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Mistake on contract

Where do we stand if a salary figure on a contract is wrong (typo, not major issue £15,000 instead of £13,000).  The official offer of employment had the correct figure on it and the employee has been paid the correct figure but she has just pointed out her pay is different to what it says in her contract.  She is asking if we can honour the contract figure as she has turned down work outside of this job and is now out of pocket.  What would you do in this situation?

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  • "Dear Ms Bloggs. I would like to apologise for the confusion regarding the wording of your contract, specifically the salary figure which is incorrectly stated as £15000 when It should read £13000 which is what it said on the offer of employment. I do apologise....................................etc., etc.,

    And that is that!

    It is accepted that people make mistakes. As for losing money? I don't quite understand as she knew it was £13,000 when she was offered the job wasn't she?
  • "....and please find attached the corrected page of the contract"
  • In reply to David Perry:

    Yes my argument was the offer was correct and we have been paying her the correct amount but it is a human error on the contract. She says she is losing out as she has given up some work outside of this role based on the figure on her contract
  • In reply to Andrea Jennings:

    Well you formed a contract and then amended that contract to include remuneration at an increased level, with the offer, acceptance, consideration etc, whether or not it was intended. However, I'd suggest the most she could argue is that you pay her at the higher level for the period of notice in her contract - in the ultimate scenario that you dismiss and re-employ.

    As said, mistakes do happen, and it's really frustrating when it happens in this kind of situation. I did the same thing a few weeks ago, giving the wrong hours in an offer letter. Most new employees recognise (as mine did) that arguing about a genuine mistake that has been corrected isn't the best way to impress a new employer, so accept the change without fuss.