Employee keeps mistaken $27,000 pay

COURT rules that a woman doesn't have to pay back a redundancy her former employer gave her by mistake.

A COURT has ruled that a woman can keep a redundancy of more than $27,000 paid to her by mistake because it stopped her getting unemployment benefits.

The Victorian Supreme Court rejected recruitment company TRA Global’s bid to claw back the money from former national operations manager Vesna Kebakoska after the company realised it had overpaid her.

In overturning TRA Global’s appeal, Justice Robert Osborn found Ms Kebakoska was not required to pay back the sum because she had been denied unemployment benefits after reporting the payment to Centrelink.

Justice Osborn found it would be “inequitable” to require the former employee to bear a financial loss which she would not have suffered without the company’s mistake.

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Ms Kebakoska received the $27,318.48 – 12 weeks of her $129,000 salary package – when she was made redundant in July 2008 because TRA Global thought it was obligated to do so under the Federal Award Minimum Standard for Redundancy Payments.

Workplace lawyer Joydeep Hor, who was not involved in the matter, told news.com.au the case signalled employers needed to make clear-cut separation agreements with employees.

“The main take out from this case is do the due diligence in terms of what you really have to pay someone,” Mr Hor said.

“If you are going to be paying anyone over and above what’s required, be perfectly clear and put in writing why you are paying over and about what you have to pay.”

Employees have stronger redundancy entitlements nowadays because of the Fair Work Act, he said.