<prompt> Human: My mom found out today that the company she works for had accidentally been over paying her and so this friday she wont get her 2 week paycheck because of it. Their excuse was well its like weve already paid you which is ridiculous. anyway im just wondering what can be done thanks.  <response>: Payroll professional checking in! But the great PF folks nailed this already. Legally the employer can reduce pay down to minimum wage for as long as it takes to recover the funds.Youshe may want to verify that the year-to-date earnings are also corrected. An employer who doesnt realize they cant legally give her 0 net may also not realize they need to back out the recorded taxable wages. If they dont do that, she could end up owing tax on phantom earnings if the employer reports it on her W2.It depends on how the employer chooses to fix the pay record. If they just reduce gross pay for one or more pay periods no lower than minimum wage then itll be fine. But if they do no more than solely use some ham-fisted post-tax deduction to effect the reduced pay, thats where the phantom earnings are a possibility. 