Things that irritate me the most

• Payroll Administrators who cannot add
• Payroll Administrators who cannot subtract
• Payroll Administrators who insist on configuring sums in their head and will not use a calculator
• Payroll Administrators who think all mistakes must lead to someone else

Seriously people, I deal with Payroll Administrators on a daily basis, and at times it makes me worry. Do you know that roughly half (in my experience) of Payroll Administrators do not know the difference between a 28-day deductions cycle, and a monthly deductions cycle? Let me let you in on the gravity of this situation...

Half of the people in this country are having their paychecks deducted from by people who do not know what they are doing... Do you work for a government body or a school? Your likelihood of having one of these clueless people handling YOUR wages just shot up to over 75%.

And the bad thing is, when they make a mistake, they didn't make a mistake. Oh no. You screwed up, or the agent screwed up, or the EMPLOYEE screwed up, or the mother of all scapegoats... the computer screwed up. Computers are only as smart as the people typing numbers into them are.

So here's a suggestion... do some research. Drop by the payroll or Human Resources Department and check out the local talent. I know who makes out my paychecks. She is a very smart woman who has been doing what she does for 30 years and still takes training courses everytime something new is introduced. She knows her stuff.

Do you know the person making out your checks? Have you ever spoken with them? If you care about what happens with your money it might be a smart idea. If you have a question about something being withheld from your check, check it out. Trust me, these people are not above error as they might like to believe. It will most likely save you a huge headache and hassle, and I promise it doesn't hurt to ask.