We lost your paycheck...oh, and Merry Christmas!
Employees of one of the biggest companies in Midland have been informed that their mid-month paychecks are, um, missing. While this situation has minimal effect on those who chose to get paid via EFT, there are a number of technophobic holdouts who prefer to get a real honest-to-gosh piece of paper in their hands twice a month, and these folks are up the creek.
It seems that the payroll goes out from the main office via USPS and no one knows where this mailing has gone. Even for those getting paid for direct deposit, it's a minor inconvenience because their checkstubs are mailed to them and they may not know exactly how much was put in their accounts.
I went through this as a brand new employee with ARCO in Dallas back in the mid-70s. We learned that an entire payroll mailbag apparently disappeared. This was back when everyone got paid via a paper check...so we were all in the same boat, from executives to janitors. Of course, some had more of a financial cushion than others, and I, being a fresh college graduate, fell into the "others" category. The company quickly realized the predicament and provided cash advances to those who needed them.
The lesson here seems obvious. EFT is a proven technology; why not take advantage of it? And if you needed any reinforcement for the wisdom of doing this, missing a paycheck just before Christmas would seem to be a dramatic wakeup call.
We had this convo at a friday staff meeting.
Be it known that we are a staff of 5 people total, it was mentioned that the owner will be looking into this to guarantee proper and timely delivery of our paychecks.
Someone told me at one time that banks usually charge a small fee for this service, but it can't be more than the cost of printing and postage.
Eric, as you know, I'm a former ARCO spouse. If I recall correctly, this happened more than once over the years. We'd keep a little stashed away in the cupboard ... just in case.
Posted by: Jeff at December 20, 2004 09:59 AMI don't know if EFT is like direct deposit but I have been using DD at work and with income tax refunds for years now and love it. I don't have to go to work to pick up my check if I am off that day or if I am on vacation or getting to the bank and standing in line to deposit my check.
Posted by: Michael Morgan at December 24, 2004 10:53 AMMichael, Direct Deposit is simply one of the components of Electronic Funds Transfer, which is itself a generic term for paperless debits and credits to your checking or savings account.
The only drawback to EFTs is that you have to remember to record them in your checkbook register. A friend of mine *ahem* once forgot to do this and had to deal with the consequences. I think he learned his lesson...
Posted by: Eric at December 24, 2004 02:52 PMAbout the publisher
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I walk into the accountants office and pick up my oil disbursements. I'm still waiting to see if this computer stuff is for real.
Posted by: Wallace-Midland, Texas at December 17, 2004 09:13 PM