Topline
Some Google employees found that their entire first paycheck of the year had been sent to their retirement accounts due to a technical error, according to Bloomberg – what one employee dubbed “paypocalypse 2022” – in the latest high-profile payroll mistake.
The Google logo seen next to Grand Canal Dock railway station in Dublin on February 2, 2021.
Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Key Facts
In a notice on its internal HR site, Google apologized to employees and assured them that the error would be corrected by Monday, Bloomberg reported – the company did not respond to a request from Forbes to confirm the incident.
The snafu follows a November incident at Baton Rouge’s Southern University that left employees with overdraft notices after their paychecks were accidentally withheld, WBRZ-TV reported.
Payroll glitches don’t always shrink paychecks—in December, some Connecticut state workers were notified that they would receive triple pay, though the error was soon corrected, Connecticut Insider reported.
In October, PBS reported that numerous U.S. State Department employees, including some serving overseas in dangerous locations, had been underpaid by thousands of dollars due to technical errors, while one Foreign Service officer reported receiving almost $10,000 in unmerited hardship pay.
New York City EMS workers were overpaid $3.5 million between March and August, when bonuses intended for 20 employees were accidentally given to all 3,590 employees, EMS1 reported.
An ongoing ransomware attack on the HR company Kronos has impacted paychecks at several workplaces and left employees at three Florida hospitals underpaid for weeks, TV station WJXT reported.
Further Background
Fifty-four percent of U.S. workers report having encountered a paycheck error, according to a 2017 Workforce Institute study. The leading causes of payroll problems are poor technology, errors and delays, such as submitting timecards late, according to a 2020 survey by Kronos and the American Payroll Association. The survey also found that 57% of payroll professionals used “outdated manual processes or poorly integrated solutions” and that one in five admitted to cutting corners to make sure payroll was finished on time.
Key Quote
“Maybe we are being paid $0.00 so we can appreciate our current salary,” one Google employee quipped on an internal forum, Bloomberg reported.
Surprising Fact
The Workforce Institute found that men were less willing than women to notify their employers about accidental overpayment. On average, men were willing to pocket $623 in extra pay before raising the issue, compared to $258 for women, the study found.
Further Reading
“Google Glitch Leaves Some Staff Without Bank Deposit on Payday” (Bloomberg)
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