Former employee confesses to receiving over $80,000 in overpayment after he quit 1.4 years ago: '[I'm] still receiving the same bi-weekly pay [...] as if I still work there!'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 20, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

After working to ensure that he was properly paid for his last weeks on the job before his departure, this former employee ended up getting way more than he bargained for or deserved. In fact, almost a full year and a half later, this dude admitted to the fact that he has still been receiving bi-weekly direct deposits from payroll, and he hasn't exactly done anything about it… until now.

People seem to have split reactions about what this guy should do next. After confessing the truth about the overpayment, which has amounted to over $80,000 at this point, some folks within this online community chimed in with legal advice. Let's just say that prospects are not looking great for this guy, but let's consider the other side of the argument. If a company's payroll department is this disorganized, shouldn't their incompetence be punished in some way? After all, none of this would have happened were it not for their own negligence. Sure, the former employee didn't exactly work hard for the money, but it's not like the payroll department has been working hard either—or, at least, they're not working nearly as carefully as they should be!

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    Here 1040022 FINANCE A OTHER INFO ACT DETAI 11
    via Unsplash+ (Behnam Norouzi)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • We're hoping for the best possible outcome for this author. According to one member of the online community, that ideal scenario would likely be if the company declared bankruptcy and went under. Of course, that's not exactly a good outcome for everyone else who works at this company, but if the payroll department is indicative of anything, it's that these folks have no idea what they're doing at this company.

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    "Former employer has continued paying me for 1.4 years (Approx. $86K net and counting)

    Throwaway account for obvious reasons. This all started a year and a half ago when I voluntarily resigned for a new job opportunity. I went through the normal process of resigning, got
    via Old-Principle3092
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    paid out my remaining vacation days, etc. One thing to note is that they tried to not pay me for the very last day of my 2 week notice. I worked from home
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    Fridays and my very last day was a Friday so i returned company property (laptop) back to them on the Thursday. So obviously i wouldn't be doing any work the Friday, anyways i fought back and got paid for the final Friday. But it
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    took just under a month for that deposit to come in, i forget why (I used to get paid bi-weekly). I'm wondering if this had something to do with the payroll error since they had open my pay back up for that final day, or something along that line.
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    Here's where it starts, 2 weeks go by after that last payment for the friday, and we're now 6 weeks later from what was supposed to be my original last paycheck (that shorted me on the friday). Bing, i get my regular
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    bi-weekly paycheck amount on the regularly scheduled day by direct deposit. Now i've been on reddit a long time and I've heard
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    of similar scenarios, i also sure as h_don't have any love for corporations. So right off the bat i know to not spend it and to stick it in my TFSA in a simple 100% safe money market fund, sadly only earning a few % these days.
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    TFSA is the 401K equivalent in Canada, I live in Ontario, Canada btw for legal context. Anyways fast forward approx. 1.4 years and here we are approx. $86K
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    net later still receiving the same bi-weekly pay. I even got my 2024 T4 from the former employer (This is Canada's W2) and filed it as if I sill work there.
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    116)
    via Ludovic Migneault

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Also it's worth noting my former employer has like 5-10 subsidiaries (overall a pretty small company) and the finance department is responsible for the entire umbrella, and is notoriously a bit of a s show.
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    So not surprising something like this has happened. It'll be very interesting to see where this goes, but for now I'm happy to stand by and collect a measly
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    amount of free money from the 2-3% interest. Anyone have some insight into overpayment laws in Ontario, Canada?
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    sfcfrankcastle •14h ago Hit them with the reverse uno when they come looking for the money, resign again! And that you want to be paid out for vacation accrued and bill them for the laptop you had to buy since they never provided you with equipment.
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    PriveCo 13h ago . You should be praying that the company either goes. bankrupt, changes payroll providers, or gets acquired by another company. Then you might get a clean exit from this.
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    TaviLemur 14h ago . Yeah so, legally in Ontario, they can ask for that money back, even if it's their screw- up, and they have 2 years. (from when they should've noticed the error) to sue under the Limitations Act.
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    But the longer they don't, the sketchier their case gets. Keep the money safe, don't spend a dime, and talk to a lawyer before they ever come calling.
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    PixilatedFeline • 11h ago . This happened to me! Like 10 years ago. It didn't last as long as your situation, I was paid for about 8 months after quitting a place I worked at for a month. I had gotten some free legal advice so knew it was within their right to ask for it back and had put it aside.
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    Yet when they eventually wrote to me asking for it back I responded saying I only had half of the money,
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    so could I transfer that amount and set up a payment plan of a to be agreed upon amount for the rest. They agreed, and I transferred half, but they never followed up with me about the payment plan so I got to keep half of it! Editing to add: This was in Aus not Canada
    via Old-Principle3092

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