Horror Stories from Payroll

HORROR STORIES FROM PAYROLL

If I get a phone call before 8 a.m. on a Thursday morning, I know it's a payroll mistake.  A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck so when mistakes happen, madness ensues. Here are some of the hilarious and sad stories from payroll.

• An error that bounced a mortgage payment
  I had the wrong person on the schedule for a given day and ended up paying the wrong person 12.25 hours of overtime and completely stiffed the person who actually worked those hours.  Of course, the stiffed party is frantic and calling anyone who will listen.  I've got a missed call on my cell, a message on my desk phone, and I received a call from corporate payroll because even they got a call from her.  First thing I do is always call them back to assure them I'm taking care of it.  Sadly, they were so frantic because this mistake was going to cause their mortgage payment to bounce.  I know they had to call the mortgage company and explain to the situation.  I found the mistake easily and was able to get a hard check issued later that day.  I went down to corporate to pick it up and hand delivered it to them so I could apologize in person.  They really are a great worker and I felt bad for causing so much stress.  

• 2 minutes rounded up to nearest quarter
  An employee told me he was short 15 minutes on his check.  The issue was the employee worked overtime on a Saturday and left at 12:47, where as I only paid him until 12:45 because that's when I was told he left.  I rounded it up for him, it came out to be less than $5.00, what's the point of burning an employee over that minimal amount?

• I need my money now, cut me a check
  Another error led to an employee missing 4 hours from their check.  They demanded a hard check be issued, rather than the amount added on to the next paycheck, even though the amount was about $57.00.  I had to go to corporate later that day and offered to pick up the check for them.  They neither replied to my offer nor said thank you for looking into the problem.  I guess I can't really expect someone to say thank you after I screw up their money, can I?

• I'm here, pay me even if I don't work
  This problem actually comes up a lot.  Employees are occasionally scheduled erroneously and come into work when they aren't need, so we send them home.  They always argue that because they showed up they are entitled to 4 hours of pay.  I'm not sure where they heard that but I only pay them for their travel time and a little extra for the inconvenience of the situation.