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SUMMARY of MEETING:What are the students’ responsibilities?
Students must be aware of their own payroll problems. This means checking your bank account for your money and checking your pay stubs to ensure you are being paid correctly. ERL will NOT be able to help you unless you know exactly what you are missing. This is a fair request. This also includes students who are being accidentally overpaid. If you are overpaid, you should report this immediately to the ERL to avoid a massive retroactive deficit being generated in your name. Overpayment issues are often more difficult to resolve because not only will you be writing the ERL a check, you will suffer when tax time comes around!
How is accountability being improved?
Once you have identified a problem, you must alert ERL of the issue. Payroll is now alphabetically divided by last names, which should help greatly to improve accountability. There are sign-up sheets present at the offices of payroll. Be sure to sign these lists and date them to get a record going. Turnaround time for Payroll to deal with your issue is 2-3 days. It is your responsibility to make sure this is held true.
What can we do if we have not been paid?
If you are not paid, you should immediately approach ERL. Make sure to sign a sign-up sheet. There are 4 opportunities spaced evenly within each month to get paid. In theory, you should be able to get paid within 7 days. The current state of affairs is showing resolution within 30 days of complaint. If you are in a jam, YOU DO HAVE THE ABILITY to drive corrections faster. At the extreme case, where you absolutely need the money right away otherwise you will suffer losses, a MANUAL EMERGENCY CHECK will be issued. If you are unable to resolve issues within a reasonable amount of time, see below.
When will ERL payroll fix these problems?
On July 1st, the ERL will no longer be handling our payroll. A new organization called ERSO will take control. ERSO is under the College of Engineering’s umbrella and will contain Costas Spanos and Darrell Erickson in the upper management. ERSO promises a more efficient algorithm to provide consistent pay for employees of the College. This “deadline” is also incentive for ALL OF US to resolve past due accounts before your money is lost in a black hole. Please believe this deadline because it is very real.
Are these problems really going to be fixed?
Costas Spanos has pledged his personal involvement in these matters. If you have been struggling with payroll after taking all the steps above, feel free to e-mail Professor Spanos. He made it a point during the meeting that he is well-aware of the payroll mix-ups that have been occurring, and he would like to do everything possible to make sure everyone has resolution.
Why are there still graduate students who have not been paid for many months?
It is very important for employees of any organization to know how to deal with logistical errors. It has become apparent that many students are too afraid or simply unable to deal with this. I urge you to take control of these problems and to LEARN how to resolve them in a timely manner. I CHALLENGE you to identify these problems and to bring them through the steps listed above to get resolution. If you need a hand dealing with these problems, e-mail Donovan Lee (dtlee), Alejandro de la Fuente (adelafv), or your favorite EEGSA officers and we will be here to help you through the ordeal.