Legal Question in Employment Law in Arizona

This is just an exploratory question:

A friend of mine recently noticed a discrepancy on his paycheck where he was shorted a few hundred dollars. His boss was very cordial, apologized, and paid him the due amount. However, she (the boss) also checked the rest of her payroll records and discovered that, due to a clerical error on her part, she had overpaid him $3k over the last 4 or 5 months. She is now asking him to pay her back the $3000.

Is my friend obligated under any law to pay this money back when the error was made by his boss? He certainly does not have the money and cannot pay her back without some sort of garnishment on future checks.

What should he do?


Asked on 9/22/09, 4:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Blake Simms W. Blake Simms, P.C.

Thank you for the question. Unfortunately, if the company actually did overpay your friend, the company is entitled to recover the overpayment. Often they do this through deductions from the employee's paycheck. Sometimes an employer will agree to take only small sums over a period of time. Other employers will withhold all of an employee's pay until he/she has paid back the entire overpayment.

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Answered on 9/28/09, 1:10 pm


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