I position has recently been eliminated. I was offered 14 weeks severance; on my severance paperwork nothing was stated about the gross / net amount would be for the severance. The only thing stated was the amount of time and when this would begin and end when it came to severance pay and benefits. I had to sign and notarize this doc before I would be able to receive payments.

I now received a letter from my previous employer stating that there was an error with the amount I was paid. They state I should have received $9,423.08 but received in error a gross amount of 25,520.49. Just to let you know I am in sales for a financial institution. The 9,423.08 is based on my base salary of 35k. The 25,520.49 was based on base + previous sales avg.

Neither my previous boss nor HR rep stated that I would be paid according to my base salary. None of the docs I signed stated what I would be paid. None of the "as you leave" docs state anything about error in payment.

I do not feel I should be responsible for an error that I had no clue about.

Does anyone have any advice regarding this? Do I have any legal recourse?

Any help is appreciated

Mike

You can consult a local attorney to see if the severance agreement gives you any recourse, but the law does not require that you be given severance AT ALL.

I understand that they DO NOT have to give me severance but the question at hand is can they ask for money back after my severance has ended stating that they over paid me?

They can ask for anything.

Ask an attorney if you have to answer.

Since we cannot see your severance agreement we have no way of knowing if they can successfully ask for it back or not. There are limits to what a free message board can answer.