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Dealing with payroll gaffes

Updated: June 10, 2022

Consider this cautionary tale: A large company sends out T4s with social insurance numbers on the outside of the envelope. The breach is obviously an accident, but the cost in reputation and relationships is serious business.

Payroll gaffes like this one serve as a wake-up call. Mistakes happen, and they can happen to you just as easily as they happen to a large company. A technical glitch on the wrong day of the month could cause you to miss payroll. Or worse, an arithmetic error could unpleasantly surprise employees with miscalculated take-home pay. The competition for talent is high and if your employees aren't getting timely and accurate paychecks, they may start to look for another job.

BDO can minimize your risk of careless, unnecessary, and costly errors. However, if you experience a payroll gaffe before signing on to our payroll services, here's some damage control advice.

Be clear as to what happened, why it happened and how you’re going to make sure it never happens again. Understanding goes a long way towards forgiveness, and in this case, humility is definitely a virtue.

The worst thing you can do is point the finger.

It could be a process. It could be a partner. It could be an employee. It could be you. Have an open mind as you investigate. Be sure to capture your findings and disseminate them to the right people: both the affected parties and any stakeholders who might be asked questions about it.

Recognize who was put out and make honest amends. You’d be surprised how far a coffee gift card will go. But only offer it after a solution is implemented. You don’t want anyone thinking you’re not fixing the problem.

One too many mistakes could lead to mass attrition, business disruption, or even a lawsuit. Take the threat of “what if this happens” off the table by passing your duties off to experts.

For more information on how we can help, contact our professional payroll team today.

You need to do everything you can to retain your talent. Talk to us, we're here

Aside from the obvious mitigation of financial and reputational risks, avoiding payroll errors is a great strategy for helping to retain your talent. For more information on how we can help, contact our professional payroll team today.