The error does not come from it, but it has said nothing. In Switzerland, a teacher mistakenly received 20 months’ salary for a position she no longer occupied. After having worked for two years in Dübendorf as a primary school and teacher of German second language, she changed post in her school in August 2020, says the Swiss German newspaper Zurich Oberländer.
But for more than a year and a half, that is to say until March 2022, the teacher continued to receive his former monthly salary of 1,472 Swiss francs (1,564 euros), plus a part of her 13th month. In total, around 36,000 Swiss francs (38,000 euros) were unduly paid by the city.
She says she was not aware
The error was only uncovered when the teacher asked for a work certificate from her former employer. The city then asked him to reimburse the entire sum, which was finally adjusted by the school to 32,162 Swiss francs. But the woman refused to return the money, indicating that she had used it to buy a car and that she could no longer reimburse him.
She also assured that these payments had been made knowingly, since the school administration managed that she had changed post since August 1, 2020. In addition, according to her, she would not have realized that her old salary continued to fall every month, because she would only look at the balance of her bank account via her smartphone.
His pay slips sent by mail
Based on this argument, she first requested an appeal to the District Council of Uter, which reduced the amount to be reimbursed to 30,272 Swiss francs (32,165 euros). Despite this, the woman still did not want to pay and therefore brought the case before the administrative court of Zurich, then before the Federal Court, the highest instance of the country. In his recent judgment, the latter confirmed that the teacher had to reimburse the sum.
The judges also questioned her version, ensuring that the woman was aware … since she continued to receive by mail of the school sheets of the school. They also pointed out that she had declared these illegitimate tax wages. In addition to the amount to be reimbursed, she will have to pay 2,000 Swiss francs for legal costs and fees of her lawyer.
