I understand that it’s their money but I didn’t know that companies were allowed to recall wages? Does anyone have anymore info on this?
They're allowed to take legal action against her for the debt, which might result in costs being added. She'd have to pay one way or another. Correcting the payment seems like a nicer approach to me, assuming that the new figure is correct.
As far as I can see from the BACS website, there is a very limited window of opportunity for recalling a transfer made by BACS (which I'm assuming is the method used by the company).
Bacs processing cycle
Input - day 1
Input day is the latest day a business user/bureau may submit a payment file to Bacs for a processing cycle. Payment files must be transmitted to Bacs between 07.00 and 22.30.
Processing - day 2
Files are delivered to the recipient banks which then process each payment.
Entry - day 3
Payments are simultaneously credited to the recipients' accounts and debited from your account.
You remain in control of the process at all times. You can submit your payment instructions up to 30 days in advance of the payment date. You can also recall payments after the payment information has been submitted, provided your bank is notified prior to a specific cut off time.
From
https://www.bacs.co.uk/Services/bacsschemes/gettingstarted/pages/bacsdirectcredit.aspx
My
guess would be that when a recall is issued
both processes show on the recipient's account, even though the second replaced the first. That's especially likely if the recall was issued on "Entry - day 3" which would mean that the original transfer had already been processed the day before ("Processing - day 2"). Which would have been what happened in this case, since she didn't tell her employer she was leaving until the say she sees as pay day, i.e. the day the money shows in her account, "Entry - day 3" in the BACS processing cycle.
I've seen similar in other transfers of money. For example, I requested money from an ATM and the ATM's cash dispenser malfunctioned. Each processing showed on my account seperately - £x out of my account from the ATM sending my request for cash and my bank's systems approving it and then £x into my account as a result of the ATM detecting its own malfunctioning, sending a request for a recall of the payment and my bank's systems approving that.
Money is just a promise. It's not a real thing. Even cash is just a promise (look on a note - it states right there that it's just a promise) and computerised systems are even more abstract. A modern bank account is really just a list of transactions. In this case, 1 in, 1 out, 1 in. There isn't really anything in any bank account. We think of them as containing something, but all they contain is quantified promises. The first payment into her account was never really there.
