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Been there. More than once. It makes you want to crawl in to a hole and die.
I promise you that this happens every day in every organization all the time.
Go to your boss, see if you can get AP to cut a check or send a wire today to the employee for the difference.
The employee is the one who will sound like an asshole for telling everyone that a person misplaced a single decimal point.
Don't quit. Get this person paid what they are owed TODAY. Unravel payroll later.
Agreed. At least if they fire you, you can file for unemployment. Best case scenario, you get a write up.
Eh, this isn’t a write up offense. It’s a simple verbal conversation. Mistakes happen. It’s fixable. It’s only a problem if it becomes repetitive.
I can’t believe how unprofessional the 401k support staff was re-adding the employee back in. I would want to bring it up to your account manager/sales rep because what the hell was that.
I’d escalate this. What a piece of shit to add them back in intentionally.
Yes, I agree. I will talk to my director about what I can say to this person on Monday as today we only focused on getting the employee her money back.
I was shocked she added the employee back in as she makes many mistakes I overlook and correct with her individually.
Cc my boss, fine (she was already on the thread) but the employee? No reason to confuse that poor woman.
I would also be very frustrated if I was blindsided by half my paycheck being gone, and I'm not living paycheck-to-paycheck. This employee could have been absolutely screwed on finances with deadlines, late fees, and non-monetary penalties. Cutting that check immediately is the bare minimum (in action taken, not in demanding more money).
With that said, I wouldn't complain to a dozen other employees pointing the finger at an individual. At most I'd mention to one or two close co-workers that HR made a mistake as part of regular conversation.
The employee will not be the one who looks bad. They did nothing wrong and have every right to scream from the roof top that there pay was messed up. This is a huge mistake with a huge effect on you employee who may not have the money to pay there bill. Saying that mistakes happen. We all make mistake but this need to be fixed asap.
The employee will not be the one who looks bad. They did nothing wrong and have every right to scream from the roof top that
theretheir pay was messed up. This is a huge mistake with a huge effect onyouyour employee who may not have the money to paytheretheir bill. Saying that mistakes happen. We all make mistake but this need to be fixed asap.
See how easy it is to make mistakes? You made 3. How about a little grace?
I said it easy to make a mistake we all do it. But to say the employee who was shorted over $1000 on there pay will look bad for being upset is just crazy. They have every right to be pissed off. The situation need to be fixed asap. We all make mistakes we apology’s and fix as quickly as possible. When pay get screwed up staff get upset . Rightfully so. It happen but it’s not the employees fault.
It’s apologize. the mistake was being handled appropriately. get off your high horse. may you be held as accountable as you seem to hold everyone else.
If the problem is actively being fixed, no, they do not have "every right" to be pissed off. Unless they were told specifically it wouldnt be fixed, which is not the scenario being described here. Nobody said it was the employee's fault either. In general people need to reserve their anger for when its actually necessary or warranted.
This “misplaced decimal point” worked out to someone who expected 2xxx.00 getting 1xxx.00.
This could mean a missed mortgage payment, not paying bills, not buying meds or groceries. This is 100% a BFD. Yuge, even. I’m with you 100% on corrective action, that mistakes happen, wanting to crawl in a hole, etc.
You lose me at “the employee will sound like an asshole.” Not really. I’d warn everyone to watch their pay statement closely if that happened to me.
The fact is, if you’re living on 4000.00 a month in most metropolitan areas in the USA, you can’t afford a 3000.00 month.
Oh this is the most minor of mistakes. Please don’t quit your job over this. A couple people sign a paper and the 401k administrator processes the change in the employee’s account. I’m stunned that your 401k contact is being so combative, and the employee needs a Xanax. If this is the worst that happens to you this year, you’re doing great.
I don't fault the employee at all but the 401k contact? Not on my nice list anymore!
For what its worth, as an employee I'd be fine with the truth. "I made a mistake" gives me a lot more comfort than "somehow this happened". I also would know next time I needed a favor from HR I'd know who to go to 🤣
Admittedly all assuming the employee wasn't living paycheck to paycheck.
Frankly your concern over it shows that you're a good HR person, don't quit.
I would 100% be reaming the 401k person for adding them back in. YOU, the employer, are the client of the 401k vendor. You dont owe anything to them, they do owe you professional service.
I would be sending them an email telling them if they ever do that again that their boss will be hearing about it.
It might be possible that since they were discussing the specific employee account that they had to do so…
As an employee, I would be annoyed at leadership over relying on a manual process for these updates - I would not be annoyed at the person who mistyped it. Anyone who says they've never mistyped something in their life is lying. It's part of being human.
That's why we develop processes that are automated or that have double-checks built in. Designing a process that relies on humans not making typos is like an engineer designing a bridge without accounting for gravity.
People don't like it when someone else's fat finger causes them to miss out on retirement savings, potentially miss the company match, and then demonstrate incompetence by not being able to quickly resolve the issue.
That it ultimately got resolved is laudable, but have some empathy for the employee who had to deal with the anxiety if thinking the bureaucrats have once again failed them.
HR doesn't appear human to the resources. It seems like a labyrinth system designed to screw the resources.
I know that feeling of wanting to quit and hide in a hole. You're only human, mistakes happen. Work to get it fixed as quickly as possible and take corrective action in how you set things up so you won't repeat the same mistake. The only way for this to be over is to get through it.
You can send a reversal to the 401k company and replace it with the correct amount and refund the employee the difference. Fixable
I've made an error like this as well, it is not the end of the world (even if it feels like it right now).
Communicate honestly with your boss, the employee, and the 3rd party. If you work for a good organization and this isn't a pattern, you probably won't get fired and it's certainly not worth it to quit. I feel for you!
I suggest asking for a systemic change as well. Implement a review system for payroll. Emphasize that mistakes can be costly and that it would be in the company’s best interest.
I realized payroll was giving me a lot of stress due to mistakes I kept catching after they had been processed already. Asking for a review helped cut down on both mistakes and stress.
Once this is straightened out for the employee, somebody needs to talk to the account executive on the 401k provider side and remind them how unprofessional that was.
I remember noticing that my employer contribution didn't automatically increase like it was supposed to after hitting the 5 year mark. I emailed the director of benefits, she replied with an apology and basically got my 6 months back pay in my 401k. That was that and the problem was solved. We all make mistakes, just slow down, processes are in place when this happens.
Hey it’s okay! I have done this a few times. It’s embarrassing and the employee is an asshole for complaining about it to everyone. Just keep your head up and fix it and be professional yet apologetic and move on. Don’t beat yourself up. Mistakes happen and we are only human.
Yet the employee is still out of the money.
They’re literally doing their best to fix it? Must be nice being someone who has never made a mistake before
We were able to refund the employee today, thankfully as it was not their fault
The employee was taken care of. Stop being an a-hole and read before commenting.
We have all been there, HR bother/sister/sibling. Just know that it can be fixed and people’s attentions will shift and this will be a funny fuck-up story one day in your tenured future.
I know it’s easier said than done but don’t beat yourself up over this. This kind of thing happens all the time and it’s an easy fix. The correct action isn’t to wire money to the employee as another person suggested. You’ll need to make a corrective contribution to the 401k plan on behalf of the employee and the plan administrator will be able to coordinate this for you.
I have this issue happen once or twice a month because our 401k website syncs with payroll and if an employee makes an adjustment online it is sent directly to payroll to be adjusted. Sometimes the employee puts 50% instead of $50 and sometimes they put 5% and the payroll company enters it as 50%.
Our payroll company is terrible and they make many other mistakes as well, but they’re always super efficient about correcting the errors when pointed out.
All I ever do is have payroll void the initial check/deposit and rerun it correctly, then there is just a form I fill out for the 401k company where I list the incorrect amount that was deposited, the correct amount, and the amount I want refunded.
The employee usually sees the correction in their bank account within a day and we get the money back from the 401k in 1-2 weeks.
Curious who your payroll company is if you don’t mind sharing
We use a small payroll company through a local bank. They’re also a client that we do work for as consultants, so ownership has held strong with them to this point.
I had an employee that had an entire year of benefits paid 100% by the company. Shit happens! If you’re entering data and no one is auditing your work, there is a hole in the process. You didn’t fail, it’s a broken process someone aside from you should be auditing the 401k feedback file against the changes report. You got this! If I quit every job I fucked up at I wouldn’t have a year more of seniority anywhere I worked.
I remember having cal savers ( we didn’t have 401k at the time ) and did the EXACT same thin with the percentage. I was so embarrassed. The employee was a sweetheart but my boss CHEWED ME OUT. Rightfully so lol. Never did that again.
This type of error happens regularly and there is a standardized process to fix things. Your 401k provider should be able to provide you with the details and help execute the correction which I I believe will be in the form that of a Qualified Non-Elective Contribution (QNEC).
As someone previously mentioned, your company may wish to implement a better set of controls that includes that all work be reviewed by someone who didn’t prepare things.
This happened years ago. I got it fixed right away. But yes. We should have had a better set of controls. All responsibility relied on me at the time and boooooy was it stressful ! Glad I’m not there anymore .
First you need to get the employee pay reimbursed. They aren’t out that money, you just need to get it to them and then correct things on the 401k side. It’s not hard to do. But focus on your employee getting made whole first, then on the other piece which can take a minute to pull back. It’s not hard to fix this. How quickly you fix it will impact their trust in the future though, so make them whole today then work on reversing things in your payroll and with your 401k provider.
The employee will get over it, especially since the money was covered. This happens, and there is a process to correct this so there is no long term problem for the plan either as long as it's corrected.
The worst part is the employee's gut reaction, so don't make a hasty move based on emotions. That 401k rep could easily have made a quick mistake too. Just reply back that you wanted options and information to take back to the employee yourself, so remind the rep that you did not include them on the message on purpose.
Thank you, this is helpful and grounding information.
Why is no one checking your work? Thats a severe red flag.
I used to calculate incentive pay for a company and every once in a while I’d make a mistake. Some costly, some not. I used to want to quit too and I’d be hard on myself for making mistakes, especially since our sales employees on this incentive pay program already had trust issues with the company and would talk amongst themselves. My boss would remind me that I’m human and that this happens from time to time, but the fact that I’d be working my butt off to make it right as soon as I learned about the problem was the important thing.
You wanting to quit means that you care, and it’s amplified I’m sure by your director not responding when you really need them to the most.
Agree that the employee shouldn’t be on this email chain tho, F*ck that 401k company. The employee doesn’t need to see the back and forth, they just need to be given an apology and the solution.
This sounds like a whirlwind of multiple stressful things happening all at once, but hey that’s hr 😅. May this experience make you stronger moving forward.
I'd argue that MOST of us have made errors like this. Maybe not that amount, maybe more. But it happens. Ideally, there's a second set of eyes on it before you process. But not always and even if so, they may not catch it. It's unfortunate and it feels so embarrassing. So badly you want to walk out. But don't. Most employees will show grace if you apologize and fix the mistake asap. They were shocked, it's understandable. But don't quit over it. You'll feel better eventually and they WILL get over it. It won't be the last mistake you make in your career. So it helps to learn how to handle it without beating yourself up.
Mistakes, including clerical errors, happen. HR is very frustrating because any time you make a mistake, it seems to be yelled from the mountain tops, but when you do well, even really well, it's usually behind the scenes and goes unnoticed.
Anyway, most things like this can be rectified with the right company support. The first thing is to get that employee the money back if possible, and then also implement a process to avoid it in the future - like having your director someone else check changes/new entries behind you, etc.
Once someone gets their money back, they are usually a lot calmer. I'd be annoyed too that they added the person back to the thread - I always call to ask questions like "What do I do" - I email like it's going to be on public display haha.
With how your system works this is bound to happen sometimes. Get money in the employees hands ASAP and apologize to the employee and let them know you are taking steps to make sure it can’t happen again. Then propose to your company that you either need a modern workplace solution for this or to implement a review system. Most companies I work for the employee can enter their contribution numbers themselves. My companies have all used Fidelity as their servicer. If the employees are entering it themselves then your corrective action is closed.
If your boss isn’t understanding that human processes like this WILL result in occasional errors and they don’t have your back then that’s a red flag.
My boss was very understanding and wants to make a system where the employee can enter themselves.
It was a tough mistake for me to face but I was supported by my director. We were able to get the employee their money which is all I care about right now.
I do want to say something to the 401k contact but that can wait for Monday.
It sounds like you are pretty good at your job. I am sure your company will be lucky that you don’t quit!
Easy fix. You refund the EE and have the funds placed in the plan forfeiture account. No biggie in the grand scheme of things
Typically the employer could contribute 50 percent of the missed contributions plus interest to correct the situation if the employee doesn’t want to make the missed contributions .
Mistakes happen and I myself have made a couple big payroll mistakes. #1 change I recommend is someone checking your work before payroll is ran. We’re a small Company 33 EEs and payroll is always double checked by our CFO before I run it. 401k contributions is one of the things he checks, I print out any contribution changes for that pay period from our 401k system and include that report in my payroll package that he reviews.
I feel like even the employee being looped in isn’t that big of a deal…they know you are trying to figure it out?
Simple mistakes happen, and sometimes simple still means it’s a big deal. But this is a blip in time and will take moments to fix on Monday. You are allllll good
I’m going to start by suggesting to cut yourself some slack, as hard as we all try, none of us are perfect. It was an honest mistake, it will get fixed and THAT’S the message going forward. - So you know you aren’t alone, my mistake was missing a name in an early payroll run, which we did due to an incoming hurricane in FL. (Good intention) IF your last name was after M you got paid the hours of the person before you in the roster! Oops! Luckily most were full time, so paid 40 hours, but something like 15 were paid incorrectly, both plus and minus! It was a mess!
Hang in there! ❤️
Part of the responsibility lies with the employee. They should have seen that their check didn't have the correct deductions taken, and notified payroll right away. If that were done, the initial check could have been reversed and reissued correctly. However, since time has passed, it can still be corrected. The EE just has to have the missed contributions taken out and applied to their account. Assuming they are pre-tax contributions, the money taken from their check to reduces their tax liability (benefit to the employee). Mistakes happen ,just about everything can be fixed - it's not the end of the world.
Even if we assume the transfer can't be revoked, it can be easily corrected by the business by just cutting a check and not deducting until you catch up. A thousand something dollars is really small fries to a business
CFO here... just fix it.
Take money out of paycheck ... put it in 401k.. Make him aware it is happening
If prior year... amend the reports.
Nobody dies....
Oh have your boss check your work... you are probably not OCD..
This why accounting does payroll not HR. Do not fvk with people's paychecks.
Don't beat yourself up too hard. Hell our FINANCE department over paid so many employees by 100s of dollars before. 🤦🏼♀️ You made a mistake. Own up to it. Apologize. Work on a solution. Fix it. Let it go. ❄️ let it go ❄️ <Elsa, not being mean.
I’m a corporate accountant, and someone from hr has done something like this at every company I have worked for and they are all so embarrassed. People make mistakes. We make them in finance too.
Don’t quit, this account rep sounds terrible and you’ll get through this. Once you’ve focused on getting the employee their money back, you can apologize (which I’m sure you’ve done), and I would schedule time with the 401(k) rep to talk about how this has been handled and perhaps what could have been more helpful without adding confusion for the employee.
One day, you’ll be using sharing this story with someone else who made a mistake that felt like the end of the world and let them know it’s going to be ok :)
Mistakes happen and it sounds like your company was acting quickly to get the money to the employee. If the employee has any overdraft fees or needs a letter detailing the issue for their lender I'm sure you'll provide one.
You shouldn't be penalized for making an error as long as you were following the normal process/procedure. Your next step should be to determine how you will ensure mistakes like this either can't occur again and/or how they will be caught prior to committing pay going forward. Could be as simple as a calculation of the deduction versus the salary and anything above x% is highlighted in red. Terrible explanation but I'm used to having to do verifications for payroll and auditing purposes. Much easier (and more reliable) to use Excel formulas. 😀
Hey, it's totally ok! The employee got their money in the end and you fixed it moving forward. I know it is tough to make a mistake at the expense of an employee, but it is a learning opportunity. Maybe there is a checks and balances that needs to be implemented because we are human! I know I manually enter in direct deposit info and I can tell you I've typed one or two in too quickly and they've been incorrect. I've asked for a checks and balance or different way of doing it because I feel awful, but it's still the most efficient way to do it.
As for the employee telling people about your mistake, as soon as they see the money hit the account they will forget about everything. Employees have a VERY short memory. You are the only person who will remember this in two weeks, I promise.
I work with 401(k)s every day. This qualifies as a mistake of fact and you should be able to work with your payroll provider to reverse the payroll for the employee. Contingent on your provider, they will either reverse it to the company’s trust account or they will reimburse the money. It’s an easy fix! You just need to reverse the impacted payroll.
Something similar happened to me once where my payroll got messed up. Pay day was Thursday and I had the money by Friday afternoon. The payroll admin followed up with me first thing Monday morning to apologize and told me that if it caused any NSF charges to my account that I could submit amounts for reimbursement. It didn’t, but was glad to know they’d not only fix the issue but any problems it caused me.
A lot of people in here are entirely dismissing the employee as being completely disrespectful and rude. As I mentioned in another comment, I would also be very frustrated if I was blindsided by my paycheck landing short by HALF, and I'm not even living paycheck-to-paycheck. This employee could have been absolutely screwed on finances with deadlines, late fees, and non-monetary penalties.
New baby, emergency car repair, auto-drafted rent, alimony, child support... any number of things can completely cripple someone counting the last $14.83 in their checking account. Cutting that check for the difference immediately is the bare minimum the company can do.
If I were that employee, I would also very much like to remain copied on emails with the 401k company. I need info. Walling it off will only make me feel more anxious, especially if I'm paycheck-to-paycheck. Until the emergency check from payroll clears, it's the employee's money being handled, not the company's.
We've been given no information as to the employee's role or the industry the business is in. While complaining about an individual making a mistake to "at least a dozen" coworkers can be humiliating for that individual and uncalled for (at best), the complaints can amount to no impact if we're talking a retail employee with a naturally loud voice near a break room as part of routine conversation. I assume the actual events were somewhere in the middle.
But I suggest you don't quit. Your director is even being understanding of taking time off with no notice. Own up to the mistake, apologize to the employee (if you haven't already), and focus on fixing it. It doesn't feel great in the moment, but it's easily been the best approach for me when I screw up.
I don’t like HR but I like people. You made a mistake, if this person can’t forgive you for it I will. Moving forward, you will be extra careful
The decision should be above your pay grade at this point. Probably some sort of
QNEC (corrective contribution) https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/401k-plan-fix-it-guide-eligible-employees-werent-given-the-opportunity-to-make-an-elective-deferral-election-excluding-eligible-employeesEdit: i misread that you undershot the contribution (0.5% instead of 5%) but you overshot (50% instead of 5%). This should still be solvable as it’s an error on HR’s part. There should be away to rescind the 45% as a corrective action.
It’s also a little unprofessional for them to CC the employee in the first place. To start, this should be a conversation between HR and the record keeper. Afterwards, the participant can be sent a separate email with the action being taken.