Employers have been in news, some regarding attrition, others corporate restructuring, while some bleeding money to retain the top talent.
This time around, Honda is making news, but here the company isn’t giving but asking.
Recently, at its vehicle plant in Ohio, Honda has asked hundreds of employees to pay back part of their bonuses after claiming that it overpaid them.
As per the reports, the company has asked the employees to return the money within nine days (until September 22) as a part to pay their bonus money. Honda, in a memo sent to employees at its Marysville factory, said that it had miscalculated the bonus amount.
Return The Money Or Have Pay cheque Deductions
Two options were presented in front of them: either to return the money back or to have it deducted from future pay cheques. For those who failed to respond, shall see the deductions from their salary.
A Honda employee’s wife said that “Not a lot of people can handle this kind of a hit”. She said, under the condition of anonymity, that her husband has been asked to return almost 8% of his bonus. She said that “That’s, you know, a car payment. That’s half of our mortgage. That’s two, three weeks’ worth of groceries. That’s a lot of money for us.”
However, if you bring in the legality, the Honda’s ask is well within the purview.
Sarah Cole, a law professor at the Ohio State University said that “Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which applies to all employers in the United States, it’s quite clear that overpayments of bonuses or wages can be recouped by the employer”.
Refusing to disclose how much was overpaid, Honda confirmed that it did overpay its employees.
Honda’s Statement
The company issued a statement which read “Earlier this month Honda provided bonus payments to its associates, some of whom received overpayments. Issues related to compensation are a sensitive matter and we are working quickly on this item to minimize any potential impact to our associates. Since this is a personnel issue, we have no further information to provide related to this matter”.
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