As a small business owner, you are faced with many obligations, and paying employees is just one of them. It is not uncommon for superiors to make mistakes and not deliver the real paystub to the employees.
This is mainly because business owners use outdated methods to track the working hours of their employees, as well as to prepare paystubs. Whether you overpaid or underpaid your employee for whatever reason, this is a problem that needs to be addressed. Here’s what you can do to resolve paystub discrepancies and deliver a real pay stub.
1. Familiarize yourself with the legal regulations
The most important thing to do if you have found that you have not provided the employee with his or her right paystub is to get acquainted with the legal regulations and find out what is best to do in accordance with the situation. The best idea is to do this even before there are any discrepancies with paystubs because this will allow you to be ready when situations occur when you realize that you have overpaid or underpaid an employee.
Not knowing the law in situations like this can cost you dearly. Maybe your employee’s paystub says they earned less money than their real paystub would show, and when a mistake is detected you will have to recoup a monetary cost that may be much higher than you expected. If you overpaid an employee and do not conduct adequate legal proceedings, it may become impossible to recover the excess money.
If all this is complicated for you and you don’t understand it, it is always a good idea to hire an expert in the field of labor law and collect information about all the important details. After all, delivering the right paystubs to employees is a matter of credibility and professionalism and should always be at a high level.
2. Let the employee know that you haven’t provided him or her with their real paystub
The next step in resolving paystub discrepancies is to talk to your employee. If you find that there is a discrepancy in an employee’s paystub, and your employee did not point it out to you, it is necessary to check if he or she noticed the mistake. If you have overpaid them, this may be the ideal time to check how fair your workers are and whether they will tell you the truth about not getting their real paystub.
We’re not saying you should suspect someone or attack them because they didn’t point out mistakes, but this may be a small test for them. Of course, there is always the possibility that they have not noticed discrepancies on paystubs and that is why you should give them the benefit of the doubt.
To begin with, let them know that there are some mistakes and that you will work on correcting them as soon as possible. If you underpaid them, ask if it is okay for them to wait until the end of the legal procedure to receive the full payment. Keep in mind that many people are not prone to savings and live from one paycheck to another.
So make sure your employee is okay with not receiving the full amount of money that was planned for that month. If you overpaid an employee, discuss what the options are for returning the excess money and what dynamics would be fine for everyone. Try to be as pleasant as possible while communicating and show initiative to reach a compromise.
3. Don’t forget about the documents
Once you have gathered all the necessary information and legal process and discussed the situation with your employee, it is time to gather all the necessary documents. This will ensure that the process lasts as short as possible and that everything goes in perfect order.
Don’t forget to collect all the necessary signatures and inform your worker about the further procedures. In case that person no longer works in your company, the documents are even more important because they will enable the whole process to proceed in accordance with the legal regulations and ensure the law to be fully complied with.
4. Go digital
If every once in a while the workers point out to you that they did not get their real paystub, it is time to take additional measures that will prevent these mistakes from happening again and again. It is time to go digital and give up on using pen and paper for making paystubs, once and for all. On this page, you can learn how to make paystubs online. In case you think you need a huge amount of knowledge and experience to make pay stubs online, this is far from the truth.
And it’s not expensive either. You can even find free paystub generators that will make managing paystubs much easier. And even if you have to pay a certain amount on a monthly basis, keep one thing in mind. Investing in such services ensures that every employee will receive their real paystub from month to month.
This means that you will avoid the additional costs that arise when you overpay or underpay a worker, which is not a pleasant experience for many different reasons. You are probably not even aware of how much money and time you have wasted so far by manually calculating the working hours of all employees and managing the payroll process. It is the twenty-first century and technology has taken over all areas of our life and work. Keep up with that and you will notice huge benefits for your business.
Conclusion
If you have overpaid or underpaid an employee, you may find yourself in a very awkward situation. And in case you are not familiar with the legal regulations, this can turn into a real nightmare. However, you do not need to worry, because with the application of a few tips you can easily resolve paystub discrepancies.
We suggest that you first hire an expert who is familiar with labor legislation and who will help you understand and solve the problem. Contact your employee and discuss the situation you are both currently in. Try to find a compromise so that everyone is satisfied in the end. Lastly, consider going digital and improving your payroll process management
