School payroll error meant money was taken from staff bank accounts instead of being paid in

Instead of receiving their pay checks via direct deposit on the day after Christmas, Public School workers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, awoke on Friday to find that the amount they were to be paid had instead been withdrawn from their bank accounts. Not only were their bi-weekly pay checks missing, but two additional weeks of pay had also been withdrawn from their accounts.

About 1,300 staff, from cafeteria workers to top administrators, were affected. Superintendent Dr. Gary E. Maestas sent an email to employees saying the issue was caused by human error. The error has left some employees thousands of dollars in the red. “I can’t believe this was even possible,” one veteran teacher said. “How can they take money out of your account without your permission?”
Town Manager Melissa Arrighi said the town had already determined it was a case of human error. The town was working hard to reverse the reversal, she added, but it will take time. “We have hundreds of banks associated with these accounts, and right now we are calling each, informing them of the situation and asking that they return the funds,” Arrighi said. Maestas says some banks, including Bank of America, Citizens Bank and Santander, won't make corrections until Monday, the next business day.

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According to Arrighi, 704 debit deductions had been reversed by Saturday, while 591 deductions remained. “There’s no way around this; the fault lies with us. So, I want the affected employees to know that we are going to stand by them,” Arrighi said. “There’s no saying now what the final financial effect will be, but as far as penalties, overdraft fees and the like, the town will stand by these workers. We are also correcting the internal error so that this cannot happen again.”