I-TEAM: ‘It’s definitely frustrating;’ More pay issues reported at local Honda plant

MARYSVILLE — Workers say it is a swing and a miss by Honda of America in attempts to make sure their paychecks are correct.

An News Center 7 I-Team Investigation told you two weeks ago that Honda’s switch to a payroll processing firm led to hundreds workers being hundreds of dollars short on their paystub.

>>PHOTOS: ‘Shocked more than anything else;’ Some Honda workers hundreds of dollars short after payroll error

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke with workers and the company Friday about more problems this pay cycle.

Hundreds of workers are still waiting for all the money they are owed from two weeks ago but they and the company hoped the problems would be corrected this pay cycle.

Workers are telling us, there are still issues.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” one worker told News Center 7.

Honda workers flooded News Center 7 with phone calls and emails Friday and all of them said there are still payroll issues this pay cycle.

Many are frustrated because they still aren’t sure they have been paid everything they owed from January 13.

>>‘Tired of it;’ Honda worker shares frustration after shorted paycheck, says it isn’t the first time

Workers reached out to News Center 7 by phone claiming they can’t double-check because an employee paystub verification web page disappeared.

“But when all the workers said their checks were wrong, they took it down,” the same worker said. “Mine was short about $450, I believe.

“There’s definitely been more questions than answers,” another worker told News Center 7.

Campbell reports the company told News Center 7 they are working as hard as they can to fix a problem.

“While the primary issues were corrected,” Honda said. “Our payroll audit process detected a new issue that we are working quickly to correct.”

>>‘Frustrating;’ Wife of Honda employee says they’re under threat of eviction after short paychecks

News Center 7 obtained an email showing that the issue again involves a tax withholding issue with workers Health Savings accounts.

“Associated HSA medical plan contributions were incorrectly taxed,” the e-mail said. “This would translate into an average impact of $9 to $20, based on the associates tax with holdings.”

“Honda values our associates and deeply regrets that the payroll issues occurred,” a spokesperson told News Center 7. “We will continue to work with our associates until all issues are resolved.”

>>‘Shocked more than anything else;’ Some Honda workers hundreds of dollars short after payroll error

Campbell reports the explanations and requests to stay patient are also beginning to cause frustrating with workers.

“We work, we expect to be compensated for that and not have issues,” one worker said.

“A lot of us are moving on to other jobs, with more stability,” another worker told News Center 7. “Honda is not what it used to be.”

Campbell said there are almost 5,000 Honda workers here in Marysville, about 16,000 total in Ohio.

The company makes it clear many of them have not been impacted by payroll problems but it’s possible all have been impacted by potential problems.

>>ORIGINAL STORY: Some Honda workers will get less in their paychecks because of ‘tax withholding errors’

Honda released a full statement Friday to News Center 7:

The primary payroll system issues experienced by Honda associates on January 13 have been corrected for the January 27 payroll. Moreover, all associates who completed the necessary updates to their W-4 elections and direct deposit designations, will see their January 13 payroll correction reflected in their January 27 pay. While the primary issues were corrected, our payroll audit process detected a new issue that we are working quickly to correct.

During the past week we have taken multiple actions to minimize the impact to associates affected by the January 13 payroll issues, with a focus on ensuring that no associate is put in a short-term disadvantaged financial position. This includes the immediate corrective payments made to address the HSA contribution error, the availability of a zero-interest payroll loan, and working to establish a process to reimburse associates who incurred late fees.

For all associates who have yet to make their required W-4 tax election or direct deposit designation, we have communicated how to address these issues, including the use of a self-service option to update withholdings, and will continue to support our associates if an issue occurs with their pay.

The implementation of our new HR system brings with it a new payroll process – which introduces variables including a change for some associates to bi-weekly pay. That change to bi-weekly pay could lead to questions from associates that are separate from any pay errors. So, we remain committed to correcting any errors as quickly as possible and are also working to help explain to our associates the changes to bi-weekly pay and how those checks will look.

Honda values our associates and deeply regrets that the payroll issues occurred. We will continue to work with our associates until all issues are resolved.

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