http://www7.mercurycenter.com:80/premium/local/docs/payroll21.htm

Link

Published Sunday, November 21, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News

Glitch knocks paychecks in Oakland out of whack

OAKLAND (AP) -- A payroll pickle after a new, Y2K-compliant computer system was installed left scores of city employees with incorrect paychecks -- including one who collected more than $300,000 for two weeks of work.

Another employee received a check for $13 for the same period.

Oakland officials said data-entry clerks using the Year 2000 system for the first time didn't have enough training. The resulting glitches made Dwight Chambers, a public works operations manager, possibly the city's top-paid employee.

Chambers received a check for $322,000 -- which he promptly handed back.

``I said, `This must be incorrect,' '' Chambers said.

For Chris Middleton, who was counting on a paycheck of about $2,200 to help pay off bills from her mother's funeral, a $13.50 allotment left her with just $3.22 in her checking account.

City payroll clerks said most of the glitches affected police, fire and public works pay because those staffers have varying shifts, overtime and premium pay.

It was unclear how many employees were affected, but a police department clerk who asked not to be identified said at least 500 staffers in that department alone had paycheck problems.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), November 22, 1999

Answers

Thanks Homer.

Similar slant on SF Gate site and in the Sunday print version.

Diane

Oakland payroll snafu affects hundreds

Saturday, November 20, 1999

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi?file=/news/archive/1999/11/20/state1905EST0048.DTL

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

(11-20) 16:05 PST OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Payroll predicaments after a new, Y2K-compliant computer system was installed left scores of city employees with incorrect paychecks -- including one who collected more than $300,000 for two weeks of work.

Another employee received a check for $13 for the same period.

Oakland officials said data entry clerks using the new Year 2000 system for the first time didn't have enough training.

The resulting glitches made Dwight Chambers, a public works operations manager, possibly the city's top-paid employee.

Chambers received a check for $322,000 -- which he promptly handed back.

``I said, 'This must be incorrect,''' Chambers said.

For Chris Middleton, who was counting on a paycheck of about $2,200 to help pay off bills from her mother's funeral, a $13.50 allotment left her with just $3.22 in her checking account.

City payroll clerks said most of the glitches affected police, fire and public works pay because those staffers have varying shifts, overtime and premium pay.

It was unclear how many employees were affected, but a police department clerk who asked not to be identified said at least 500 staffers in that department alone had paycheck problems.

The city plans to issue supplemental checks next week to make up for Friday's mistakes, Assistant City Manager Dolores Blanchard said.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 22, 1999.

Oooops!

Just a bump in the road folks!

Got a lot of potholes in that road.....

.... just a unpaid bump in the road? Don't worry, your police and sanitation workers will be on the job, on overtime, for weeks, with uncertain pay?

---

This is why they needed a year to test - so parallel operations on critical systems like this can be done; so paychecks and tax returns, and W-4's, and retirement accounts, and medical payments, and all the usual "stuff" can be done and checked.

And so people can be trained properly....

What? You didn't notice a clerk entered 300,000.00 check and DIDN'T notice? How many got "just a little bit bigger" paycheck than usual and DIDN'T hand it back?

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 22, 1999.

"Y2K Potholes!"

Love it Robert. How many potholes, gathered together and interdependant, create a sump hole?

And how deep? How wide?

We may find out.

Got cash?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 22, 1999.

but, but, but, It wasn't the system - it was compliant, the problem was the poorly trained data entry clerk.

And so, the finger pointing begins............................

-- karla (karlacalif@aol.com), November 23, 1999.