Austin company looking to dock paychecks for those receiving stimulus checks – By Jody Barr (KXAN) / March 27 2020
AUSTIN (KXAN) – While Congress was working out the details on a bill that would provide Americans with stimulus checks, at least one Austin company was looking for ways to save payroll.
“The form says they are preemptively deducting funds from our paychecks. That number is based on what they’re anticipating the government relief fund to be,” a worker for the company told KXAN. The worker asked not to be identified in this investigation so as not to impact his company’s ability to continue doing business.
The worker asked not to be identified in the report, but provided KXAN a copy of the paycheck reduction letter his company emailed out on March 25, 2020. (KXAN Photo/Jody Barr)
The worker said his company emailed a form titled “Employee Acknowledgement of ‘Government Assistance’ Pay Reduction” to some staffers on Wednesday. “In response to the economic crisis that is affecting all of us due to the coronavirus pandemic…(company name redacted) are hereby enacting the Employee Emergency Compensation Fund,” the letter stated.
The agreement would put workers under a “temporary compensation reduction that is in line with the assistance that it receives from the federal government related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” By signing the agreement, the company’s employees would have their paychecks between April 6 and April 20 cut by 100% of any money received under the stimulus bill.
The company would also take half of the $500 stipend allotted for dependents under the bill.
EMPLOYEE EMERGENCY COMPENSATION FUND FORM Download https://www.kxan.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2020/03/stealing_my_relief_fund.pdf
The worker told KXAN the company laid off a quarter of its workforce this week. He believed the company was using the salary cuts as a way to meet payroll. But, he thought the company hadn’t explored all options before making a “knee-jerk” response.
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