I work for a California County as a public full-time worker. In February, my spouse moved to a new job and we decided to change insurance and go with my work's benefits. Prior to that, we were on my spouse's benefits, which enabled me to obtain a cash-in-lieu of medical benefits payment in my paycheck.
Apparently, when we switched to the new insurance, my employer “forgot” to remove the cash-in-lieu benefit from my paychecks, which I have been receiving for several months unknowingly. I was notified of this today, and they want me to pay back the money. To me, it's a lot of money. I don't even know how to respond to them, as they would like my input on how to pay back the overage.
Do I have any protections here? This was not my mistake.