to be as perfectly honest, I’d tell them to pound salt. They’ll have to spend more time and money to get you to pay it back than what it is worth to them. You both should consider it as severance pay, or a bonus as a job well done. And that’s exactly what I’d tell the old employer. Unless it’s over ten grand, I would be shocked if they pursued the matter.