It's only been a couple of months. If he was overpaid, then he should pay them back. You would expect them to do the same if they owed you the money, wouldn't you?
Why would you consider keeping something you know isn't rightfully yours?
Actually, considering an earlier thread...I'm not always conviced of that. ;)
To directly help you with the question. Requesting that small bit of money back is lame.
What they should do is simply make sure its added to his income (which i'm sure it would be on his W-2) and he'll pay all the appropriate taxes on it.
Are they correct in their assessment? Try to work out a payment plan. I know when I retired from the _______ Fire Department (verylarge city), they audited my 25 years of payroll sheets and determined I had received 3 days too much paid leave and deducted it from my total accumulated leave to be paid to me at retirement. I found there was no way to check their figure and they would not discuss the audit. I later found out this happened to almost everyone who retired from there.
After just reading the 'other' thread, I thought maybe you girls could help out here. Hopefully the pooper doesn't show up.
Send them a certified letter, return receipt requested, asking that they detail all the information to support their statement..
If the employee has no evidence, timesheets, that he was paid correctly, he should return the excess. The statute of limitations is nowhere near applying, and the company has many means of retrieving their money even if it costs them much more than the value of the overpayment.
Did they offer any details as to how the overpayment happened? What are the details of the mistake? I'd ask for the details (its fair) and if it looks legit, I'd just return it.
Just because someone sends you a bill doesn't mean it's legitimate. Maybe they were right the first time and are making the mistake now, for example. Just because they think a mistake happened doesn't mean the first accounting was the mistake - it could easily be the second accounting.
A letter asking for $192 raises a fair question as to exactly how that was calculated. I'd ask them for details. If they can't provide them, then how are they so sure you owe them that amount?
Big companies will not purse $192. Ignore the letter and they'll right it off.
If you feel that you owe the money and ought to pay it back, then do so.
Otherwise, ignore the letter. They can go pound sand. They won't be reporting it on your credit data, and they certainly are not going to file a suit against you for $192.
So forget about it, spend the money, and Merry Christmas.
I have a LOT of collection litigation experience as both a plaintiff and a defendant.
Really, just ignore it. If you hear anything else from them about it (other than a resend of the same letter), freepmail me and I'll be happy to share the benefit of my vast pro se experience.
I'm guessing, since he no longer works there, that this was something like a final paycheck where he was perhaps compensated for scheduled work he didn't do, or unused holiday leave, or something? Or was it merely a math error? If they overpaid him, and it's only been a couple months, not years, it seems like a timely request.
Send them an invoice for the $192 for "Professional Services" and mark it as "PAID" with a thank you note.
Punt...
Yes he does, and he should.