Completely messed up weekly payroll run in my first week in new job...

I started a new role in HR last week but it has been hell.  Part of my new role has been to input weekly hours into SAP (I have never worked in payroll before).  During  my first week of doing this I had no one peer checking my work and the codes I have used were wrong.  I ended up paying people for absence when it should have been unpaid - this has now been rectified and now I worried I've also not used the correct coding for unauthorized absence - instead logging this as authorized unpaid (although we would have sent RTW forms out for these during the week because it was another team member actioning these).  I am just sitting tight and hoping that no further issues don't come to light when the staff get their payslips but i have found the whole experience really stressful.  I am determined to do next week's correctly but I am just worried about this week's mess as it was my first time and I look totally incompetent .

The General Manager even came to talk to me about it - should I just quit now?  I feel like total rubbish and the lady who trained me (we are the only 2 in the office) has told me not to worry because things can be rectified but I feel like a failure already - I nearly fell asleep at college last night cos I've been awake worrying all night, since I pressed the button to submit payroll.  

Parents
  • Hi Lesley, I totally sympathise, when I started in my first HR role as an assistant I took on the payroll also without any previous experience and made mistakes as well. I'm still alive though! That's not being flippant about your situation, however I hope you can see recovering from the situation is achievable. Adding to the good advice given already I personally feel it is not acceptable for one individual to input important information without someone checking the work. That's no reflection on you or your abilities but there does need to be a check and this is what happened to me. I was left to handle the payroll data without someone more senior checking the accuracy and this was in spite of the fact I was waiting for my line manager to be recruited. As colleagues have stated this is an organisational failure so going forward please ensure there is support for you to help you gain experience and confidence. :-)
Reply
  • Hi Lesley, I totally sympathise, when I started in my first HR role as an assistant I took on the payroll also without any previous experience and made mistakes as well. I'm still alive though! That's not being flippant about your situation, however I hope you can see recovering from the situation is achievable. Adding to the good advice given already I personally feel it is not acceptable for one individual to input important information without someone checking the work. That's no reflection on you or your abilities but there does need to be a check and this is what happened to me. I was left to handle the payroll data without someone more senior checking the accuracy and this was in spite of the fact I was waiting for my line manager to be recruited. As colleagues have stated this is an organisational failure so going forward please ensure there is support for you to help you gain experience and confidence. :-)
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