ANNA, Shelby County — American Honda Motor Co. officials are blaming a new human resources system and a payroll process for problems that could result in “some Honda associates” receiving less money in their paychecks Friday.
News Center 7 began looking into the issues after several area Honda employees contacted our newsroom expressing fears that they wouldn’t receive full pay this week.
According to an internal bulletin addressed to all of Honda’s U.S. associates issued Thursday and made available to News Center 7, employees were alerted about what is being described as “tax withholding errors that will impact tomorrow’s paychecks.”
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The withholding error apparently affects only those workers enrolled in Honda’s Health Savings Account, according to the bulletin.
A Honda worker who asked not to be identified by name, told News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis he is annoyed, fed up and ready to see a change.
This current paycheck issue involves the first paycheck issued since Honda switched to a bi-weekly schedule, he said. In some instances, the worker said, a few hundred to several thousand dollars are being pulled from paychecks because of the problem.
“You can miss a couple hundred bucks . . . [but] when you’re pulling money out like that and people are not able to feed people, that’s where there’s going to be an issue,” he said.
He said he is grateful to Honda and appreciates the opportunities he and his co-workers have been given, but wants “my employer to start treating us like people. . . . It seems like we’re only here to get these cars out the door. We’re in here slaving away and all of a sudden we get paychecks that are three-thousand dollars short. It’s doesn’t seem fair to me and I’m done seeing my fellow associates go through it.”
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Thursday night, American Honda Motor Co. spokesman Chris Abbruzzese issued the following statement:
“We have become aware of a payroll issue involving incorrect withholding that may impact some Honda associates this week. These issues relate to a new HR system and payroll process intended to improve the overall employment experience for Honda associates.
“While all associates will be paid, we communicated to our entire team in advance that the withholding issue will impact some Honda associates, and that we plan to have this issue addressed as soon as practicable.
“As this is a personnel issue, we have no further information to provide on this matter.”