Overpaid worker does not have to pay back money

Posted 16/06/2009

A woman who was overpaid by her employer has been told she will be allowed to keep the surplus money.

Natasha Keenan worked part-time at Barclays bank on a salary of £9,500 a year, but an administrative error led to her being paid nearly twice this amount.

Upon realising the mistake, Barclays demanded that she pay back £20,000, but Mrs Keenan insisted that she had not noticed that she had been overpaid.

She therefore took her employers to an employment tribunal to determine whether she was legally entitled to keep the money.

The tribunal ruled in her favour, as they did not consider Mrs Keenan to be dishonest, while they also decided that the error had been the fault of the bank.

“It was clear to me that she would not turn a blind eye to such a mistake in the hope that she might get away with it,” commented Judge Martin Kurrein.

Meanwhile, British Airways has called on thousands of staff to work for free for one month.

The airline posted a record annual loss last month and insists the measure could be a big step towards helping it survive.