Laid Off Microsoft Workers Keep Extra Severance
Microsoft has backtracked on its earlier plan to take back extra cash paid in error to laid off staff.
Early this week, reports emerged that Microsoft had screwed up somewhere along the way when it came to the severance pay of recently laid off employees. Some people got more that they should have while others got less than they were supposed to. CNet reported that Microsoft confirmed it over the weekend and said those who were overpaid were sent a letter saying they would be required to pay back the money.
Naturally people thought this was pretty harsh. These people had lost their jobs and asking for the money back was pretty cold. HR chief Lisa Brummel told CNet on Monday that Microsoft had changed its mind and would no longer expect the overpaid former employees to return the money.
"I thought it didn't make sense for us to continue on the path we were on,” she explained and divulged that those who were overpaid received about $4,000 or $5,000 extra.
Microsoft then issued an official statement on the matter:
“Last week, 25 former Microsoft employees were informed that they were overpaid as a part of their severance payments from the company. This was a mistake on our part. We should have handled this situation in a more thoughtful manner. We are reaching out to those impacted to relay that we will not seek any payment from those individuals.”
What do you guys think of this story? On the one hand, it’s nice that Microsoft has decided not to ask for the money back, despite the fact that it was obviously an accounting or clerical error. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem fair to those who were underpaid (who we assume will only be paid what they were supposed to get in the first place, once everything is sorted out) and an extra $5,000 could do a lot for a family that’s struggling. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
-
Previous News Article
Apple's Unveils Safari 4 Beta;... -
Next News Article
PlayStation Controller Gives...
Honestly, I'm suprised this made news in the first place. It's just something that happens, whether it's microsoft, or any of the other thousands of companies laying people off.
I think it was the fact that they were going to ask for it back at all that made it news worthy for me. Sure it happens at tons of other companies but when you're in the spot light as much as MS is, you have to at least think about PR, if not the people involved in the situation.
I think with the massive amount of $$ Microsoft has, it wouldn't hurt to give everyone laid off the extra cash.
Where the amounts calculated with in-house SW?
I think it was the fact that they were going to ask for it back at all that made it news worthy for me. Sure it happens at tons of other companies but when you're in the spot light as much as MS is, you have to at least think about PR, if not the people involved in the situation.
I suppose that's true. (Then again, can they even legally ask for it back?) Any word on if they raised comp for the people that were left out of the extra monies?
All the while M$ rakes in Billions for their CEO's,vp's etc.. pathetic if u a$k m3
@Curnel_D: Not yet, unfortunately.
I think that if this hadn't been leked into the press they would have gotten the money back.. I also think that the people that were shorted money should just get what every one else received and they should then just wash their hands of it and be more carefull next time around.
@truehighroller: Agreed. They should write it off as a lesson learned and pay everyone the same, which I guess means paying those who were left short what they were owed and then $4,000-$5,000 extra. Unfortunately, reports are saying those who were left short have now received what they were originally owed. Guess the 25 people who were overpaid just got lucky.
Yes, this is an error on Microsoft's part, but what about the ethics of the people that received more than what they were expecting. The right and ethical thing to do on their part was to report the error to Microsoft before the overpayment went so high and repay the smaller amount.
If the entire world wasn't in such a financial hard place, Microsoft would not have changed their stance on the repayment.
Devil's Advocate questions...
1) If Microsoft has all this money to spend, then why were these people let go?
2) Why is the ethics of the business always questioned and never the workers?
3) Has any company in the last year or so not lost money or stock price? I read Microsoft's stock is at it lowest point in 10 years?
Wouldn't it be ironic if the people who accidentally were paid too much were C#.Net developers who code for the HR department?
Reports on CNN and Fox last night said it was "an internal Microsoft code glitch."
Microsoft has never been smart with money. I spent a summer there when they started trying to cut a few billion/year in overhead. One of their big ideas was to get rid of the excess number of office-supply rooms. This meant if I wanted a notepad I had to walk down three flights of stairs to grab one from the ground-floor supply room. How does wasting 5 minutes to get supplies save a company money?
I wonder if they still offer those free sodas that seemed to keep their employees happily working away the hours, or if they still let the groups use morale budget to have office beer parties.
Microsoft hired that 4 year old girl to calculate the severance packages using Vista. "I click this.. its better!"
Wouldn't it be ironic if the people who accidentally were paid too much were C#.Net developers who code for the HR department?Reports on CNN and Fox last night said it was "an internal Microsoft code glitch."
Well that wouldn't be ironic but fraud. Then again, it's ironic that a software giant gets hit by a software bug. (To be fair, Microsoft probably didn't make the accounting software. However, other companies get hit by Microsoft bugs all the time.)
If they allow the overpaid folks to keep the extra $4,000 to $5,000 they really almost obligate themselves to do the same for the folks that may have been underpaid.
Otherwise it could be considered unequal or unfair treatment of some employees over others. I could see a person suing Microsoft for praying someone else a higher severance package, even though they performed the same job, etc.
a nice bonus to those laid off!
I would have informed my X-employer i was overpaid as i would have been under the assumption i would be returning $5,000 which is not mine.
One time I had $36,000 show up in my savings account…. I didn’t rush out to spend it, I fully anticipated the bank would like there funds back. The money arrived 1 day, and was removed the next.
Let's see, if you write a check (who does these days) to someone and make a mistake basically overpaying wouldn't you want the other person to be honest and return the check or the amount overpaid? I sure would. Sure, MS has a lot of money but that doesn't change what the right thing to do is.
Why is it unfair for those that were underpaid to get what they were supposed to? MS isn't running a charity, they're a public company that respond to shareholders. Should MS also give those that paid correctly an extra $5K? That sounds insane to me. Let's hope the IRS never makes an overpayment or the whole country will demand free money.
If they allow the overpaid folks to keep the extra $4,000 to $5,000 they really almost obligate themselves to do the same for the folks that may have been underpaid.Otherwise it could be considered unequal or unfair treatment of some employees over others. I could see a person suing Microsoft for praying someone else a higher severance package, even though they performed the same job, etc.
If all the people that were over paid get to keep the extra cash that sounds fair to me. It's only unfair if some get to keep it while some don't but that is not the case.
BTW I have 0 ties to MS. I'm just sort of playing the devil's advocate for the sake of discussing