Employer Constantly Shorting Paycheck

[use2betrix]

I am currently a manager at one of the countries major Oil & Gas firms. I work through a contracting agency but represent the Oil & Gas company.

Mid 2018 I received a call from a good friend this Oil & Gas company as I had worked for them on previous projects. We ironed out the details, pay, etc. From there, I was able to select a contracting agency based on benefits, so I chose a company who I knew had the best benefits as I also had a previous relationship with them on other jobs.

This companies only responsibilities are 1. Pay me 2. Give me benefits. They have no management of me, they didn’t place me on the job, etc.

Since starting, they continuously have made errors on my paychecks. Probably 6+ times it has been shorted in the last 15 months

Examples:
1. I went on a business trip for work. I put my expenses on my expense report. I wasn’t paid them as the payroll person said “Oh, I thought this was a personal trip.” Umm, ok, idiot, notice how it specifies work related trip and it’s signed off and approved by the clients project manager who is paying for it.

2. Multiple times have just left off all my expenses, shorted days worked, etc.

3. Today I woke up, and $1,700 of expenses were “somehow accidentally left off.”

This doesn’t happen to anyone else at this agency that I work with. I have reached out to them. After this payroll person got in “trouble” the first time and realized there were no consequences, I am starting to feel like this is some sort of retaliation.

I have a meeting with their HR on Monday.

I should also note that the Oil & Gas project manager has also become one of my closest friends. My wife and I hang out with him and his wife frequently. They constantly have us over for dinner, we go out to dinners, he hooks us up with free tickets to sporting events together (Sunday we’re going to an NFL game with box seats with him and his wife). He also has a long commute to the job site and stays with my wife and I once a week and we go out to dinner that night as well.

So - basically, there is no fear of me getting fired, and I do have the option to quit this agency and go to another.

The problem is, this agency has a 5% match on their 401k that is fully vested from day 1. This is far better than their competitors, and comes out to be a match of around $12,500/year or so. I should also note that since starting at this agency, I have brought over around 8-10 employees from other agencies for them (they do give me a referral bonus).

So - what are my options? I don’t want to leave due to the money, and my direct contact at my agency is great and we are also good friends. My entire issue is this one payroll person that no one seems to be able to do anything about, that is constantly causing me stress and grief?

[ender]

Why are you meeting with their HR?

You probably want to meet with your account manager at this firm. They will be much more incentivized to fix this situation than the firm's HR.

Telling them, "hi, I would like to change this payroll person that works with my account. Since starting here, I have encountered the following issues: <list issues>. This pattern over a short period has caused me to consider changing management firms, because of the added stress this continuously causes" would likely fix the issue.

[use2betrix]

Why are you meeting with their HR?

You probably want to meet with your account manager at this firm. They will be much more incentivized to fix this situation than the firm's HR.

Telling them, "hi, I would like to change this payroll person that works with my account. Since starting here, I have encountered the following issues: <list issues>. This pattern over a short period has caused me to consider changing management firms, because of the added stress this continuously causes" would likely fix the issue.

I have worked countless times with my account manager. I actually only cc my “personal” account manager, because I am very close with the operations manager who I have known for 4-5 years (friends beyond just work). He has been in the loop for all of this. After the last issue, even the company VP got involved.

Every single time this has happened, has been a very pointed call directly to the Operations Manager. He’s a great guy and understanding, but no one in the company seems capable of doing anything.

I’m meeting with HR because this is basically my last resort to try and have this fixed. My complaint to HR is that the payroll person is purposely doing this to me for some purpose I seem unaware of, since it’s not happening to anyone else.

I’m past the point of thinking this is just a management issue, and honestly believe it is some sort of behavioral issue that management apparently can’t manage.

And you are right, you would think they would see the incentive. They’re probably profiting a couple grand per day directly from the people I have brought to their company.

I have a meeting with the VP of a competitive contracting agency at 10 a.m. Monday.

[Sibley]

Look into reporting them to the state dept of labor?

[use2betrix]

Well they just called me and let me know that the payroll person that has been causing the problems is removed from our account. I personally would have liked to see her terminated, but if she is at least no longer handing anything regarding my account or that of the oil & gas company I’m a part of, that’s a good start.

I’m still meeting with HR Monday and the competing contracting agency.

[terran]

If you're recruiting that many people, perhaps you should start your own contracting agency :-)

[Wrenchturner]

Glad to hear some progress appears to have occurred.  My only suggestion: be careful when framing an issue as a personal one.  Seems like a harder sell somehow.

Don't attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity, etc.

[bmjohnson35]

Well they just called me and let me know that the payroll person that has been causing the problems is removed from our account. I personally would have liked to see her terminated, but if she is at least no longer handing anything regarding my account or that of the oil & gas company I’m a part of, that’s a good start.

I’m still meeting with HR Monday and the competing contracting agency.

It appears that you have been the victim up to this point. If the payroll person has been removed from your account and no longer has input on your future payroll admin, I would simply thank them for addressing your concern.  Whether the payroll person is purposely shorting you or simply incompetent, keep it professional.  Pushing for termination could be perceived as vindictive.  I suggest you take the win and hopefully this will be the end of your payroll issues.

BJ
 

[use2betrix]

Spoke to HR this morning and received a new email this morning introducing the new payroll person for our group.

[mm1970]

Well they just called me and let me know that the payroll person that has been causing the problems is removed from our account. I personally would have liked to see her terminated, but if she is at least no longer handing anything regarding my account or that of the oil & gas company I’m a part of, that’s a good start.

I’m still meeting with HR Monday and the competing contracting agency.

Do you know it doesn't happen to anyone else?  I mean, she could just be inept.

[afox]

Well they just called me and let me know that the payroll person that has been causing the problems is removed from our account. I personally would have liked to see her terminated, but if she is at least no longer handing anything regarding my account or that of the oil & gas company I’m a part of, that’s a good start.

I’m still meeting with HR Monday and the competing contracting agency.

Do you know it doesn't happen to anyone else?  I mean, she could just be inept.

Or the employees are inept and not noticing they are getting shorted. How many people review their travel reimbursements or pay information in detail? I know I dont, sounds like I should.

[trollwithamustache]

5% is a good match for someone on your deal. (and a big part of why I went 1099!) Its not atypical for wages to be paid on time and expenses to lag.  A lot of these agreements are set up so the hours/wages hit the o&g company weekly and get paid weekly to the agency. In return for a lower markup, the agency is never floating cash to make your paycheck.   Expenses and other things like that go a separate route and then the agency doesn't want to pay you until they get paid. Not saying its justified/right, but that's typically their viewpoint.  If the agency screws up an invoice, it could be 90 days before they get paid for your expense report.

So, for the benefits side, I personally have put up with the long delays on expense payments.  I highly recommend the independent consultant route as I suspect you can get a contract with multi year stability.

shorted days worked is a real problem. How often has that happened?

[use2betrix]

@mm1970 - “Inept” was the first exact word that came to my mind. I asked 5-6 coworkers after this latest time if it had happened to them (we’re a close group). One guy was shorted his expenses once. I don’t think that it’s that they aren’t catching it due to the amounts i’m being shorted. Honestly - as much as I know I should review my pay stubs, I still don’t always. Most the times it’s been short anywhere from $500 - $1700, so harder not to notice. My number of days worked and expenses does vary a lot, so hard for me to always know “exactly” what my pay will be.

@trollwithamustache - Being W2, our wages and expenses are treated the exact same. We are paid bi-weekly and all our time/expense are due at noon, the Monday before we get paid (on Friday). This is a very structured company and all have deep pockets. The company I represent is a fortune 50 company and my contracting agency probably has over 1,000 total employees worldwide, so neither are small outfits. The hard part about becoming an independent consultant is getting an MSA with the company, and even then, I’ve seen my markups from the contracting agency. Considering my benefits and what should be less hassle than 1099 (I’ve worked 1099 jobs in the past) it seems more worthwhile for me to stay W-2.

The shorted days worked has only been a time or two, it’s usually just issues with them messing up my expenses or referral bonuses somehow.

[trollwithamustache]

I understand the Master Services pain.. I am always subb'ed to someone else... and then often stuck waiting for my $$ to flow through.  But even with a mark up on top of my rate, I've been able to negotiate deals well worth it.

I've worked at places where time can be automatically invoiced from gate logs and then the contractor-company sends a correcting invoice to add/subtract hours and other costs as appropriate. (or for salaried, it auto invoiced the 40 hour week salary). That doesn't sound like the deal you are on.

[obstinate]

Tell them you're going to start billing them a penalty for late payment. :)

[use2betrix]

@lhamo - I think it’s way too large of a company for that person to slip something like that through. After all the issues, i’m sure many eyes had evaluated the situation.

@obstinate - I seem to think at one point they gave me like an extra $250 or $500 bonus to make up for how much it was happening.. That eased the pain for those up until that point, then it kept happening lol.

On a side note, I got a phone call today from the new payroll person on the project. She was very friendly but I could also tell she was a bit edgy, understanding everything i’ve been through with payroll. She had already reviewed my previous time and expenses and asked some good questions to make sure she understands everything. She told me I am the “VIP client” and we laughed. I don’t want to feel special, I just want everything fixed!