CARE WORKERS accidentally overpaid by council bosses have been told their pay will be slashed from next month to recover the debt.

But unions have warned Northumberland County Council: “Touch that money, and we go to law.”

A total of 26 part-time female care staff in west Northumberland are furious that they will lose hundreds of pounds a month from their salaries.

Contracts agreed in 2010 included single premium clauses for additional shifts.

The complicated deals were passed and only came to light when two workers discovered a discrepancy and reported it to the authority.

Now the council says it is within its rights to reclaim the money – but union leaders disagree and say a ballot for strike action could follow.

Kevin Crosby, GMB branch secretary at Northumberland, said yesterday: “We are asking the council to admit that what the care workers had was what was in the contract of employment.

“They should honour that and write that debt off – this place is supposed to be watertight on its audits, yet a group of people are supposed to have been overpaid.

“It is heavy tactics and we have told the council that if they touch that money in April, we will be taking legal advice, and there could be a ballot for strike action.”

Northumberland County Council insisted last night that they were following agreed procedures.

A spokesman said: “The council has identified that there has been an overpayment to some employees and, in line with agreed procedures, is recovering the overpayment over an appropriate time period.”

Employees averaging £9 an hour who care for the elderly, disabled and post-surgery patients have been told they can repay the money over one, two, or three-year periods, or make the debt good in a single payment.

A letter and option form has been sent to them to be returned this month.

Care worker Lyn Murray, 63, of Haltwhistle, Northumberland, said she has been told she must repay £2,600 – and could have to pay back £360 a month.

But she said: “The council has a God complex – they say they are going to start taking the money out in April, whether we agree or not.

“But we have only had one brief meeting with HR, and now been told this.

“The contracts we were given were quite complicated, with basic salary, unsocial hours, and a single premium for extra shifts – and none of us picked up the error at that point. We couldn’t have been expected to.

“Nor did the council but now we are being asked to pay for their mistake.

“I’m paying for a new car among other things right now, and simply cannot afford to lose that sort of money.

“I understand the average repayments for the girls are between £2,000 and £4,000, but it’s not as if we’re highly-paid to start with and we haven’t got that sort of money to hand back.”

Unison joint branch secretary Ian Fleming said: “We asked for more information from the council two weeks ago, but they have not furnished us with that yet.

“We believe there would need to be a period of consultation to change the contracts if it has been an error.

“It is a dispute in terms of us saying we want more information, though it is not as yet an industrial dispute.

“However, we will be looking to get legal advice, and if the legal advice doesn’t come back favourably, we would then be potentially looking at industrial action.”

Mr Fleming added: “We argue that any deduction is an unlawful deduction.

“We believe there is a contractual entitlement there for this group of workers. We are concerned the council is taking this approach when it is their error.

“A strike is possible, but this group of workers takes great pride in what they do and they don’t want to let their clients down.”

Mr Crosby said that in the worst case, one woman would have to pay back £12,000, and another was facing repayments of just under £10,000.

He added: “The council is hell-bent on recovering their costs, but the women’s contracts clearly state what they are entitled to be paid.

“We have argued and sat with the council people only to be at this situation now.

“The lasses don’t want to say to an elderly person that they are taking industrial action, for those people depend on them.”