6Employer may recover overpayments in certain circumstances

1. In this section,—

   next pay day, in relation to any overpayment, means the day next following the day on which that overpayment was made upon which the worker to whom it was made would, in the normal course of events, be paid

   overpayment means any wages paid to a worker in respect of a recoverable period

   recoverable period, in respect of any employer and any worker, means a period in respect of which that employer is not required by law to pay any wages or, if the employer is entitled to make a specified pay deduction, any part of any wages to that worker, by virtue of that worker's having—

   1. been absent from work without that employer's authority; or
   2. been on strike (within the meaning of section 81 of the Employment Relations Act 2000); or
   3. been locked out (within the meaning of that subsection); or
   4. been suspended

   specified pay deduction has the same meaning as in section 82AA of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

2. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any collective agreement within the meaning of the Employment Relations Act 2000 but subject to subsection (3), an employer who has made an overpayment to any worker may recover the amount of that overpayment from any wages to the payment of which by that employer that worker subsequently becomes entitled.

3. No employer shall recover an overpayment under subsection (2) unless—

4. by virtue of the methods or equipment normally used by that employer in arranging the payment of, or paying, wages to the worker concerned, it was not reasonably practicable for that employer to avoid making that overpayment; and
5. before recovering that overpayment, that employer gives that worker notice of that employer's intention to recover it; and
6. in the case of an overpayment that relates to a specified pay deduction, that notice—
   1. is given no later than 10 working days after the pay day on which the overpayment was made; and
   2. specifies the method that the employer used to calculate the deduction (being either the method specified in section 95C(1) and (2) of the Employment Relations Act 2000 or the method specified in section 95C(3) of that Act); and
8. in the case of any other overpayment, that notice is given—
   1. not later than 10 days after the next pay day, in the case of a worker who has no fixed workplace:
   2. not later than the first day upon which that worker attends that worker's workplace after the next pay day during normal working hours, in the case of a worker with one fixed workplace who did not attend that workplace during normal working hours on the next pay day:
   3. not later than the first day upon which that worker attends one of that worker's workplaces after the next pay day during normal working hours, in the case of a worker with 2 or more fixed workplaces who did not attend any of them during normal working hours on the next pay day:
   4. not later than the next pay day, in every other case; and
9. that overpayment is recovered not later than 2 months after that notice is given.

10. The validity of a notice purportedly given under subsection (3)(b) shall not be affected by the fact that—

11. it does not specify the amount of the overpayment concerned but specifies only the day on which that overpayment was made and the actions that led to its being an overpayment:
12. it is one of a number of identical notices given to a group of workers to only some of whom an overpayment has been made, and provides that it applies to the worker to whom it has been given only if an overpayment has been made to that worker.

13. Repealed