Paterson still trying to collect from employees overpaid due to payroll glitch | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Paterson still trying to collect from employees overpaid due to payroll glitch

By Jayed Rahman
Published: April 15, 2021

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Two months after a so-called payroll glitch led to municipal employees getting two or three paychecks, mayor Andre Sayegh’s administration is still trying to recoup the funds.

Records show officials were able to reverse majority of the erroneous direct deposit payments; however, the reversal procedure did not work with a small number of employees. Officials said some employees quickly withdrew the funds from their bank accounts despite a letter from personnel notifying them of the overpayment.

Data obtained through a records request shows 15 employees initially kept the overpaid sum. They were collectively paid $18,555 in excess of their paychecks.

“Where are we with the employees who were overpaid and did not pay the money back?” asked councilwoman Maritza Davila, chairwoman of the personnel committee, on Tuesday night to business administrator Kathleen Long. “We are not a bank. We’re not in the business to loan money interest free.”

“It’s my understanding it was all three pay periods of April is where they were going to be paid back from,” answered Long. “[It] will be taken out of their checks as part of the three pay periods in April.”

As of March 16, five employees – Osner Charles, Susan Velez, Jonathan Parra, Steven Sanders, Julian Burks — returned the overpaid sums, according to city records.

As of March 16, the city was still trying to collect from:

Officials are looking to hire an outside payroll service company to avoid similar mishaps in the future.

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