What should I do if I notice a candidate has been overpaid?
To give us the best chance of recovering the money from your candidate, please:
- Let us know as soon as possible
- Contact the candidate to explain the error
Here’s an email template that you may wish to adapt and send to them:
Subject – Overpayment
Dear candidate,
We’re writing to let you know that unfortunately, you were overpaid in error for the period ending <dd/mm/yy>, by a total of £<overpayment_amount>. We’ve asked your employer, Key Portfolio, to make arrangements for you to repay this amount to them. They’ll be in touch soon.
In the week in question, you were due to be paid for <e.g. 4 days at £120 per day> for your work at <name of workplace>. Due to <reason e.g. human error / a mistake on your timesheet>, this was recorded on the payroll instructions we sent to Key as <e.g. 5 days at £120 per day>. This resulted in you being paid for <e.g. one extra day>.
We’re really sorry if this mistake causes you any inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
Kind regards,
<agency>
What happens next?
As soon as you tell us about the overpayment, we’ll contact the candidate to arrange repayment. This conversation is made much easier if you’ve already been in touch with them to explain what’s happened. They’ll often repay in full straight away, but sometimes prefer to pay in instalments – this usually depends on the length of time that’s passed since the overpayment happened and the amount of money involved.
Next, we’ll be in touch to discuss the best way of returning the funds to you.
We do encourage candidates to check their pay advice slips carefully and to let us know if they spot any overpayments. If this happens, we’ll get in touch with you straight away.
