Seattle city employees getting hit with paycheck issues due to a software change

When the City of Seattle launched its new Workday-powered software system on September 3, it represented the city’s largest-ever digital transformation of Seattle’s Human Resources and payroll systems.

Workday is a cloud-based software platform that combines human resources and finance applications to help businesses improve their operations and make better decisions.

The software solution, which the city says is being used by all employees across all departments, is designed to leverage the power of AI-embedded capabilities to deliver the best possible impact by making users like Seattle the star of the show, according to Workday’s website.

Instead, a city spokesperson confirms they have been experiencing errors with the new system that are impacting employees and are not yet fixed. City employees who reached out to MyNorthwest claim those errors are causing problems with paychecks, and many employees say they’re being underpaid.

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Wednesday, police officers and electrical workers told MyNorthwest that over the last three pay periods, they received checks for only half their regular take-home pay that either excluded overtime or overpaid overtime based on a wrong rate and displayed inaccurate vacation and sick time accruals. One officer said many officers also worry about defaulting on credit loans after experiencing errors with the city’s deferred compensation program. Designed to allow officers to set aside money to be paid at a later day, the officer says Workday’s digital system is correctly holding that deferred money from paychecks, but it’s not depositing it correctly into individual accounts. That officer says all of it has been a “major pain” and has lowered police department morale.

In an email, Office of City Finance Chief of Staff and Communications Director Julie Johnson said Workday is being used for payroll, benefits, and other human resource functions, adding the new system replaces their previous system, which was more than 30 years old and no longer supported. She also said ensuring employees are paid accurately and timely is a city’s priority.

“While we have had a less than 1% error rate across the last few payrolls for more than 13,000 employees,” said Johnson. “We acknowledge that challenges remain, and we recognize the impact this has on people.”

After our first story was published, a city electrical worker who wished to remain anonymous emailed MyNorthwest and painted a different picture than the city’s. He claimed the payroll issue is being felt city-wide. He said he is missing 152 hours worth of leave and can’t use it until the issue is resolved. He said a coworker is missing close to 30 hours from his paycheck and has no way to fix the issue.

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The employee also described wrong vacation accruals, unidentified withholdings from paychecks and missed deferred compensation installments like police officers described. He also said 1,200 union members were informed by city leaders in July when they ratified their new contract with the city, they will not receive recently negotiated wage increases or retroactive pay until the Workday issue is resolved.

Every worker who contacted us claimed Workday was rolled out too soon without being adequately tested and when they flagged potential issues concerning nuances to their departments’ payrolls, including how to record 10-hour shifts and part time and overtime pay correctly, they said city leaders decided to move ahead with the new payroll system anyway.

In Johnson’s email she said project and department leads started working together before the launch to design the system to the city’s unique requirements. She said some of the errors they’re experiencing are related to calculations in the system, while others stem from errors with workers entering their time. However, she said, when an employee’s pay needs correction, that correction is reflected in the next pay period. “We are working to resolve these issues promptly and minimize such errors in the future, Johnson said. “This includes resolving system issues and providing additional education and support to both employees and payroll processors.”

The city is preparing for their next pay period that’s scheduled for Oct 18. The city says they have teams in place to respond quickly swiftly and make any needed corrections or system adjustments.

Luke Duecy is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Luke’s stories here. Follow Luke on X, or email him here.