Legal Question in Business Law in New Jersey

Re: Over paid whlie on FMLA

Look at it another way -- If they accidentally underpaid you one week and you quit, you would still expect them to pay you for time you worked. They would have a claim for the overpayment. Honesty also dictates that you return the money.

Re: Over paid whlie on FMLA

If you had a good-faith claim to the overpayment, perhaps your position would be different. But here, you admit that you are not entitled to the extra money, and that you received it simply due to a clear mistake made by your employer--probably some kind of clerical error.

This sometimes happens when banks make erroneous credits (or debits) in a person's account. Example: You deposit $100.00, but the teller types in an extra zero--$1,000.00. Clearly, you would not be entitled to $1,000.00. Your job situation is similar.

In other words, you are not being "punished" for doing anything wrong. On the other hand, there is no reason for you to reap a windfall from this type of error by your employer. The legal theory is called "unjust enrichment"--i.e., if the issue went to court, your employer would argue that you should not keep the money because you were not legally entitled to get it in the first place, and allowing you to keep it would "unjustly enrich" you.

Another example would be if a bag full of money falls off the Brinks Truck. Brinks is still entitled to return of the money, even if it was their error that led to the loss of the money.

This is different then if you were to find a sum of money whose true owner could not be identified, despite diligent efforts. In that case, you would have a claim to keep the money as the finder.

I think you are actually quite fortunate that your employer is giving you the option of "working off" the debt. Legally, when you realized that the money was erroneously given to you, you had a duty to immediately return it without spending it. Your company, potentially, could have had you criminally prosecuted if this is what happened. So, please don't think ill of your company, it seems they have done you a "solid" here.