Money is missing from my paycheck. What do I do?

November 23, 2010 10:37 AM

I was overpaid by my boss, and now I'm being underpaid. Should I say something?

My last pay period, I was overpaid slightly. I immediately told my superior who said that he'd look into it. This was awhile ago, and since then, I haven't been asked to return the money.

For this pay period, I was underpaid by roughly the same amount that I was overpaid by a month or two ago. I'm now at a break-even point with my money, but I was never told that there would be a withholding from my check to make up for the previous overpayment. Should I ask about the money that's missing from my check?

Part of me feels that this wasn't a conscious attempt to right the wrong of my overpayment, but was just another wage processing error. I don't know if that really makes any difference in how I should handle this situation. Advice on how to proceed would be appreciated!

posted by anonymous to work & money (13 answers total)

At least in my company, this is the way they correct overpayments. If you're worried, I'd ask your boss what's up in a completely non-confrontational manner.
posted by griphus at 10:40 AM on November 23, 2010

It would be extremely odd if you just happened to be underpaid by precisely the correct amount to cancel your previous overpayment. It's probably on purpose.
posted by zug at 10:40 AM on November 23, 2010 [4 favorites]

This is pretty standard. Be glad that you brought the overpayment to their attention before it had been enough pay periods for them to decide to take your entire next cheque back. If you can't afford it, maybe speak to your boss about spreading out the repayment, but really you should never have spent the over payment in the first place.
posted by sunshinesky at 10:42 AM on November 23, 2010

It's probably on purpose, and since you reported the overpayment I don't see why you'd be afraid to bring it up just to confirm that it's a correction, not an error. It's not like you're hiding anything.
posted by Think_Long at 10:43 AM on November 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

Yes. It's your money and you want clarification on whats going on. Obviously come at it from a respectful angle, but be persistent. I'd go in and say something like 'I'm not trying to be petty, just trying to understand what's going on' or something like that.

Think about it from the other perspective. If you decided to work a few hours less each week your employer would say something to you. Your employer also has to live up to their end of the bargain and pay you for the services rendered and the amount agreed upon.

Of course, it's possible that this is intentional and your HR person will explain to you as such.
posted by jourman2 at 10:43 AM on November 23, 2010

This is almost certainly your payroll department getting the money back. They probably thought your boss told you. Your boss probably thought they told you.

One thing, though -- does your paycheck generally vary, or is it stable? If it's always the same, and the overpayment doesn't match the underpayment, then you should check with your boss and/or payroll to make sure there won't be another surprise. If it varies a lot, well, then you're roughly square.
posted by Etrigan at 10:46 AM on November 23, 2010

I'd send an email to payroll and copy my boss (paper trail) saying something like "It looks like the overpayment I reported on xx date has been corrected in my current paycheck. Thanks very much for taking care of it, and let me know if I should anticipate any other changes."
posted by headnsouth at 11:00 AM on November 23, 2010 [10 favorites]

Ask your HR/Payroll people. My gut says that it's only this paycheck, and they're correcting for the last overpayment.

But, if it's not, you NEED to know before they have to finalize the next pay cycle. (Usually a week or so before you get your check.) Call today!
posted by Citrus at 11:21 AM on November 23, 2010

I'm not sure where you are- but there is actually a legal payroll issue if you are in CA. California labor law says that you can't deduct from wages without having the employee's written consent. However, if you don't consent to the deduction, your employer can sue you for those wages.

That said, I would highly recommend that you send the email to your HR/Payroll department, who should be able to verify that the deduction was the correction of the prior check's overpayment.
posted by Zophi at 11:32 AM on November 23, 2010

If you're the sort to report an overpayment, you certainly have a leg to stand on when requesting clarification about an underpayment.
posted by galadriel at 12:35 PM on November 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, just give it a, "Hey, wanted to make sure," conversation. Because the last thing you want is to have to have HR make another correction, right?
posted by klangklangston at 2:46 PM on November 23, 2010

Save your paycheck stubs for the time being. Send your payroll people an email thusly:

"Dear [HR drone], on [date of overpayment] I was overpaid by [amount], and notified [person]. On [date of underpayment] I was underpaid by the same amount, to the penny. This note is to confirm that the underpayment on [date] was intended to correct the overpayment on [date], and that no further underpayments are scheduled. Thank you."

They'll likely answer in the affirmative, and that will be that. Worst case, keep your stubs and check them every time until a few months have gone by and you're sure it's all good.
posted by davejay at 3:59 PM on November 23, 2010

er, sorry, not to CONFIRM, but to VERIFY. My bad.
posted by davejay at 4:00 PM on November 23, 2010