HR Discourse: Employee Payroll (And Whoever Holds the ATM Card)

Last December 2019 was a weird if not a frustrating day for me and the Administrative staff. The employee, assigned overseas, called to say that we did not credit his half-month salary and 13th month pay to his account. It was his wife who informed him of the issue.

The Administrative Staff denied the so-called accusation, and insisted that she has properly credited the payroll to the employee's account. He did not believe him, of course. So she approached me about this matter.

She suggested that to end this issue once and for all, she will send him a screengrab of the payroll register, which I approved. This will definitely appease the employee's anger once and for all. I also asked for a copy of the email for documentation purposes and to make him aware that I was informed about this matter.

After the discussion, she did send that email and reminded him that if the payroll is not entered into his account, we should be informed immediately; not twenty (20) days after. If we have not received any feedback, it will be confirmed that they got their salary.

Most Filipino husbands give their ATM Payroll Card to their wives to manage their salary properly, since the wife handles majority of the chores at home.

What is downright weird is the fact that the wife told him a lie and as a result, lashed out on someone who handles or facilitates employee payroll, accusing them of stealing their salary for their personal use - that was really uncalled for.

To clarify, we in the HR/Payroll specialization do not take interest in your personal, hard earned salary. We are also employees like you and not company owners. As a fact, we do not get rich nor get commissions from what you earn just because we manage the company payroll.

Second, to accuse the staff that she is not doing her job is not right. Remember, your output - hours of work, overtime rendered, absence - determine your salary at the end of each cut-off. Human error is part of the equation so expect that some data may not be properly credited and will be adjusted to the next payroll.

Last but not the least, the payroll ATM is with the wife - so I suggest that you have to make the wife accountable to the salary she withdraws from the Payroll ATM. I am not saying not to trust the spouse in managing this but blaming the HR/Payroll staff may call for that. The need for financial literacy is waving at you.

Remember: we only compute and remit the same to your respective ATM's. Reminder: We do not. Not us.