Back in September, my principal told us that we had been overpaid for the time we came in and worked during the Summer. Since we are a brand new school, there were funds set aside for planning and prep last August. The new office clerk put it in at our higher rate, so my September paycheck was HUGE. I knew it was a good chunk of money I needed to pay back, and she told us that the district would be contacting us to get it sorted out. If someone owed me five hundred bucks, I'd be all over it! But LAUSD took their time, which is fine by me.
Fast forward six months later, and I just got the letter from the district to deal with the matter. (The same week I got my annual notice that I may be laid off. They must need my money for the postage on thousands of layoff notices.) I was overpaid $542.66. I have two options for repayment. One lump sum which I pay for via check, or they will take $200 each month, starting with my May paycheck, which means it will be taken care of by July.
The "I hate debt" part of me just wants to send them a check and be done with it. I have the money in my savings and I should be able to make up for it in the coming months. But, I can also see this as an interest-free loan, and let them take the money over the next three months. It will also hurt less to have a slightly smaller check each month than to see my balance in my savings drop suddenly. So, I'm going with option two. Since I got my National Boards raise and do tutoring, the amount won't be much different than what I was getting in December, which is more than enough to meet my basic goals.
A few years ago this would have been a worse situation. I would have blown the money and been hurting to miss the amount from my paychecks, since I was spending above my means. Just another reason I'm thankful I got my financial act together.
Have you ever been overpaid by your company? How did you handle it?
Unfortunately, whenever I get overpaid it's only by a small amount and then they write "adjustment -10$" on my pay slip.
ReplyDeleteI would totally have chosen the 3m option if I were you :)
I was overpaid once. I work for a huge corporation on a per diem basis and was inadvertantly paid a bonus. I had a phone call from my boss the day after the paycheck was deposited into my account. I received a letter and a phone call from the legal department within 3 business days. They took it very seriously. I chose to write them a check and repay them immediately since the money was still sitting in my checking account. The matter was cleared up before the next pay date.
ReplyDeleteI find it very telling that your employer (who, according to all reports is facing a money crunch) took 6 months to reconcile this discrepancy. On the other hand, my company (known the world over for cutting dollars and maintaining profitability), was dealing with the matter within days.
Good for you! I'd have wanted it done & over with and just paid it all at once... any way you look at it, hopefully they don't mess up again!
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