Bapo Regulation and Recovery: Explanation & Advice

Questioner

I work in education and use the Bapo scheme. This is a scheme that older employees aged 52 can use to reduce their workload. At small Bapo, you can take ½ day off per week with a full-time job, with the employer paying 75% and the employee 25%. I have been using this for 10 years. Yesterday I found out that since 31/7/2012 no more money is being withheld from my salary for the Bapo. I never check my payslip, because (like most people) I don't understand all the abbreviations and complicated terms, so I didn't know that. I can assume that if it has been going well for years, it won't suddenly change. Can the school now force me to pay back this money, even though it was an employee's mistake?

Lawyer

The employer made a mistake and paid you too much salary. Legally, this is a payment without legal basis, which obliges you, based on article 6:203 BW, to return the excess payment. However, the case law on these types of cases differs from case to case. What matters most is whether you noticed or should have noticed your employer's mistake. Your defense regarding not checking your salary specifications will not help you here. Apart from the incorrect assumption (the complexity of the salary specification) you must have noticed that you suddenly received more salary after 31/07/2012. If your employer reclaims the amount, you can object to this. Whether you are right depends on your specific situation.

Questioner

I did not notice that I received more salary. It is a matter of a few tens of euros, so whether it is 1220 or 1260 euros does not immediately strike me. Sometimes there is also a change in a premium or tax that changes the amount. I am never really concerned with money matters. If you were to ask me now what exactly I earn, I could not answer that either. Moreover, if it has been going well for 8 years, you would expect it to go well in the 9th year as well. It was a scheme that could not be stopped. Kind regards.