Why "done for you" leads to more payroll mistakes
- Claire Baker
- Jul 29
- 2 min read
“You done f*cked up again,” said Paylocity.
But I didn’t, though.
This is why you shouldn't add unnecessary steps to a process. Things go wrong. And then someone gets a scary email.
Paylocity does this thing that drives me crazy:
They don’t let you enter your own damned tax IDs.
You have to send in the letter/screenshot/document/whatever with the information.
The first problem: What if the rule doesn’t apply to you?
How are you supposed to prove a negative?
The company that got the scary email is a nonprofit.
In many states, nonprofits don’t have to pay unemployment tax.
You can fill out forms to OPT IN,
but many of those states won’t even let you finish the application if you don’t meet the minimum requirements.
“Are you seriously going to make me spend 15 minutes filling out the application to get a letter that says we’re not liable?” I asked.
Me and Mr. Paylocity were on a screen share looking at the rules on the state website together.
“CLAIRE BAKER WITH THE CHICKEN EMOJI AFTER HER NAME DEFINITELY DOESN’T HAVE TO DO THIS,” the state website said.
If you don't get the chicken reference, check out my LinkedIn.
And still,
he made me fill out the stupid application to get the letter.
“Fine. Here’s your stupid letter,” I said the next time we talked. “Can you please make the threatening emails go away? You’re scaring people.”
“Yes. I’ll send it over to the tax team right away.”
The problem was “sending it to the tax team.”
Who are these people on the tax team?
Do they know what they’re doing?
What is the process for marking a company as exempt?
Are there any checks to make sure it gets done?
What if someone gets distracted in the middle of checking the box and never finishes?
What if they’re drunk?
That was a month ago.
Yesterday I got a scary email again.
No explanation. Just, “You’re still missing the employer ID from X state.”
Where did my stupid letter go?
I worked hard for 15 minutes to get that stupid letter.
There’s a simple solution for this.
A solution that every other payroll provider uses.
Let me enter the tax ID or mark myself as exempt my own damned self!
I’m a big girl. I think I can handle it.
Getting scary emails from your payroll provider? We can help.
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