I made a small mistake, which led to a bigger mistake and I profit by it.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

And of course I feel like shit about it so can’t enjoy it.

When I processed the xmas bonus payroll, I stupidly put the wrong date on the check. In my defense, I was trying to arrive at a net figure and was not familiar with ADP, so I had several false starts, but still, I dated the check wrong.

So, the error gets discovered by one employee as we’re leaving on Friday when everyone gets the bonus check. Boss is already gone, but the manager can sign checks so he has me advance her a check and deal with the problem on Monday. So far so good.

Monday comes and I learn that the few people who actually get checks, already cashed or deposited them without a problem, so I can’t just void the whole payroll. All I want to do at this point is change the date of the deposit from the 20th to the 16th for the people that have automatic deposit. I call ADP and we agree that’s the best way to handle it. So everyone’s happy, the deposits show up on the 16th and I don’t even bother my boss with the details.

The 20th comes and everyone gets a second deposit and before I even get to work, several folks have thanked the boss for the generous bonus.

Of course he’s pissed, I’m freaking out and start to cry a little. I call ADP and they initially tell me that’s how they do it, they put the money in and then take it back later. I call bullshit, so she puts me on hold for 15 minutes and then comes back and tells me she screwed up. Well, the boss won’t let me reverse it now, so those with automatic deposit, which includes me, get double the bonus and it was already generous.

I offered to return my bonus and he doesn’t want it, but I feel like crap about the whole thing. I especially hate that the four people without automatic deposit don’t get the extra bonus and he said I have to explain why to those four people.

Plus he gets to rub this in my face forever. Dammit.

And my husband just lost his job so I can really use the money. But I’m not gonna enjoy it! :slight_smile:

2

It’s probably the four who lost out because they don’t have direct deposit that
could have used it the most. :frowning:

Last year there was a big crimp put in our Christmas because of a check foul-up. In this case it’s the boss who’s out instead. I know you feel bad and it wasn’t deliberate but money mess-ups are rarely good. I hope the boss doesn’t make you “pay” later.

I want to say Try not to worry and enjoy the holiday, but I know that wouldn’t work for me. Is there some way this can be handled in a more equitable way that would even make the boss happier about it?

3

Man, I’d feel bad too. :(. Sorry this happened. I feel really bad for the folks who didn’t get the extra bonus. I know they weren’t expecting it, but knowing everyone else did and they didn’t must sting.

4

You could split your bonus with the 4 people who didn’t get it if you feel that bad about it

5

I was gonna suggest this very thing! It would ease my mind a bit if it were me to offer a portion of my “second” bonus to each of them. After you explain to each of them what happened, make the offer. They probably won’t accept but at least you made the offer.

6

Personally I think it sucks that the boss just won’t give the extra bonus checks to those four. For the sake of company morale, if nothing else. That decision is in the boss’s and he could do it.

7

You made a simple and understandable mistake and had no I’ll intention. Don’t forget that.

8

I hope none of the four employees that won’t get the double bonus are valuable to your company. If I was in that position and was told what you are going to tell them I would be looking for another job that very same day.

9

+1

10

Something similar happened to me. What happened was that I was advised of the error and either I could pay back the money directly or it would be deducted from my next month’s wages.

If your boss is going to do something like that, it’s better to tell everyone sooner rather than later so they don’t spend the money.

11

No, he won’t take it away, but indeed the four without direct deposit are the most needy, so I wish he’d give it to them. My bonus won’t cover even 1/4 of the amount of any of the other four, I’m fairly new, so it wasn’t nearly as much.

I’m waiting to see what happens Monday. One of the four is going to make a big stink, I think, so it may change and I hope it does.

I’m not looking forward to tomorrow though.

12

To be honest, I’m a bit surprised that everyone just gets a “double bonus” at yoru company due to a clerical error.

13

Yeah, this wouldn’t have been very hard to fix. Apologize. People might be upset, but they’d get over it quickly. Those four won’t be and I think those that did get the bonus would be on their side. Management seems really… well, let’s just say I don’t plan on investing in them or working for that company any time soon. It sounds as if they’re trying to shame and humiliate OP, too, rather than deal with the problem like mature adults. It seems both cruel, unprofessional and not even in their best interests.

14

Seems like ADP should have alerted you to what would happen, before they made the change in the check date.

15

Sounds like the OPs error was compounded by ADP’s error.

16

What a clusterfuck, but I don’t get how it’s your fault at all! Either way, it’s a crap deal on your boss’ part. In this day and age of instant communication how hard would it have been to send out a notice that says “Attention: There has been a payroll issue with this week’s checks, the amount in your direct deposit is incorrect and will be corrected by end of business today.” Then no matter what the amount was, the corrected amount would be in at the end of day and no one should be pissed.

If I were one of the 4 without the "double’ bonus, I’d be furious.

17

ADP is giving us four weeks of free processing for their error. And they could have reversed it right away, but my boss told them not to.

I don’t often agree with the decisions he makes and we have had disagreements in the past. He’s obviously not stupid, he’s an engineer and has a business that supports 15 people, but he’s just odd.

When I first started, I was told to get the bar codes for a shipment that was going to a customer in Canada. I hadn’t been trained on how to get these bar codes and told him so. He told me to figure it out. So I called the customer for some direction and they told me that they had never implemented the program so I didn’t need to worry about it.

I relay the information to my boss and he tells me to do it anyway. For the practice.

Well, I don’t know anything about bar codes, but I assume they should be able to be read by the customer, so just printing something off the internet seems silly to me. But I did it, even though the only one I could get for free had to be shrunk down so small to fit on the label that there’s no way it was any good. But it made him happy.

Luckily, he was looking for ways to spend some money before the end of the year. I’m sure that played a part in his decision. The production manager said he did it so he can use it as an excuse to rub my face in it. I hope not, because he’ll not get the chance to do that too often.

18

Sounds to me like your working life is a real adventure. Unless you think your boss may stab you in the neck one day just go with it. Most of the stuff we worry about amounts to nothing in the end. Just remember that you aren’t the only one who got a double bonus, thanks to you nearly everyone did. If your boss doesn’t make it right with the other 4 that’s his decision and not your fault.

One of my favorite quotes, variously attributed to Ernest Hemingway, Doris Lessing and Jane Smiley is:

“Even if my marriage is falling apart and my children are unhappy, there is still a part of me that says, ‘God, this is fascinating!’“

19

I would probably start looking, too - that’s just flat-out unfair (I know the world is unfair, but this is really rubbing your nose in it).

Do you suppose you could make the same error every year, not what you’d expect? :smiley:

20

If your boss refused to reverse the second bonus, then he had to also give it to those without DD. He just flat out did the wrong thing. I hope that 1 person you mentioned does make a huge stink about it. Boy, I know I would.

As for you? Try to get over it. Mistakes get made every day. Nobody died. Things happen.