Repayment of final settlement after termination of employment.

Questioner

I have been out of service for almost 2 years now at an organization. Due to an administrative error, an amount of +/- €335 was paid out twice at the final settlement. Now I received a letter today to transfer the overpaid amount. What is the legal situation?

Lawyer

If it is correct that the amount in question was paid out once too much, then it was paid without due cause and you are obliged to pay it back. If you might still be owed a (different) amount by your ex-employer, which I do not assume, you could offset it.

Lawyer

Did you know or could you have known? That`s the question. In case of too much salary payment, you do not have to pay it back in principle. After all, salary is spent (directly). It is different if you knew or should have known. If you do not pay the money back, the employer must go to the subdistrict court. This is usually not done for these types of amounts. However, this is a (limited) risk that you take