The decision was a quick turn-about for the company, which to some of the 1,400 employees who were laid off in late January, asking them to return some of their severance because of an "administrative error." The demand received wide coverage after of one such letter over the weekend.

"In the normal course of business, we may underpay or overpay in a bonus situation," said Lisa Brummel, the senior vice president of human resources for Microsoft. "If we overpay, we ask that the money be returned. Severance is not unlike that.

"But this is a unique time and our normal practice didn't make sense," she said.

Of the 25 people who were overpaid, Brummel said she had reached 17 by telephone as of mid-afternoon, and left messages for the others, telling them that they could keep the money. "This first came to my attention two days ago," she said, "and I immediately told my staff to stop following through. Since then, I have called each one, to let them know they do not need to repay the money, and apologized to them."

Most of the overpayments were in the US$4,000 to $5,000 range, Brummel said, though "there were a couple who were over that." By her figures, Microsoft overpaid between $100,000 and $125,000.