When someone works somewhere, it’s usually not because they like it. They do it because otherwise they’d be living in a cardboard box, or in a van down by the river. So, that being said, it would only make sense that a company’s payroll department would be on the ball when it comes to making sure everyone gets paid what they’re supposed to.
If you’re like me, when you get your paystub in the mail, you quickly make sure that it’s the same as the last one, making sure that it’s not drastically higher or lower. You don’t sit there any calculate every last thing to make sure it adds up, that’s not your job, that shouldn’t even be a thought.
Well, maybe you should. A coworker has been getting paid COLA (Cost of Living Allowance), which is basically something to help someone pay for insurance, etc if they don’t go through the company to get it. He just recently (in the last year) got married and even more recently had a child. He changed his insurance options (because he previously didn’t have any) to cover himself and his new family. After his changes finally went through, which took about a month and a half (absolutely rediculous if you ask me), he noticed they were still paying him the full amount of COLA. He notified his manager who notified their boss (and so on and so on) until it reached someone who looked into it a bit deeper. Turns out that the coworker had been getting paid too much COLA even before he put his changes in!!
HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!
So, the company was kind enough (sarcasm) to let him pay the money they had paid him back over the next six months. We’re at work today and check our paystubs online. They paid him the full amount of COLA again. WTF. So next check they’ll be taking that back, plus the amount for what he’s got to pay back anyway.
WHY IS NO ONE GETTING FIRED OVER THIS?!
What makes things worse, our medical and dental premiums have gone up. So, he’s now barely making enough to cover just his mortgage on the first paycheck. That doesn’t include any of his other bills. For the next six months he’s going to be scraping by, and why? Because someone couldn’t pay attention to their job. Granted, I make mistakes in my programming, and yes, sometimes they’re pretty bad (causing productivity drops). But I’m always right on it, to get that shit fixed! How can a company be so lax when it comes to someone’s livelyhood?
Needless to say, we’re both hunting for new jobs again. There are a lot of things that get me frustrated, even angry, but incompetance just takes the cake. No one should be in a spot where they’re doing more harm than good, and if management can’t see that, then they need to be replaced as well.
It’s not even my issue and i’m pissed off. My hope that people aren’t as stupid as I think they are has been obliterated.
You know Dan,
You are right. I don’t understand how they could “F” his stuff up this bad, yet STILL be “F”ing it up after realizing that it was “F”ed up to start with.
I don’t see how said person should be held liable for someone else’s “F” up….Makes me concerned about my pay now ^^
Dan,
Your friend needs to exercise some restraint in looking for another job. If he leaves before the “debt” (quotation marks intentional and sarcastic) is repaid they will take it out of his last paycheck, if that is not enough they can take him to court. I would hate for him to go from the frying pan into the fire. He is a great guy and deserves better.
Use your open door policy at your job and get to the boos outside your local area. Kind of like if I was PO’d enough I could go to the folks in Killeen, TX who we fall under somehow.