What is the procedure for withholding overpayments from an employee? On the basis of an appeal to the Ombudsman, accountants were fined

According to the appeal, that the citizens' wages for February 2024 were understated and deducted from their paychecks by their employer without the employees' written consent.

This appeal was taken under control of the Ombudsman. This fact was studied on site by the regional representative of the Ombudsman in Jizzak region together with a representative of the Main Department of Employment and Poverty Reduction of Jizzak region.

It was found that the accounting department of the Jizzak branch of the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center of Endocrinology overpaid wages due to an error in the calculation of vacation money of several employees. In particular, vacation pay was overpaid to citizen G.I. in the amount of 3.8 million soums and citizen P.A. in the amount of 4 million soums.

Thereafter, the overpaid wages and other payments were withheld in February 2024 without the consent of the employees and a court order, in violation of the requirements set forth in the Labor Code.

As a result of the study by the working group, the relevant decision of the State Labor Inspectorate for committing an offense under Article 49(1) of the Administrative Liability Code, a fine of 8 times the basic calculation of 2,720,000 soums was imposed on the accountant of the branch and 7 times the minimum wage of 2,380,000 soums was imposed on the chief accountant of the branch.

For information: according to Article 269 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the employer may recover overpaid amounts due to calculation errors; in such cases, the employer may issue a withholding order not later than one month from the date of expiry of the deadline set for the return of the advance payment, repayment of arrears, or from the date of the incorrectly calculated payment. If this period is missed or the employee disputes the grounds or the amount of withholding for repayment of the advance payment, the debt shall be repaid in court.

Press Service of the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman)