We have recently discovered that we’ve been overpaying a number of our employees. What's the legal position? Can the Company get the money back from them?

If the employees are still working for you, the first and most obvious avenue to consider is recovering the overpayments from their earnings. Making deductions from employees’ wages is unlawful under the Employment Rights (NI) Order 1996 unless authorised by statute or the employee’s contract or where the employee has given their express written consent. However, you’ll be happy to know that deductions to recoup an overpayment are excluded from the general prohibition under ERO.

That said, the employee may try to resist the recovery of the overpayments if they can argue that they have, in good faith, incurred expenditure that they would not otherwise have done as a result of the