‘Shocked more than anything else;’ Some Honda workers hundreds of dollars short after payroll error

ANNA — A huge payroll problem is leaving hundreds of Honda workers short in their paychecks.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell confirmed with workers they are missing hundreds of dollars with no idea when they will get that money.

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There are at least 16,000 Honda workers in the state of Ohio and while there are disagreements between the company and workers over how many people are impacted by his payroll problem, what is clear is that hundred of workers are hundreds of dollars short in their paycheck.

“My check, when I saw it, I was really shocked more than anything,” one worker told News Center 7. “I was like wait, what, how can this be?”

This Honda employee, like all the other workers that reached out to us requested anonymity because they feared retaliation by the company for speaking out.

“It seemed like it was a check for one week instead of two weeks,” the worker said.

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Campbell says another worker heard about potential problems Thursday, then it was confirmed when he got to the Marysville plant and realized the mood of co-workers was not good.

“There’s been a lot of tension in the air, people are really hit or miss,” said the worker. “People were on their heels last night about this.”

Honda leaders told News Center 7 that this problem is due to “taxholder issues related to a new HR and payroll process intended to improve the overall employment experience for Honda associates.”

News Center 7 obtained an internal Honda notice to workers saying the issue impacts associates “enrolled in the HSA (Health Savings Account). Medical plan, state and federal taxes were withheld... these taxes should not have been withheld.”

The internal communication went on to say the company planned to send $225 lump sum payments in HSA employee plnas and $450 to those with dependent coverage in HSA plans.

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“Oh man, it’s like hundreds of dollars short,” another worker said. “Can’t believe it.”

This worker, like several others that e-mailed News Center 7 said the proposed lump sum payments fall well short of what they are missing from their checks.

Other workers claimed they were impacted, even though they are not enrolled in an HSA but all agree on what they want the company to do.

“Kind of hope they go back and find out how much everyone is actually missing and pay that as well,” another worker told News Center 7.

The company says they believe this is just a one-time glitch as they put a new payroll processing platform in place but many workers told News Center 7 this is the third time it’s happened in the last year and don’t want to see it happening anymore.

News Center 7 received an update from a Honda spokesperson Friday.

We are aware of payroll tax related issues that are impacting some Honda associates and we are working quickly to resolve the situation, including providing corrective payments to many impacted associates starting this weekend and the implementation of an interest-free payroll loan program. We have been actively communicating to our associates, alerting them that the issue had occurred, apologizing for the mistake, and providing updates as to how we are remedying the problem. The issue relates to a new HR system and payroll process intended to improve the overall employment experience for Honda associates. Our top priority now is to ensure that the pay issues are corrected as quickly as possible and we are diligently working to see that all associates are paid appropriately.

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