Woman FORCED to Pay Back THOUSANDS Due to Her Employer’s MISTAKE

An Alabama lunch lady has been ordered to pay back thousands of dollars after a reported clerical error was discovered. The school mistakenly paid the woman more than she should have received. Now, the hardworking employee is coming to the media for help after she was accused of cashing her checks.

Christie Payne is a child nutrition manager at a high school in Chilton County, Alabama. She has been ordered to repay over $23,000 after a payroll mistake went unnoticed for six years.

Payne says she was unaware that there was any issue with her pay. That was until she received a letter in the mail from the superintendent.

The letter, signed by Superintendent Jason Griffin, claimed that the overpayment totaled $23,465.40. The error occurred during the 2016-2017 school year.

Payne was promoted in 2016. She was promoted to a managerial position, but they made an error. They want her to repay the $23,465.40 because she was paid a “wrong salary” each pay period.

“The employee went from assistant manager to manager,” the letter said. “The employee should have started at step 0 or the manager schedule but was given years of experience as an assistant.”

According to a representative with the Alabama Educator’s Association, Payne claims that she had no clue that she was being overpaid after moving from assistant lunchroom manager to manager at her school.

The letter outlined three options for repaying the money. Payne can pay $325.91 monthly for 72 months, $3,910.90 annually for the next six years, or pay in one lump sum.

The letter stated that if Payne objects to the overpayment or wants to propose another repayment schedule, she has to do so within seven days of receiving the letter. The letter was dated April 12 but was mailed to Payne’s home address.

The Chilton County Board of Education website said under the law, board officials are required to recoup any over-payments.

But legal experts said the school workers might not have to return the money, especially given how long it’s been.

“You can run into problems with federal wage law for taking away money that’s been paid to them,” said Heather Leonard, a labor and employment attorney. “The longer it’s been paid, the more likely it is these employees are going to have a stronger argument that they’re entitled to keep the money.”

Source: AWM

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