Important announcement

We will be carrying out essential maintenance on our payment system on Thursday, 21 May. During this time, telephone payments and counter payments (Chip and Pin) at our Community Hubs will be unavailable.

Customers can still pay for services and bills online or via our 24-hour Touchtone payment service on 0300 123 4524.

MyEDC
When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

Guidance on Overpayments

This guidance sets out the approach the Council will take to recover an overpayment if such a salary overpayment has been made to an employee through their pay.

The Council aims to ensure that all salary payments are processed accurately and timeously. However, it is recognised that occasionally overpayments in salary may occur, for example, due to administrative errors or errors in claims for allowances and expenses.

What is an Overpayment

An overpayment is monies paid to an employee over and above their entitlement in terms of their conditions of employment. This can be relating to salary/wages or related expenses/allowances.

Notification of an Overpayment

If the Council becomes aware of an overpayment to an employee, they must notify the employee and their line manager as soon as possible, advising of the nature of the overpayment and that the overpayment will now need to be paid back.

If an employee notices an overpayment in their payslip, they should talk to their line manager or payroll immediately so that arrangements can be made to recover this. The overpayment will need to be paid back.

Recovering an Overpayment

The Council will not deduct money from the employee's wages to pay back the overpayment without letting them know.
The Council will talk to the employee first and agree how the money will be paid back and in what timescale.

For example, if the employer recently made a simple overpayment, they could let the employee know that they'll deduct it from the next pay. They could also agree to pay the money back a different way, for example by bank transfer.

If the overpayment was a large amount or over a long period of time, the Council will:

  • Be flexible and fair claiming the money back
  • Agree a repayment plan to help the employee manage their finances.

A starting point for discussions on how the money will be paid back and the timescales will be how long the overpayment has been taking place, so for example, if an overpayment has been made over a period of six months, then a six month repayment period could be considered.

The Council will endeavour to reach agreement with any employee on the method and timing of recovery.

Health & Wellbeing

In some situations, an employee might be worried about paying back money, and this might be stressful.

The Council places great importance on the health and wellbeing of all employees and provides support in relation to all aspects of wellbeing. A dedicated page on the Employee Zone provides signposting to a wide range of wellbeing resources, including those in relation to:

  • Financial wellbeing
  • Emotional wellbeing and resilience.

The Council also provides a dedicated Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), through which employees have access to a free 24 hour confidential helpline/support service ‘Time for Thriving’. 

This service offers a wide range of support on a variety of topics to meet individual employee needs including access to self-help resources and sign posting.

The contact details for employees looking for immediate support are as follows:

If someone has left the organisation

If it is discovered that an employee has been overpaid but no longer works for the Council, the Council will contact them to advise them of this. 

The former employee will be told how much money is owed to the Council and needs to be paid back. 

If a former employee refuses to pay back the overpayment, the Council will consider legal action and may make a court claim to recover the money.