Another WWTKD related to work

jenna8984

In January I made a written request for a raise (substantiated by an additional workload I took on). We have no HR in my facility and I had no boss at the time in my facility. So the corporate HR and corporate boss flew here and met with me. They approved the large raise and I'm 98% sure they said because the raise the was so close to the April cost of living increases, that I wouldn't be eligible for that. Understandable.

I now have a boss in my facility. He just handed me a paper stating my cost of living increase. I said "Who did this come from? I'm not supposed to get one." He said "Well, it came right from corporate HR, not from me so I guess they changed their mind."

I feel like it's a mistake, not a change of mind....do I say something?

labro

Personally, I'd say no. But on the other hand, my dad has been in situations where the company he was working for at the time took back money he had earned on commission because the client had cancelled the business....SO....with that said - I think I'd shoot an email to your HR rep and clarify the change. If you can get written confirmation of the raise from HR, then great!

littlepep

Yeah I'm such a rule follower, I'd probably clarify. Hopefully it was a change of mind though becuase that would be awesome!

sarawifenow

I would definitely ask HR about it. You don't want to end up having to pay back money.

anrforanr

Maybe ask your boss to contact the corporate HR or corporate boss to double check? Or do it yourself, if that doesn't feel like going over your direct boss.

Or you could just let it go. In my (limited) experience, when it comes to increasing people's salaries, they most likely know what they are doing. 

princessleia22

Yeah, I'd contact HR about it.  Maybe they say you can keep it.  Maybe it was a mistake.  If it was a mistake, it would suck having to pay it back later.  If it was a mistake, I'm sure they would appreciate knowing they have an honest employee... asking can only make you look good.

KatieinBkln

jenna8984 said:

In January I made a written request for a raise (substantiated by an additional workload I took on). We have no HR in my facility and I had no boss at the time in my facility. So the corporate HR and corporate boss flew here and met with me. They approved the large raise and I'm 98% sure they said because the raise the was so close to the April cost of living increases, that I wouldn't be eligible for that. Understandable.

I now have a boss in my facility. He just handed me a paper stating my cost of living increase. I said "Who did this come from? I'm not supposed to get one." He said "Well, it came right from corporate HR, not from me so I guess they changed their mind."

I feel like it's a mistake, not a change of mind....do I say something?

Are you kidding? I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

kaitlynmichelle

I'd ask for sure. It may be that you are eligible for it, but in case it was a mistake I would ask about it. It would really suck if they realized it later and made you pay it all back. Your honesty will look good on you either way.

KatieinBkln

So maybe I'm an idiot...but how can a company make you pay them back? I can see them realizing they fucked up and then taking the raise away from future paychecks (although it would be shitty). 

It's not like this is an accounting error and someone added a zero to the paycheck. They presented it as a raise. Even if it's legal to "ask for it back," (which I am not sure of) it's certainly terrible business practice. If my company tried to take money back from me, I'd be jobhunting that same day. You don't get an "oopsie" when it comes to paychecks. Certainly not a company that's big enough to have a separate corporate headquarters--it might be different at a mom-and-pop shop.

jenna8984

@katieinbkln actually this happened at my old company where I processed payroll. The manager gave me a raise to put in someone's file. 6 months later she said it was wrong and we had a meeting with the employee about withholding from his paycheck until we recovered all the money. Just because I've seen it happen, I should probably speak up.

kvruns

I think you already said something by asking your site boss although you can check with corporate HR if you want. At least get it in writing so you can reference it should you need it. If you have an employee handbook it might address the COLA parameters and you could see if you qualify under that.

As far as potentially having to pay it back, it likely varies by state on what are acceptable paycheck deductions. http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/StateandLocalResources/StateandLocalStatutesandRegulations/Documents/deductionlaw.pdf#page8

KatieinBkln

jenna8984 said:

@katieinbkln actually this happened at my old company where I processed payroll. The manager gave me a raise to put in someone's file. 6 months later she said it was wrong and we had a meeting with the employee about withholding from his paycheck until we recovered all the money. Just because I've seen it happen, I should probably speak up.

Holy shit. I would have been so fucking pissed if I were that guy. Did he quit like immediately? I would've quit like immediately and let them take me to court over the money they so foolishly gave to me. Because what's their recourse? Oops, we totally didn't mean to pay you more money, and you should have somehow known that?

Anyway, if you feel like it's a good call politically to inquire, you should. But I wouldn't, ya know...press the matter.

redoryx

I'd double check, just to be sure.

A couple years ago I noticed my paychecks were slightly higher but it was right after the new year and there's sometimes a fluctuation. But after awhile I sat down and looked over the numbers and realized HR had screwed up somehow and I hadn't paid any city tax for the past couple months. Legally they couldn't retroactively change my pay and ask for the money back, so they just changed it going forward until I had paid what was owed back.

wandajune6

I've had money taken back too. Years ago, I worked for a company and was told that I was getting a bonus, though they never told me how much. It was a nice bonus but, given my performance reviews and newly-added responsibilities, I didn't give it another thought. I found out later that they gave me $4K more than was intended. 3 months later they tell me I need to give it back.

My mom's a (retired) compensation manager. Apparently, clawing the money back is legal and, sadly, not as uncommon as we'd like to think.

I'd ask too, just to play it safe.

JennyColada

At my old employer, someone fat-fingered my assistant manager's raise and instead of giving her a $0.40/hour increase (yay retail raises!) they gave her $1.40/hour, which only put her $0.15 under my senior assistant.

My senior assistant found out and was rightfully pissed, so she came to me about it. Since the raise was instituted before I began working there I went to the DM, who's reply was basically "oh, yea that's a mistake. Oh well."

Everyone involved knew that the pay was incorrect (even the affected assistant), but no one felt the need to rectify it.

So I think it just kinda depends on how on-the-ball your HR people are, and how much they are willing to deal with confrontation.

lc07

I would contact them to double check. I'm proud of being an honest person and I bet they will be impressed with you for checking which could go a long way long-term. Also, congrats on your raise!!!

mikenberger

At my old job, they "overpaid" me PTO hours that I apparently didn't have (I never checked on it, just took time off and let them sort out the details - I was on my way out of the position anyways.) and when I left the company shortly after, I got a letter stating I owed them $300 for the PTO they paid me when they shouldn't have. I'm sorry? Did I sign my timesheet approving my own PTO? Did I verify my own payroll was correct? It was all computer error and I fought for months on it and they ended up sending it to collections - which I paid off promptly and will never work for/use their services again. 

This is a total legal practice as well. I would definitely double check with HR.

Maggie0829

My H just had some money withheld from his paycheck because of an error his company made.  I think it is kind of shitty because, I feel like if you fuck up then you have to deal with the loss of money, not punish your employees.  But yeah, this type of thing is pretty typical so I would double check if I was presented with anything that I was told that I wasn't qualified for or wasn't aware that I was getting.

emmaaa

I would definitely double check just to make sure. They can, and most likely will, make you pay them back if it was a mistake. My BFF is a teacher and they were paying her what someone with a graduate degree would make (she was in grad school online but she should have been making what a teacher with a bachelors degree). When they realized it and she said something to them, they deducted from her pay check.

KatieinBkln

All of this is just so disappointing to me. 

Given that corporations are people now, and everyone agrees that people should take personal responsibility, I hereby move that all corporations must take responsibility for their own payroll errors, meaning they have to eat the money they lose.

WHO'S WITH ME?

MrsMack10612

A couple years ago somebody fucked up the calculations for our sales force so a lot of people's annual commissions were wrong. Some too much, some not enough.

They made all the folks who got too much pay it back.

Maggie0829

KatieinBkln said:

All of this is just so disappointing to me. 

Given that corporations are people now, and everyone agrees that people should take personal responsibility, I hereby move that all corporations must take responsibility for their own payroll errors, meaning they have to eat the money they lose.

WHO'S WITH ME?

[Deleted User]

Started my job last June along with another guy on my floor.  In January he told me his first paycheck in 2015 was significantly less than it used to be in 2014.  I know taxes and things change every year, but we got a new payroll system with the new year that I thought might be the culprit.  Turns out he didn't pay for his own insurance from June to December.  Now they were doing it right which is why his paychecks were smaller.  They sucked it up, realizing it was their fault.  So weird.

bizzy592

In College I had a summer job that paid hourly, plus commissions, so my paychecks were rarely the same two weeks in a row (especially when busy weeks lead to overtime). Apparently they were having trouble in payroll, leading to my being overpaid several weeks in a row (I didn't realize). When they caught it, they reduced my next few paychecks to account for that amount.

If this raise was unintentional, regardless of whether they make you pay it back, it'll likely leave a bad taste in their mouths. If you bring it to them now, they'll know they can trust you.

levioosa

Yeah, my work fucks up my paycheck all the time.  They constantly overpay and underpay me.  Almost every other month I'm getting something adjusted for something that was completely their fault.  I would say something because it sucks to have your pay checks deducted for shit that wasn't even your fault.  It's total BS. 

drunkenwitch

I do payroll and invoicing, and yes, they can make you pay it back.  I would cover your ass and double check.

jenna8984

I emailed the corporate boss first thing this morning and he never responded so either he's out on vacation or he's looking into it.