Not sure what to make of this
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| Wed, 06-24-2009 - 9:31am |
I guess really its a good problem to have, but I am still not sure what to make of it.
Some of you may remember that I got a new position within the government (still government but different department). Well they are notoriously slow at transferring paperwork etc so even though it was a promotion, I am still being paid at my previous wage. In the meantime we resigned our collective agreements and about a month ago, I got my backpay.
So currently I am still being paid about $200 - $250 less per paycheck then I should be (based on my own calculations, its hard to tell because of the way taxes are prorated). Yesterday I logged into my account and there was a deposit for $318 from "payroll". I thought that meant that they had caught up and it was the difference in what was owed to me for the past 5 weeks. I was excited because that paid for the dogs medicines (along with my pet savings account) so I sent the money to the vet yesterday. I got paid today and it was still the same amount (the old amount!!!) So now I have absolutely no idea what that $318 was for. And to boot, the HR person who would normally take care of this is on vacation :(
The only thing I can think of is that its the difference in what I am owed, (i.e. my paychecks are going to be $318 higher then they are now) but that seems high to me. I am worried it was a mistake and they are going to take it out of my next pay. I guess I should just not worry and hope it all works out :s




not to be negative but don't just assume this will all work out eventually on its own.
definitely give payroll/HR a call.
That stinks!
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
It really likely is back pay and they have not fixed your regular pay yet, because they are slow, and because they are government. It could be weird back pay too for 5 or 7 weeks you never know. Do you not get paper stubs? Gov does not usually give out extra money. They do however give out owed money wrong. Make sure your regular pay is fixed first, then worry about back pay. It could add up to more in the long run. Good luck!
Thank you all for your thoughts! I have it sorted out!
Let me start by saying the government is a wonky wonky system. When I started at my new job they couldn't staff it right away because of red tape, so I became an "acting" meaning I was still at my 3 level but would be working and paid at a 4. This was in place for 5 days until they could get all the paperwork in order.
Then I signed my letter of offer (making me an official 4) May 25, it was dated May 19. So as of May 19 I am at my new level. Add to this the fact that we are converting positions to a new classification AND we just resigned our collective agreement and you have a mess.
So the $318 was the difference between my regular pay and acting pay for 5 days, plus the difference in our collective agreements for 1 month plus 2 days of the new rate because of the conversion.
I am still not in the system at the pay scale I should be at. The earliest that can be fixed is on the July 22 pay but likely not until August 5th!
I guess the good news is that when it finally gets fixed, I will be owed about 10 weeks of backpay (again). The problem with this is that when you get a lump sum payment from the government like this, it is automatically taxed at the highest tax bracket so I will lose over 50% to taxes. Yes I know I get it back eventually, but I would rather have it now!
Bex -
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift -thats why its called the present."
Bex -