Council employee left without money for food due to payroll error

Hannah was already finding it hard to cope.

The Oldham Council employee, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, had been off work for three months while recovering from a serious road traffic accident.

She was struggling with finances after a recent relationship breakdown, and was mourning the loss of her father. 

Then, two days before she was due to be paid by her employer, she received an email.

Unbeknownst to Hannah, Oldham Council had still been paying her full wage while she was on sick leave rehabilitating from her collision. 

She owed them £4,700.

This came as a huge shock to the Oldham local.  

What came as an even bigger shock: later the same day, she received another email from the council stating they would be recovering some of the money with immediate effect.

Her payslip for that month: £0. 

“I had no money to buy any food,” Hannah told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. 

“Or to pay my priority bills.” 

Hannah was left with nothing.

She was forced to seek a referral to a voucher foodbank, unable to afford her groceries.

She left her apartment in rent arrears and had to beg for time on many of her bills and debt commitments. 

“It felt dehumanizing,” she said.

“If someone has been on a wage, or on statutory sick pay, or even on benefits, then they’re getting something each month.

"If they’ve suddenly got zero, how are they going to manage? 

“I’m obviously not saying I shouldn’t have to pay the money back.

"But it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t my error, and I do think they could have been more compassionate about the way they went about recovering the money.” 

According to the council, it was ‘human error’ on the local authority’s side that led to the overpayment, and she ‘should have been offered a payment plan’ to pay the money back, as she was still entitled to monthly sick pay. 

Hannah never thought twice about the amount she was receiving because she’d submitted all her sick notes and documentation, and kept her employers regularly updated about her state. 

“It was Oldham’s own occupational health department who told me I wasn’t fit to return to work,” she added, still in disbelief. 

But the error took the Oldham employee, who has worked with those facing or experiencing homelessness for several years, to a dark place. 

Hannah said: “I contemplated suicide. Because I was already struggling with my mental health.

"This just left me feeling like ‘what is the point?’. 

“I’m lucky I’ve got a really supportive family, and if it wasn’t for them, I might have ended my life that day.

“The way I was treated was abhorrent.

"It just disregarded me as a human being.

"I’m lucky to have my family as a safety net – but someone else might not have that.

"I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.” 

Hannah, who has worked since the age of 16, also claimed it was the first time she had felt ‘unsupported and unsafe’ due to the actions of an employer. 

She reached out to the LDRS after seeing a story about another error made by Oldham Council, which has seen councillors potentially overpaid by thousands. 

“It felt ironic. Because we’re not even sure yet if they’re going to have to pay it back. Meanwhile when it comes to employees…,” she trailed off. 

“It also makes you wonder. Because it’s Oldham Council.

"They’re the ones who are supposed to be responsible with public funds.

"If they can’t get that right, then they need to be held accountable.” 

A council spokesperson said: “In this case, human error meant that, unfortunately, Hannah got overpaid over a number of months.

"On the rare occasions when an error like this happens, even when it’s not the employee’s fault,  they do need to pay it back, as it is public money they aren’t entitled to.

“She should have been offered a repayment plan, but wasn’t.

"We are really sorry she wasn’t offered time to pay the money back, and for the distress it subsequently caused.

"As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we reached out to her to make sure she had the appropriate support.

“It’s not acceptable that she didn’t have the opportunity to pay the money back over time.

"Following her experience, we conducted an internal review and identified improvements to prevent this from happening again.”

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