WDET News
- Software Program Underpaying, Overpaying Detroit City Employees
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Jun 24, 2009General - Link to Audio
Over the past year…the city of Detroit has been phasing in a new software system to handle payroll. But a number of problems have resulted…and many employees say the city hasn’t kept its promises to pay them on time. WDET’s Sarah Cwiek has more.
SOQ
The software program is called Workbrain. The city began implementing it to handle payroll a year ago…and since then it’s been phased in across most city departments. But the system seems to have trouble paying employees the amount of money they’re owed. Robert Donald is President of AFSCME Local 836…which represents workers in several city departments. Donald describes the problem this way.
“It’s like going to the casino when you pick up your check on Friday. You don’t know if you’re gonna get paid the right amount…in excess of what you should have…or if you’re not being paid what you oughta have.”
Donald says he represents a number of workers who are owed hundreds or thousands of dollars. It’s unclear exactly how many city employees have had problems with Workbrain…or how much money has been erroneously distributed or withheld since the program was implemented. For its part…the city acknowledges the problems…blaming them on a number of software glitches. Laurie Setlinski is part of a city team working to correct the glitches. Setlinski says most of the problems have occurred in larger city departments.
“I think most of the issues started occurring after we started implementing some of the more 24/7 kind of operations like public lighting and recreation…and especially after the water and sewerage department went live.”
Setlinski says the city team has identified more than a dozen problems with Workbrain…three of which have been corrected. She also suggests that some more complicated time codes may not have been applied properly when the system was run manually. The city won’t set a timeline for fixing the glitches…though it has repeatedly stated that all employees who are owed money will eventually be paid back. But Robert Donald says some of his employees are owed money going back to November. He says the city’s promises that workers will be paid at some point…aren’t enough.
“They keep saying that you know we’re gonna pay the employees…we’re gonna make ‘em whole. And that’s been a consistent mantra. But again…when you’re an employee…you don’t make a lot of money…I mean that’s a problem.”
Donald wants the city to return to a manual payroll system…until it fixes Workbrain’s problems. In the meantime…some employees have filed complaints with the state’s Division of Wages and Hours…and Local 836 has filed a grievance against the city. The next step could be arbitration…meaning the union could obtain a court order that would force the city to compensate the underpaid employees. This is Sarah Cwiek…WDET news.