Cookie Corner Question: Over Paid Edition

THE QUESTION: If you were over paid by your employer, would you tell? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
I ran an unofficial poll posing THE QUESTION. The responses I received were just as I expected.
-Yes. Tell your employer because they will find out.
-No because God was sending you a bonus because he knew you needed it.
-Yes. Tell your employer. Honesty is the best policy.
- No. Their mistake!


There was an extra $500 dollars on my most recent paycheck. At first, I thought that maybe the mistake was a banking error. I logged on to the company website and downloaded my pay stub. It was VERY clear that I had been over paid. My company paid me like this:
96 hours of straight pay
11 hours of sick leave
8 hours of vacation
=115 hours of pay

Really... this is what it should have been:
53 hours of straight pay
11 hours of sick
8 hours vacay
8 hours holiday (4th of July)
=80 hours

Don't get me wrong. I love the extra cash. It always feels great to get more money than expected. During my hour-long commute to work, I contemplated whether or not I should alert someone about this obvious oversight. The yin and yang conversation happening in my brain went something like this...
YIN: You earned that money. You always stay extra and aren't on the clock. You do a lot of things above and beyond the call of duty.
YANG: You are rationalizing dishonest behavior.

YIN: It wasn't my mistake. I didn't over pay myself.
YANG: You are rationalizing dishonest behavior.

YIN: No one is going to find out. And if they do find out, I didn't over pay myself.
YANG: You are rationalizing dishonest behavior.

YIN: If I'm over paid then there has to be others that are over paid. Let them report it to the company.
YANG: You are rationalizing dishonest behavior.

What I ended up doing is calling Financial Services. I wanted to talk to the person in charge of payroll. She's on maternity leave so I spoke to the person that was tasked with the job. He confirmed that what was in my bank account was not a banking error and that the company did pay me what was in my account. Next thing I did was text my favorite person in HR. Anyway, he was blown away and told me -- CHRISTMAS BONUS.... he was kidding. He told that whatever I am paid is from the hours that are uploaded by IT. I know that is just so crazy. There are tons of employees and I'm sure they can't manually check everyone. But maybe they should since I was over paid by 35 hours. Imagine that across the entire organization.

I know this seems like so much trouble to go through considering that this discrepancy was actually in my favor. Nothing was resolved on Friday and they're going to look into it on Monday. They will probably offset my next check to pay back for whatever was over paid to me. I really don't care if they do or if they don't.

The people I polled who were saying that I shouldn't tell my employer are probably wondering, "WHY?"
"Why, you fool?"
"Why would you tell someone that they gave you too much money?"
"Keep the money you bloody fool."
And I have my reasons. I most certainly do.

1. I did not earn that money. I did not work for all of those hours.
2. Based on reason #1, my character is in question if I didn't report the oversight. Honesty really is the best policy. A clear conscience is priceless.
3. It's the right thing to do.

The driving force behind my reasons really has to do with my state of mind. The psychology behind a "hoarder" or someone that would take the money and run is that they conduct their lives from a point of lack. This means that the psychology that drives them is one that says "I don't have enough...."
"I don't have enough so I have to take this money."
"I don't have enough so I cannot share."
"I don't have enough so I have to take yours before you take mine."
...the list can go on forever.

I am conducting my life from a stance of gratitude and that I always have enough. I always have what I need. I don't need to steal to get what I want because I always have everything that I want and need. I want to live in gratitude and resonate all the good vibrations that come from making good decisions. So though I would love to have an extra couple of hundred dollars, I know that I have exactly what I want and need and everything that I desire, I can have WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE.

I don't want to be better than anyone else. I just want to be better than who I was yesterday.

THE BUS / WORK / TIME / I QUIT

Public transportation can be such a disappointment sometimes.

Yesterday, a trip that normally takes an hour and a half took two hours and fifteen minutes. That's just ONE WAY. Yup, I spend 90 minutes on the bus just to get to work.

Returning home takes another 90 minutes but you have to add the 30 minutes that I sit waiting for the bus. Yesterday, it was 30 minutes late. So, total travel time yesterday was four hours and fifteen minutes.

Add in the eight hours I spent sitting at my desk. Add an hour for lunch. The total time away from home: 13 hours and fifteen minutes. It's so not worth it.

4 hours Travel time (RT)
+9 hours Work day
=13 hours

24 hours in the day
-13 hours that I spent at work or en route
=11 hours left in the day

11 hours to play with
-8 hours of sleep... which I rarely get. who sleeps for 8 hours?
=3 hours ........ all I get is three hours to spend with my family

So... this temp job ends at the end of this month. And I'm done! Having a job means NOT having a life.

Part Deux : Gotta Be My Own Boss

The end result of Gotta Be My Own Boss.

Hi Coreen,

I am so sorry that our Friday meeting has caused you so much unhappiness. I had thought that we had cleared the air and were starting anew, with a better understanding of each other. Thank you for sharing your impressions, I didn't realize that the only messages that came through very strongly were my frustration and stress. Unfortunately in a situation like that, the negatives far outway the positives. I hope that as your hurt subsides that you will also remember the positives.

First, please remember my apologizing to you for being placed in a situation during the busiest time of a very busy year, when I didn't have time to establish a relationship with you or help you through the beginning stages of your training. And how unfair that was to you.

Second, please remember that I told you how pleased I was with the way you spoke with the customers on the phone, and how good you were in your relations with the other employees.

Third, please remember me talking about the confidence I had in your intelligence, ability and potential and how much I was looking forward to what your future with the company would be.

Anyway, I would like to clear up a few misunderstandings that have become apparant from your letter. As far as your duties here, I thought that had been clearly explained in the course of the two interviews. I had the feeling earlier in the week that there might be some fuzziness in your understanding of your role in the company, so I had spoken with Don and Dianna and had asked them if they felt we had covered that well in the second interview. They thought we had all been very clear on that point, so I didn't pursue it with you at that time. So as you can see, I have been thinking all along that you had a much clearer picture than you obviously did, which is why I misinterpreted your hesitation to become more involved in your dealings with me. Again, I apologize for not acting on my first instinct, and speaking with you earlier. My desire was for you to get comfortable with the company and find your legs before I started adding to your plate.

As far as the money goes, I was trying to give you a compliment in that I felt you were worth paying the employment agency upcharge. There were some other candidates that we were considering that were not attached to an agency, but I had such strong positive feelings about you that it was worth the extra charges. I was not meaning to tie that to your performance. I have had only two issues that were not positive, your messages, which we have resolved, and my misinterpretation of you interest in working directly with me, which I also thought we had resolved.

Lastly, as always seems to be the case, your lack of " Good Mornings" to me, hurt me as well. It fed the feeling I had that you wanted to keep a distance.

It looks overall that we should have both spoken with each other sooner about our situation, but the lion's share of that falls with me. I'm truly sorry I didn't communicate in a much better way with you. It has been an extremely difficult 4 or 5 weeks, and I've been trying very hard to hold on and get what needs to be done, done, without turning into a crazy person. I'm sorry you were a part of that period.

If it means anything, I would very much like for you to continue to try for a while longer and see if it's not a good place for you. I truly believe you and the company are a good match, and I also believe that you and I have a much better understanding of each other and can build a good working relationship. I can't promise the stress will not get to me from time to time, as I can't promise it won't get to you, but I can promise I will definitely start including you in what's going on. I hope you will change your mind, but if you don't, I hope you will forgive me for the unhappiness I've given you in such a short period of time

All the Best,
Owner

Gotta Be My Own Boss

A couple of weeks ago, I was talkin' about goin' back to work. Well, I did. It was either work or go to school... and consequently, I am awaiting the status of my application for school... so I did go back to work. I went through a temp agency. The woman they placed me with owns her own business. Well, Friday the 14th made just ONE WEEK at that place and I left and I'm not turning back. Here is the copy of the letter I emailed the owner of the business. Names have been changed.... and all that junk... to protect me from ANY liability... LOL. You'll get the background on it by reading the letter. I'll post the woman's response later.

Aloha "Boss",

I've been thinking about writing this letter since Friday. An entire day has passed and the feeling is still here. I feel inclined to express myself to you, as you've already had the opportunity of expressing yourself to me. It is my desire to rectify things and make everything PONO**. To release myself from any negativity that intrinsically connects myself to you.

The meeting we had on Friday morning between you, DeeDee and myself was very enlightening. Friday was my sixth day of work at your establishment. It was not emphasized that I was to serve as your "right-hand-man" or that I was to keep you off the phone. Much of my duties were left to my own interpretation. Though I am very good at anticipating the needs of most people, I found it very hard to read what, exactly, your needs were. I would have really appreciated if you reviewed with me HOW you want things done. I couldn't INHERENTLY know what those things are.

I understand that my inability to be any of your previous assistants is frustrating. You truly UNLOADED all of those frustrations on me. I could not have possibly known how much pressure you're under to perform. My desire to not disturb you was misjudged as an unwillingness to be of help. My "cryptic" phone messages, as you so eloquently called them, were ineffective and NOT helping you. I would not have known that you "pay me more than you would normally pay someone in my position". Perhaps I wasn't living up to the monetary value you agreed to pay me.

Anyway, the end result of all my shortcomings was the "big blow up" which is our meeting on Friday morning. It seemed I was the ONLY candidate to be on the receiving end of all your negative energy. You felt strongly to share with me how much pressure you're under. How would I have known? You shared with me that you're normally a good person. How could I have known? From day one, the nicest thing you said to me was "good morning" AFTER greeting the parrot. You shared with me that you did a whole bunch of things that I should have been doing. Again, how could I have known? NO ONE SAID ANYTHING.

As I sat in that meeting when you were sharing these thoughts and a host of others, the only thing I could think of was how did I make these things happen? Perhaps, my ineffectiveness on Friday morning was the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back". I am the newest employee, with the least amount of experience and knowledge about your leadership style or about the business, yet I am the one that gets dumped on. True character is revealed in our hardest times.

I maintained my composure the entire day and resolved to be a better assistant to you. But as soon as I rounded the corner of that building, I cried in a way that I couldn't cry in our meeting. As I explained my tears to my husband, who picked me up from work, I realized two things.

One - there is no chemistry between us. You already resent me for failing to read your needs. And two - I don't want to waste anyone's time, yours and least of all mine. Since I am, technically, an employee of the temp agency, I have notified them that I will NOT be returning to your company.

I appreciate the opportunity you've given me and I wish you much success and happiness. The entire purpose of life is to be happy. May you be blessed.

**PONO : Hawaiian for righteousness or the act of returning things to a positive flow.