Sloppy payroll leads to overpayment in New York fire department
A recent audit of the Lackawanna Fire Department in New York by the NYS Comptroller revealed disturbing discrepancies - some firefighters were receiving wages for shifts they didn't work, while others weren't being paid for hours on the job. The state audit found employees were swapping shifts, which has translated into accounting challenges and excessive overtime costs.
The swapping occured when a firefighter would ask a coworker to trade or pick up a scheduled shift that he or she was unable to work. Usually, these swaps were made with the understanding that workers would reciprocate, and time attendance would even out, so the payroll records did not reflect the changes. However, this was not always the case, and the audit revealed some firefighters were being cheated out of employee attendance, while others were receiving overtime pay and benefits for time they didn't actually work.
In fact, the comptroller reported firefighters received more than $120,000 in wages for time they didn't work as the result of the shift swapping practice.
Employers can prevent these kinds of violations by installing a payroll processing system or a biometric timeclock. With these advanced systems, employees must scan their fingerprints to punch in and out, which can eliminate workers clocking for unscheduled shifts.
The swapping occured when a firefighter would ask a coworker to trade or pick up a scheduled shift that he or she was unable to work. Usually, these swaps were made with the understanding that workers would reciprocate, and time attendance would even out, so the payroll records did not reflect the changes. However, this was not always the case, and the audit revealed some firefighters were being cheated out of employee attendance, while others were receiving overtime pay and benefits for time they didn't actually work.
In fact, the comptroller reported firefighters received more than $120,000 in wages for time they didn't work as the result of the shift swapping practice.
Employers can prevent these kinds of violations by installing a payroll processing system or a biometric timeclock. With these advanced systems, employees must scan their fingerprints to punch in and out, which can eliminate workers clocking for unscheduled shifts.
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