I worked for an employer in the District of Columbia for one month. They contacted me one month later stating that due to an accounting error they overpaid. What are my rights? Do I have to pay them back?

They can ask, and you could be forced to pay it, but the question is, is the amount enough for them to pursue legally?

And not just the legal issue, but dare I say, the ethical one. If you bought something at a store and they didn't give you enough change from your $100, wouldn't you want them to make it right? And, of course, they could also fire you for refusing to repay and record you as ineligible for rehire.
Didn't you check your pay stub and realize you had been overpaid?

It's amazing how many people think that just because it's the employer who made the mistake, that they can just keep the money. :eek:

i did check my pay stub and did not notice a difference. i was a temporary employee and for that one month i clocked 125 hours and i was entitled to overtime pay. i turned in my timesheet to a supervisor who then put it in the system. it was a horrible work experience. i was verbally abused daily. i was just happy to be out of there.

what amount does it need to be in order for them to pursue it legally?

They can pursue it legally if it's one cent. It's up to them to decide whether it is worth their while to do so.

PattyMD,

I do not know the formatting here to properly quote this but you wrote,

"And not just the legal issue, but dare I say, the ethical one. If you bought something at a store and they didn't give you enough change from your $100, wouldn't you want them to make it right?"

The two scenerios are completely different. Buying something at a store and not getting enough change is not comparable to an employer overpaying an employee while the employee honestly not realizing the mistake.

The correct analogy would be ASKING for the wrong change at a store, the store giving you that wrong amount (while not realizing that you asked for the wrong amount), and only months later you realizing that you made the mistake of asking for wrong amount, and wanting the correct amount back.

Okay, look at it this way then.

You are paying the store by check. Somehow you write the check for the wrong amount and overpay the store. The clerk doesn't look closely at the check and doesn't notice.

By your reasoning, the store would be entitled to keep the money and you would have no grounds to ask for the excess to be refunded. Somehow I suspect you wouldn't accept that answer.

You don't get to have it all your own way. If you can ask for a refund of the extra money, so can your employer.

cbg,

Your example is completely different than the one PattyMD provided. I was just pointing out that the his/her example wasn't a fair analogy. There really isn't a perfect analogy for the situation. Yours doesn't fit completely because although the consumer made the mistake, the store sets the prices. In an employment case, the employer sets the prices (wages), and are also the ones who mistake of paying too much.

I can't speak legally, but PattyMD brought up the ethical issue, and I think it is very tricky to argue that point, and depends greatly on the details of each situation.

You can argue the point as much as you like, and you can argue that the analogies aren't perfect as long as you like.

None of it is going to change the fact that if you were overpaid, the company has the legal right to pursue it and that you have no legal leg to stand on if you try to fight it.