myfoxtampabay.com, 3/11/08, Teachers told to return pay

[pemom]

LAKELAND - Your employer is supposed to pay you, right? Well, in Polk County the tables may be turning.

Polk County Schools says some of its employees have been overpaid, and it is asking them to repay part of it.

A recent audit says the District has overpaid 53 employees $77,000. It also says the District has underpaid 38 employees about $81,000. The ones that have been underpaid have already gotten a check.

more.........
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6001959&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.8.1

[sid63usm]

They need to reprimand the person who determines the salaries by evaluating the experience records. Eat the $77K. Ask the person who screwed up to reimburse the district.

[lovehate]

They need to reprimand the person who determines the salaries by evaluating the experience records. Eat the $77K. Ask the person who screwed up to reimburse the district.

GREAT suggestion!|EE|

[mole]

Yeah and when the minimum wage cashier gives you too much change, keep it! Personal responsibility and honesty are situational I guess.

[lovehate]

Yeah and when the minimum wage cashier gives you too much change, keep it! Personal responsibility and honesty are situational I guess.

Ouch! That's a bit of a reach. If I KNOW a cashier has given me back too much change, yes I'm going to return it. If I'm distracted by my children's pleas for candy, the bag-boy's offer for help, the elderly woman on the next aisle over coughing up a lung, etc - I may not even NOTICE that she gave me too much (or too little) back.

I agree with Sid - the folks who had a little extra in their paychecks each week aren't the ones responsible for the mistake that was made. The people setting up the payroll are the ones at fault. Question their personal responsibility......and if someone must be penalized financially, let it be them!

[Haber]

Something similar to this happened in Pinellas when people's jobs were re-evaluated. Were they asked to return pay? A para I know was found to be paid "too much@s@" for a year or two. I don't think she was made to return it.

[mole]

The overpaid employees may not even have known they were being overpaid, but I totally disagree that they should keep the money. Pay it back back $5 a week. If you didn't earn it (and please don't tell me teachers deserve more $, I know that), it isn't yours.
Would you be ok with making the person responsible for the mistake pay it back if s/he makes $10/hour? Remember, not all central office people are highly paid admins!

[Haber]

Some employees, not necessarily teachers. Probably employees who can least afford it. It's not like they took it; the county made a mistake. Too bad.

[dollie]

When I was new at payroll, I double-paid the cafe staff when returning after the summer. Oop. I didn't know that it was already set up in the computer - I took the forms given me by the cafe manager and that's what I input. It wasn't found by the person at the adm. building (God rest her soul, she lost her life in an accident last year) either. I think their pay was for a whole 3 days, so they got 6 days of pay. It had to come out of their next whole paycheck. NONE of them were upset with me - they actually hugged me as they had bills to pay and 3 days worth just wouldn't have been enough!! Sometimes I think a higher power was to blame for this one. Yeah, I made a mistake. But considering support staff learns their jobs on their own with rarely any training from the out-gowning person, it's a wonder more mistakes like this aren't made. I found out I wasn't the only one who did this, too.