Have you ever heard of such?

[WTL]

So I just started working at a hotel, night audit in early December. I worked a few spotty training shifts and for my first pay period got 140 bucks.

Here it is, 2 weeks later and I just picked up my new cehck for the pay period of the last 2 weeks in december in which I was almost fulltime.

And it had a note in there that states:

"Due to an error made in this pay period, your check reflects the hours worked from 12/5-12/18. We'll fix any discrepencies in 2 weeks"

In other words where I should be getting about $600, this paycheck is for $140 as well. Which is fixin to make me miss several payments, destroy my credit and leave me with no money for gas for the next 2 weeks to come to this ****house.

So what should I do? I am boiling over right now thinking when the next shift shows up in the morn I'm gonna explode. Have you ever heard of such a ****ty workplace?

[cassidyta]

WTL...
Per federal laws, may be able to wait two weeks. Federal labor laws state that administrative errors must take place no later than the next pay period.
That being said, if this is a hotel chain, I would go to a manager and ask to speak to a Human Resource representative. Many companies will allow for advances on your next check in cases like this. If you receive any push back at all on that, then simply nod, smile, and call the Alabama Department of labor.
If this is a small hotel, simply explain (in a tactful manner) that you will not be able to pay your bills nor put gas in the car. They should be somewhat understanding and try to assist.
If they tell you to pound sand, then I would also contact the Dept of Labor.
Don't blow up on anyone in this, but make sure you can convey the importance of this issue.

[CMorg]

With the way the economy and job losses are , I would bite the bullet , and maybe go to cash advance place and pay the high interest rate to pay what needs paid..or hit up family. I have never had to do this , but I would if I had too...its hard to get a job now.

[cassidyta]

Don't just bite the bullet. Please at least say something. Large companies are counting on employees to just accept situations because of the hidden threat that there is someone else who would gladly take your job.
They can do some things, but not paying you is not one of them.
I watched my company lay off 25,000 people on 1 December and am begining to see them thing the rest will just be glad to have a job.
55 of the fortune 500 companies reported a gain in the past two quarters and still conducted layoffs.
If we enable this behavior, it will become common practice.

[bamabassman]

in agreement with cassidyta on this one buddy. be nice,, but be firm.

[woody]

I also agree with you Cass.
This is just one of the many reasons why I belong to a Building Trades Union.

[CMorg]

There's not just "someone" waiting to take your job , there's 1.7 million.
Not to mention you " just started " this job , I dont know if trying to flex your muscle is a good idea right now. I work for state government , and if they mess up your payrol ( and they do ) it gets fixed the next pay period , with either a positive adjustment , or a negative adjustment. We get paid everyother week , therefore a mistake on their part takes 2 weeks to fix , just like your case. I dont know if you can do anything about it. I would be very careful , but thats just me....everyone else seems to disagree with me , so listen to the majority.

[cassidyta]

CMorg,

I am not saying don't be careful in how it is addressed. Going in and blowing up on someone will be grounds for termination. I am simply saying that he should at least make it known what kind of impact this will cause for him.
If this hotel is part of a major chain, then they may have their own form of advance/loan to cover with expenses.

[WTL]

So this morning when my coworker came in I told her the situation, she said there was nothing they could do- couldnt even give me an advance or loan. I told her how pissed I was with the situation, made myself clear without being an *** that this wasnt acceptable.

I got a surprise loan from a family member for $200 so I'll survive the next 2 weeks in the meantime. My next strategy is to shop around, this hotel is struggling, probably losing money and fixing to lose its affiliation with corporate so if I can find something else I will. You give me a reason to be loyal and I will, but this gives me no incentive to be loyal.

[CMorg]

If their struggling , maybe the mistake was on purpose ?? I agree you can tell them what kind of impact it will make , but that still does no good..the person you are telling probably cant even make anything happen. And a correction to my earlier post , its over 2 million without jobs now.

[WTL]

Wouldn't surprise me if it were on purpose.

For instance, last night (an average night lately) total rev was just over 1000. Occupancy was a measly %15. I was thinking today that about 9 employees had worked around 72 total hours. Thats $600 right there. Then you subtract utilites, cable, taxes (1/365 of the yearly sum of all taxes), PP&E improvements and they are just about pulling even most nights.

The excuse "oh we just happened to make a mistake that everybody is getting the same checks as 2 weeks ago" - I just don't know how that happens. How does whoever is doing payroll do that?

[BassinBrits]

Have you ever noticed how pay check payment faults always favour the employer and not the employee. At least they do in the UK and looks like the same here.

Good luck with getting a new job and sorting out your finances.

[zooker]

Originally Posted by cassidyta

Don't just bite the bullet. Please at least say something. Large companies are counting on employees to just accept situations because of the hidden threat that there is someone else who would gladly take your job.
They can do some things, but not paying you is not one of them.
I watched my company lay off 25,000 people on 1 December and am begining to see them thing the rest will just be glad to have a job.
55 of the fortune 500 companies reported a gain in the past two quarters and still conducted layoffs.
If we enable this behavior, it will become common practice.

i agree i have seen some of the damest things go down in the last few months..and i have been there 12 years..worst was droppin a big pink slip bomb on most of my crew the friday before christmas.. they have called about 1/2 of them back.. i am still 15 hands short in my crew..

i know of only one place hiring you'll love this... miller brewery i charlotte is hiring workin there guys 12-16 hours 6 days a week.. according to my contact thats alot more than "normal"..

zooker

[woody]

That figures, when times get tough liquor sales go up
I also heard the other day that the people that do FORTUNE TELLING are having alot more business. CRAZY

[cassidyta]

For me the difficult part has been how many of these layoffs are happening. When we do our performance rankings, we are required to rank 15% of our people marked as "needing improvement". Then the company stated that we will be laying off the individuals who need improvement. The people I let go were not lacking any skill set, they were just the the lower end of really good people.
What pissed me off the most is that I had and still have two open positions. I have the ability to rehire those same people if they will waive their severance package and take a 20% paycut.
BTW..my company reported revenue (not profit) in excess of 100 billion..
In this company's case, it is not that the company is not making money, they just want to make more.

[Christopherkeene9]

Everybody at my place just got a 10% wage cut at least until April

[bamabassman]

well i work for a local city. and even here they are mumblings of a layoff. mostly i think it is a scare tactic so they can forgo an annual raise. this city buys up every building and vacant house lot that they can get their hands on. they say that they are buying it so that they can sell it or lease it to some industry. ha! right and i am gonna be a rock star. anyway, things are gonna get worse in the coming months before they get better.

[Bo Dale James Jr.]

WTL..Man I am so sorry they did you that way! The stress alone, sucks.
I would indeed start looking for a new place of employment.

[bcklash]

cassidyta, man I hear ya --a few yrs.ago my company projected a 20 million dollar profit, well the profit was only 10 million dollars so they said they a loss of 10 million dollars. Go figure.

[zooker]

the nc state told it's outside contractors. that they were out of money to stop then and there and go home.. there is heavy equipment parked where ever they were at when they got the call.

zooker

[Jim80]

That sucks man , i worked at a place that used to make mistakes like that all the time , they would give us an emergency payout as cash when they did mess up if we couldn't wait till the next pay period .

Jim

[WTL]

I think its time to give yall an update.

The next day I got word from management that they were gonna work with me either to extend a line of credit or redo my check. I told them to just redo the check, get it right - its supposed to get here today. I am now satisfied with their response to this, it is possible that mistakes do happen, I think how your react to them is more important than the initial mistake in keeping employees happy.

[JB]

good to hear things are working out for you WTL, it sucks to be shorted paycheck money when you have bills to be payed in a timely matter, hope they settle up with ya.

[woody]

Good for you WTL, imo you were definitely within your rights...



~Woody

[brushhog]

Glad, it worked out...