[US] Baltimore County teachers ask school district to fix persistent payroll issues

In the US, Baltimore County teachers and staff report that they are missing paycheques, and have called on the school district to fix the persistent payroll errors, CBS News reports.

Members of the Teachers' Association of Baltimore County (TABCO) have raised concerns over missed pay, inaccurate deductions, and general confusion with 403 (b) retirement contributions, dues, and sick time.

The union reportedly attributes the payroll errors to the district's switch to Oracle.  

"Our members want to be able to expect that they're going to get paid, that their pay is going to be correct, that they're going to know what their pay is," Kelly Olds - TABCO President - said. "I can appreciate that, a very large school system, moving to a new system, there are going to be some hiccups, but those are resolved quickly and transparently."

TABCO stated that payroll is a basic function for any employer and called on the district to take immediate action to fix it.

The teachers' union claims it has spoken at past school board meetings about the ongoing issues and written a letter to the Baltimore County Board of Education in September.

"I want to make sure that the school system knows that our members are paying attention, our members are involved, this is their pay," Ms Olds said. "People being able to expect what is coming in on that paycheck, and then being able to pay their outgoing bills in a timely manner, has been a really high point of stress."

TABCO is now reportedly calling for a more permanent solution, stating that issues have been fixed quickly, but that they shouldn't be allowed to continue.

In a statement, Baltimore County Public Schools said that the district has experienced a small number of issues, adding that where there was a verified error, it has been corrected.

"As with any large-scale project rollout, BCPS has experienced a small number of issues that staff from Staff Relations, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Fiscal Services have worked to address promptly," BCPS’s statement said. 

"To our knowledge, all concerns regarding payroll have been addressed. Less than two per cent of our 20,000+ workforce have reported issues with payroll - issues that were not the result of technical issues with Oracle - and where there has been a verified error, we have corrected those issues."

Source: CBS News

(Quotes via original reporting)

In the US, Baltimore County teachers and staff report that they are missing paycheques, and have called on the school district to fix the persistent payroll errors, CBS News reports.

Members of the Teachers' Association of Baltimore County (TABCO) have raised concerns over missed pay, inaccurate deductions, and general confusion with 403 (b) retirement contributions, dues, and sick time.

The union reportedly attributes the payroll errors to the district's switch to Oracle.  

"Our members want to be able to expect that they're going to get paid, that their pay is going to be correct, that they're going to know what their pay is," Kelly Olds - TABCO President - said. "I can appreciate that, a very large school system, moving to a new system, there are going to be some hiccups, but those are resolved quickly and transparently."

TABCO stated that payroll is a basic function for any employer and called on the district to take immediate action to fix it.

The teachers' union claims it has spoken at past school board meetings about the ongoing issues and written a letter to the Baltimore County Board of Education in September.

"I want to make sure that the school system knows that our members are paying attention, our members are involved, this is their pay," Ms Olds said. "People being able to expect what is coming in on that paycheck, and then being able to pay their outgoing bills in a timely manner, has been a really high point of stress."

TABCO is now reportedly calling for a more permanent solution, stating that issues have been fixed quickly, but that they shouldn't be allowed to continue.

In a statement, Baltimore County Public Schools said that the district has experienced a small number of issues, adding that where there was a verified error, it has been corrected.

"As with any large-scale project rollout, BCPS has experienced a small number of issues that staff from Staff Relations, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Fiscal Services have worked to address promptly," BCPS’s statement said. 

"To our knowledge, all concerns regarding payroll have been addressed. Less than two per cent of our 20,000+ workforce have reported issues with payroll - issues that were not the result of technical issues with Oracle - and where there has been a verified error, we have corrected those issues."

Source: CBS News

(Quotes via original reporting)