How Goes that Payroll?
Jodi Wallace
Owner, Monarch Solid Surface Designs
With my husband Ken having taken a job with another company last year I run the business’s day-to-day activities.
I meet the guys at the shop in the morning to discuss jobs and they check in with me throughout the day. (Or I track them down if they don’t!) I then spend the day at the showroom / office and don’t end up back at the shop until the next morning, unless something is going on.
Although Ken is no longer there on a daily basis he still handles sales tax, payroll and audits, and I call him for technical advice when needed. Payroll is one of those things I have always left to him.
A couple of years ago we installed a time clock. We had avoided this because we really weren’t ready to work that way, but as most business owners know, you can only be taken advantage of so much before decisions need to be made.
My husband and son set up the time clock, which has actually worked out very well – when the guys would actually clock in! (Please note the time clock is mounted on the wall just inside the door they walk through every morning– translation: it’s a little hard to miss it!!)
When we asked why they weren’t clocking in we were repeatedly told they “forgot,” because they were so used to “signing” in. To help them “remember,” Ken created a worksheet of sorts. It sits on a shelf just below the time clock. It has the employees name and the dates within the pay period. They punch in and then write what time they start, sign in and out for lunch (if they are at the shop), and what time they leave at the end of the day. Pretty basic stuff.
Wednesday morning as I was getting ready to leave the shop, one of my fabricators offhandedly informed me, “We’re out of worksheets.” I texted my husband and son to ask where I could find a copy, then printed one and left. Talking to my husband later that night he looked at me and said, “Shoot, is it payroll this week, already?”
When Ken and Shane were working at the shop they would pick up the “worksheet” when they were doing payroll and staple it to the computer-generated timecards from the time clock.
This is how we set things up:
When the worksheet was completed it was dropped on Ken’s keyboard at the shop and the guys then pulled a new pay period worksheet from copies stored in a folder, on the desk. This is important to note because as I said, I am only there for a few minutes each day.
In order for the guys to be paid on Friday, payroll has to be entered no later than Wednesday by 12:00 pm. If the worksheet had been sitting on Ken’s computer this particular day as in the past I would have seen it, picked it up and brought it home.
But no one placed it on the keyboard, handed it to me or even moved it to any conspicuous place so I would have seen it. Nope – they just punched in for the new two week time period and left the old completed worksheet sitting on the shelf. Even if anyone had mentioned at any point that we were out of worksheets that would have triggered a response something. But no one thought it important enough to mention, it so it never crossed my mind.
On Thursday morning, after Ken and I discovered we had missed the deadline for direct deposit. I made it a point to tell the guys that because no one thought to put the completed worksheet on the keyboard or even mention to me that we were out of new worksheets, there was no way we could do a direct deposit because we had missed the cutoff cutout day. Instead, we would have to go to Plan B: issue paper paychecks.
There were was definite grumblings and my shop foreman informed me, “You should know this. You’ve been doing it for a long time.” He gave me a nasty look. “I have a post-dated check for my rent.”
I looked back at him and didn’t budge. “Actually, I don’t now, never did, and STILL don’t do payroll. This time clock thing… it hasn’t been here very long right? What… three years? Four?” I looked around. “And how is it out of five guys here, only one thinks to mentions to me on Wednesday that there are no more worksheets? How about when you took out the last one? What happened to Monday or Tuesday? No one thought to say, ‘Hey, we need a new worksheet?!’”
I was just as bent out of shape as he was. I sent them to pack up the trucks for the day’s jobs before my mouth and brain parted ways and I said something I might regret.
I printed out multiple worksheets for the next (3) months and grabbed my main fabricator. “YOU are responsible for this,” I told him. “Put the completed one on the keyboard and pull out the new one. I don’t want to go through this again.”
I waited until I had his full attention. “If there’s a problem, I come to you. Are we good?” He nodded.
Friday morning as promised, I showed up with paychecks in hand and handed them out. My foreman grumbled and told me he needed to take lunch early to deposit his check to cover his rent. I told him that would be OK.
Two hours later as I was trying to get out the door to the showroom my phone rang. In a very heavy accent a woman asked if this was Monarch Solid Surface Designs and I said yes. I couldn’t understand what she was trying to say but I did catch my shop foreman’s name.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Could you please repeat that?” Her accent was so heavy and her voice so soft I was only catching every couple words – Mark, envelope, work, San Jose, San Mateo. I seriously felt stupid asking if she could please speak up because I wasn’t understanding couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell me. After explaining to me again, things semi-clicked and I started catching the gist of the conversation, although I still didn’t quite get it all.
She had picked up an envelope off the ground (although I still couldn’t figure out where exactly). She went to throw it away and for whatever reason decided to open it first. When she saw it was some sort of paycheck she used her phone to go online and looked up our company name and number.
She said she could bring it by since she lived in San Jose but she worked in San Mateo and wouldn’t be home until 7:00 pm. I asked if she had a shredder. She said yes and I asked if she would please shred the check and I would issue him a new one. I thanked her for calling and hung up. It was really nice that she took the time to locate our number and call. Not everyone would have put in the effort even if they realized what was in the envelope.
After Mark had been so rude to me that morning I was momentarily tempted keep my mouth shut and let him discover the missing check on his own… and let him freak out a bit.
But I am supposed to be a grown up and the boss (which at times is a serious drag!). I picked up my phone and called him.
“Hey,” I said, getting straight to the point. “Know where your paycheck is?”
“What?” he said. “Yeah, in my pocket.” (It was so tempting to make a comment but please note I did not!)
“Try again,” I told him. “I just had a call from a girl who found your paycheck on the sidewalk and almost threw it away.”
I cannot repeat the string of words that came out of his mouth, but I can definitely say he was one unhappy boy!!!
Who says Karma doesn’t pay attention?!
I told him to come by the showroom when he was done and I would issue him a new check.
He came by an hour or so later. When I handed him his new paycheck he took it, looked down at the check, back at me and said a sincere, “Thank you.”
I smiled. “So I guess it’s safe to say you’re going to make sure worksheets are where they belong and I know when payroll is?! I think we both prefer NOT to go through this again!”
He looked at me and smiled. “Ohhh yeah. Not a problem!!”
For the next several months, every other Monday morning, Mark would casually walk past me and in a quiet voice remind me “pay week!” And best of all, the completed worksheet miraculously showed up exactly where it should be, when it should be there!
Jodi Wallace is the owner of Monarch Solid Surface Designs in San Jose, CA, and has been in business since 2000. The focus of her business is customer care and education.