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Shuts and Failures

by Michael Maiello

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Bill Gates: Hypocrite?

by Michael Maiello 2/23/2009 - 4:53 pm

This is pretty awful.

So Microsoft overpaid severance to some laid off workers and has the gall to go to them and ask for it back?


This really erases any good feelings I may have had for Bill Gates based on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation work. I think before Bill gives another dime to charity he should show that he can take better and more humance care of his employees.

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Egads, that is appalling.  Microsoft can "ask" employees to return the overpayment, but if that's the amount the employees were told in their severance agreement, they are screwed.  They should recover the money by firing the HR folks not for the original calculation error, but for being stupid enough to try to get it back.

by dijamo 2/23/2009 - 10:52 pm

Am I the only one who finds this jeezly hilarious? MS overpays it's laid off workers--because of a software bug. And then has the cajones to ask for the money back--from unemployed workers who are unlikely to feel generous towards their former employer?

Destor, fyi, you can retain your positive feelings for Mr. Gates. He's no longer employed by the company, and I highly doubt that he was consulted on operations decisions.

by Michael Wolraich 2/24/2009 - 12:03 am

The governemt has over payed bennifits  and requested the money be repaid when they found their error.  Some of those  required to repay money,  did not have the educational or work credientials to obtain  employment to  repay the governemt.

If Microsft did make an error in accounting and asked for the over payment to be returned, my thoughts are:

Microsoft did to the qualified, what the United States Governemt  does to the poor unqualified.  

Maybe Microsoft is the governemt.

I would guess, that once developed, software would be more accurate without the day to day imput of emotional, moody sickly, needy human employees.

Is this blog  suggesting that companies capable of creating technologies which elimiate the need to hire the less than perfect  human,  do so?

1. There would be less need for needy human bennifits packages

2. Those recieving services monitored by a computer, would not  have to worry about the hacking and lacking of human capabilities.

Monkeys rule PM !!!!! (Painfull keys being pounded by monks)  And you thought this was "ape people of the night"

Infomercial..Feeling sad because you have no money.  Has  the  governemt or your last employeer  asked you to return earned retirement bennifits?

These problems and many more are easily solved by:

Killing  yourself and donating  your body parts to the "happy to be alive" people.

Sonsored by: ACRO:   American Computer Rights Organization. Specializing in stopping discrimination against the drones and clones of an underpaid , overworked mechanized labor force.

If this comment pssed someone  off.. address the author ( a human incompetent)

 

by Anonymous (not verified) 2/24/2009 - 1:01 am (re: Genghis)

So many deep thoughts in this comment, I'm not sure where to start. Uh...Destor...dijamo...anyone? Help!

by Michael Wolraich 2/24/2009 - 1:13 am (re: Anonymous)

Umm.. did you click its link?

by DF 2/24/2009 - 3:02 am (re: Genghis)

Well that's going to help me sleep well tonight.

by Michael Wolraich 2/24/2009 - 3:25 am (re: DF)

Get that guy an Avatar, stat!

by Mortimus 2/24/2009 - 10:18 am (re: Genghis)

Wowza.  Well let's begin with the fact that it was not an accounting/payroll error.  If your normal paycheck is $1,000 and they accidentally direct deposited $10,000, that's an accounting error.  Every direct deposit agreement states in the event of an error they will recover that money from you (if you've already spent that money, they'll set up payroll deductions until it's fully recovered).  No argument there - you already know that money's not yours.

But if in a severance letter they say you are entitled to $10,000 if you sign the agreement, and later find out they miscalculated your benefit, they have no case to demand repayment.  That's what we call in HR jargon a "ginormous fuck-up." Software has limits - severance benefits have lots of variables (breaks in service, etc.).  When I had to calculate benefits for folks in a plant that was being closed, it was done on a massive Excel spreadsheet w/ formulas (Microsoft should have thought of using their own program).  Double checked each employee with calculator, finance triple checks to make sure every employee was treated fairly and got what they were entitled to.  We prepared a detailed explanation of how their benefit was calculated for each employee and HR folks reviewed it with them before they signed it - I am in awe Microsoft did not do the same.  Taking the human out of the human resources was not a good idea.

Overpayments by the government for social security etc. can be appealed if it would cause hardship or is "unfair" and you didn't provide incorrect information that caused the overpayment.

*slowly backing away now*

by dijamo 2/24/2009 - 7:57 am (re: Anonymous)

I didn't think that you'd take me seriously. You're a braver blogger than me.

by Michael Wolraich 2/24/2009 - 11:18 am (re: dijamo)

They made a mistake in overpaying. If MSFT had not sent the letters asking for the money back, (and the news of the overpay got out)  there would be rumors and whispers about what happened. Imagine the consipracy theories that would abound, if it was known that some people got extra money.

MSFT did the right thing by sending out the letters asking for the money back, then backing down. 

 

 

 

by ramster (not verified) 2/24/2009 - 8:57 pm

Hi Destor!!! I think someone in the buracracy over there said: OOOPS. If I got the notice, I would write that the addressee is no longer here, no forwarding address.

by Richard Day 3/16/2009 - 4:49 pm

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