Question About Resignation Payout

[Yellow Feathers]

Hi guys,

I've looked around online but I can't find an answer for this one.

I recently resigned from a new job after only 1.5 weeks. I didn't give any notice - I basically told them the job was not what I expected and that I would not waste any more of their time (or mine) in training. I was told at the time that it was their policy to pay me out an additional week even though there was no notice period.

Today I received a call from their payroll stating that the pay I received prior to the resignation was overs. They had paid me from my start date until the end of the month. This means that I know owe them about $600 dollars.

Do you know if I'm required by law to pay this back? It was their decision to pay me that extra money, and I received no payment for the hours of online psychometric testing I completed in the interview process.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

You're not entitled to pay for anything that could reasonably be considered part of the interview process, which psychometric testing is.

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, overpayments can happen when an employer mistakenly believes an employee is entitled to the pay or because of a payroll error.

Employers can’t take money out of an employee’s pay to fix up a mistake or overpayment. Instead, the employer and employee should discuss and agree on a repayment arrangement. If the employee agrees to repay the money, a written agreement has to be made and has to set out:

• the reason for the overpayment
• the amount of money overpaid
• the way repayments will be made (eg. cash, cheque or electronic transfer) and how often (this has to be reasonable).

If the repayment can’t be agreed an employer should get legal advice.

 

[Yellow Feathers]

You're not entitled to pay for anything that could reasonably be considered part of the interview process, which psychometric testing is.

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, overpayments can happen when an employer mistakenly believes an employee is entitled to the pay or because of a payroll error.

Employers can’t take money out of an employee’s pay to fix up a mistake or overpayment. Instead, the employer and employee should discuss and agree on a repayment arrangement. If the employee agrees to repay the money, a written agreement has to be made and has to set out:

• the reason for the overpayment
• the amount of money overpaid
• the way repayments will be made (eg. cash, cheque or electronic transfer) and how often (this has to be reasonable).

If the repayment can’t be agreed an employer should get legal advice.

Thanks for that!

So... Now that I'm no longer employed by them, it's up to myself and the employer to negotiate the repayment. If we can't agree, it's settled in court?

What if I offered to come back to work for x number of days until the difference was repayed?

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Thanks for that!

So... Now that I'm no longer employed by them, it's up to myself and the employer to negotiate the repayment. If we can't agree, it's settled in court?

That's right.

What if I offered to come back to work for x number of days until the difference was repayed?

They can't take it out of wages so I don't think that solution would be appropriate. Repayments have to be via a 'payment plan', not work to pay the debt off.