"@Work Advice: The company messed up. Should the worker repay it?"

Reader: I just discovered that my employer failed to deduct my 2016 flexible spending account contributions from my paycheck. The employer had enrolled me, so I was still able to use the contributions (totaling $6,500 for the year) for medical and dependent-care expenses. Now — unsurprisingly — they have asked me to pay back the $6,500. I understand this is partially my fault for not following up, but I also don’t have that kind of cash lying around. Does my employer have any liability in this situation?

Karla: This is why it’s important for employees who open or renew an FSA to review their pay stubs at the start of the year — and for employers to remind them to do so. In the weeks between benefits enrollment season and the start of a plan year, it’s easy to lose track of deductions, especially in a paperless, direct-deposit payroll system.

Okay, lecture over. Mistakes were made. What you want to know is, who has to eat the cost?

Click here to read Toni's quote from The Washington Post.