These days, it seems obvious that workers should be able to demand an accurate accounting for their time. But it wasn’t always that way. 

Here are five examples of mundane breakdowns that I’ve seen lead to payroll errors:

You run a draft payroll the regular way to get the numbers, enter the gross pay into an off-cycle payroll, and it spits out a number that’s off by 17¢ from what regular payroll said.  Why? Whyyyyy?

It drives me crazy when people treat a company’s FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number) like it’s a big secret. FEINs are public information. 

One month your paycheck covers 9 workdays. The next month, it covers 12. You get paid the same each time. If you leave in the middle of your next pay period, how is your pay prorated?

There is something that payroll administrators can do to mitigate the Big Check Suckerpunch. It’s not shady and doesn’t expose the departing employee to risk.