# I made a small mistake, which led to a bigger mistake and I profit by it. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952 "2013-12-22T14:27:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/41 "2013-12-23T18:46:49Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > \ > Even though the OP made the mistake, the buck stops with the boss and HE should correct it or do his best to correct an inequitable situation, even though it wasn’t of his making. That’s called being in charge. For him to take the position “Fuck it- wasn’t my fault- has nothing to do with me” shows a serious lack of maturity, leadership, and understanding of where morale comes from. The good will that he would buy by throwing in the extra four bonuses would pay off many times over in the years ahead… as will his chicken-shit attitude (which I suspect he displays in many other areas, too). This very thing. It’s Christmas - pay the other four bonuses and quit being a shithead, Boss. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/42 "2013-12-23T18:58:23Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Why doesn’t the employee volunteer to slowly pay back the extras bonuses for everyone, including the other four? So the employee who made the mistake should be fined thousands of dollars for a clerical error, because if the boss has to recall the bonuses he’d look like a jerk? How does that make sense? The boss needs to either correct the mistake and pay people the originally planned bonuses and explain the mistake, or the boss needs to shut up and let the bonuses stand. Expecting the employee to pay the difference so the boss doesn’t lose save face is horrific. If the employee mistake is that inexcusable, then the boss should fire them and get a new payroll person who won’t make mistakes. The employee who handles the bookkeeping and payroll is not personally financially liable for every mistake. If the boss wants the person handling payroll to be personally responsible for any errors then the boss needs to handle it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/43 "2013-12-23T19:01:47Z")
ETA: Paying out the extra bonuses rather than just cancelling the extra bonus for everyone is based on the boss wanting to spend more money before the end of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/44 "2013-12-23T19:06:30Z")
Regarding the employee ( **not what you’d expect** ) payroll error - it doesn’t sound like a big deal to me (I’ve worked payroll in various jobs). It was an honest mistake, and was unfortunately compounded by ADP (which is not unheard-of). Payroll errors happen all the time, from employees or from ADP; fixing them is business as usual in a payroll department. Any place I’ve worked at would just send out an email explaining the error and letting everyone know that the extra bonus will be reversed out of their accounts ASAP. The problems with this one is all on the boss, as far as I’m concerned - his solution is crap. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/45 "2013-12-23T19:12:03Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Why not? > > This is real money, or is it only real money if it’s the company’s not the employee"s? > > Boss should have taken it all back, or doubled everyone’s. > > If everyone is so worried about fairness, how is doubling the bonuses fair to the boss? Now he’s in a position to look like a scrooge if he takes them back, or pay twice as much as was budgeted. > > Employee made the mistake, boss pays. Boss made the decision to pay. He made the decision to not recall the extra bonuses. Boss makes that decision and the person who made a clerical error must pay? That’s nuts. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/46 "2013-12-23T19:27:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > From the employer’s point of view, talking about bonus amounts means eventual complaining about them: “why did so-and-so get more than me?” At my work the “Holiday Bonus” is a function of set $ amount times years of service so it’s expected that people who have been with the company longer will get a bigger bonus, and it’s not exactly hard to figure out what other people are getting. This is different from a performance-based bonus that other companies may institute. The OP mentions no being at the job long so his/her bonus is smaller than the four who didn’t get the double bonus, which makes me think their bonus type is the former. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/47 "2013-12-23T19:34:19Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Employee made the mistake, boss pays. Employee made \*\*a \*\*mistake, ADP compounded it, and the boss made a decision which cost him money. The boss had options to avoid the expense but chose a path that cost him most of the money with the added benefit of pissing off a few employees and possibly leading to low office morale. The other choice may have pissed off some employees but the cost would have been much lower and it would be understood by the employees to be fair (if somewhat annoying). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/48 "2013-12-23T19:51:00Z")
> [@Cerealbox](#): > > Yeah, this wouldn’t have been very hard to fix. Apologize. People might be upset, but they’d get over it quickly. What would they get upset about? They know it’s an error and they didn’t deserve two bonuses. Or they’re morons. > [@Cerealbox](#): > > It sounds as if they’re trying to shame and humiliate OP, too, I’m sure the OP will be REAL unpopular!😃 > [@fisha](#): > > Why doesn’t the employee volunteer to slowly pay back the extras bonuses for everyone, including the other four? Unless the OP is Jaime Dimon, I don’t think she can cover everyone’s bonus in the company. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/49 "2013-12-23T21:57:46Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Boss made the decision to pay. He made the decision to not recall the extra bonuses. Boss makes that decision and the person who made a clerical error must pay? That’s nuts. Like how you quoted my entire post, yet read selectively. Employee made a mistake, should have been corrected. Boss compounded mistake by omitting 4 people. Not sure what he was thinking. The point I was trying to make was Boss comes into work, everyone is thrilled with their bonusx2. Now he gets to look like a shitheel if he takes it back. Or he gets to pay twice as much as budgeted. That’s not exactly fair. Especially if they were arbitrary bonuses-that the exact amount was not known. There should have been some notification to employees about overpayment and correction. It’d be interesting to see what kind of money we are talking about. $50, $500, $5,000, $50,000 each? And it’s always easier from the sidelines, especially when it isn’t your money. That was my only point about the employee who made the mistake paying herself-you all were suggestion boss, pooling money together, guilting, etc. No one even floated the idea that the one who made the mistake be held accountable, financially or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/50 "2013-12-23T22:12:47Z")
Except the employee who made the mistake didn’t cost the company the money. The boss did, by telling the employee not to correct the mistake. How’d you like to work for a boss that docked your pay for every mistake you made? Even when the mistake was correctable? It’s fucking nonsense to hold the employee financially liable, especially since the mistake could have been corrected, but only at the cost of a few disappointed employees who didn’t get double bonuses. I know that human brains aren’t wired completely logically and it’s much worse to lose money that was temporarily in your possession even though you didn’t deserve it than if you never had the money in the first place. So what? The employee is not financially liable for a decision the BOSS made. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/51 "2013-12-23T22:19:14Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > The point I was trying to make was Boss comes into work, everyone is thrilled with their bonusx2. > > Now he gets to look like a shitheel if he takes it back. Or he gets to pay twice as much as budgeted. That’s not exactly fair. So the Boss is all like, “Goddamit, you paid everyone their bonuses twice! And if I fix the error, I look like a shitheel! So fuck you, Expect, YOU GET TO PAY THE FUCKING BONUSES, not me. Yeah, everyone’s getting double bonuses this year by my order, but it’s coming out of your fucking paycheck. You don’t like it? Next time don’t make any mistakes.” That’s your scenario. That the scenario that seems reasonable to you. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/52 "2013-12-23T22:49:53Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > …It’d be interesting to see what kind of money we are talking about. $50, $500, $5,000, $50,000 each?.. Not just interesting, but quite relevant to the discussion. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/53 "2013-12-23T22:51:55Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Like how you quoted my entire post, yet read selectively. > > Employee made a mistake, should have been corrected. Boss compounded mistake by omitting 4 people. Not sure what he was thinking. > > The point I was trying to make was Boss comes into work, everyone is thrilled with their bonusx2. > > Now he gets to look like a shitheel if he takes it back. Or he gets to pay twice as much as budgeted. That’s not exactly fair… I read and understood your post. I disagreed with it. As a boss myself, once I make a decision, the buck stops with me. The boss, who made the decision to NOT have the employee correct the mistake, now owns the consequences of the decision. He doesn’t want to look bad? Too bad. That’s his job. If he chooses to let them keep the money it is no longer because of the employees error. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/54 "2013-12-23T23:08:25Z")
It sounds to me like the boss doesn’t like the fact that four people still get paper checks and he’s punishing them in a passive aggressive way over it. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/55 "2013-12-24T00:06:14Z")
Not relevant to the OP, but I’m curious about why the boss decided to use ADP to process a payroll for only 15 employees. Is it another instance of the boss wanting to spend a lot of money on the business? ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/56 "2013-12-24T00:10:18Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > So the Boss is all like, “Goddamit, you paid everyone their bonuses twice! And if I fix the error, I look like a shitheel! So fuck you, Expect, YOU GET TO PAY THE FUCKING BONUSES, not me. Yeah, everyone’s getting double bonuses this year by my order, but it’s coming out of your fucking paycheck. You don’t like it? Next time don’t make any mistakes.” > > That’s your scenario. That the scenario that seems reasonable to you. Calm down. I never said it seemed reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/57 "2013-12-24T02:09:17Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Not relevant to the OP, but I’m curious about why the boss decided to use ADP to process a payroll for only 15 employees. Is it another instance of the boss wanting to spend a lot of money on the business? I always thought ADP was cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/58 "2013-12-24T02:14:42Z")
I’m really hoping for an update on this one - I want to hear about carnage in the office today! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/59 "2013-12-24T02:18:25Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I always thought ADP was cheap. I don’t know if it is or not. It just seems odd to outsource such a small payroll. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952/60 "2013-12-24T02:18:37Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I always thought ADP was cheap. But not cheaper than doing payroll in house, I’m thinking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-small-mistake-which-led-to-a-bigger-mistake-and-i-profit-by-it/676952.md?page=4)