201 Dallas County employees didn’t get a paycheck when they expected it

The rollout of a new Dallas County payroll system has resulted in money missing from some employees’ paychecks while others have received no funds at all.

Top county administrator Darryl Martin said 201 employees were not paid on Friday.

Sgt. Christopher Dyer, president of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Association, said these payroll errors will hurt.

“They’re upset by that, because they’re counting on that money going into Mother’s Day weekend,” he said.

Martin said in a text message that Friday was the first payout under a new payroll system.

“Some paychecks may not be exact if they have overtime or some other irregularity,” he said.

County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said that the auditor is working to correct employees’ payments, and those who have not received their correct pay or any funds can now pick up checks at the county building.

“It’s important that people are being paid,” Lewis Jenkins said. “We apologize that the update to our Kronos system left some people unpaid, and we don’t expect it will happen again.”

The county pays about 6,800 people every pay period.

“If anyone else comes forward another payroll will be run until everyone is paid,” Martin said in a text message.

Most employees received their paycheck, but the amount was based on their pay two weeks ago, Dyer said. If an employee worked overtime or was off, Dyer said it affected their Friday paycheck. Dyer himself said he received more in this paycheck than he worked because he was paid for overtime in his previous paycheck.

Dyer said this will hurt some employees who were planning on using their overtime dollars accrued in the last two weeks on Mother’s Day.

“People are very angry, because they get mandated to work all this overtime, they get forced to work shifts that they don’t want to work. And then,” he said, “it’s a special weekend and they don’t have all their pay and some people made plans.”

The county’s treasury department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dyer said he has had a difficult time getting in contact with payroll department employees, who have not communicated directly with the association.

The percentage of affected employees is low, but it will be a headache for the county to correct pay sheets, Dyer said.

“This is huge,” he said. “They’re gonna have a difficult time doing this without making any mistakes.”

Martin said that paycheck errors will be addressed on May 17.

For more than 14 years, Dyer has headed the association of about 600 members across county departments including the district attorney, constable’s offices, investigators, marshals, and detention officers, clerks and deputies. He said payroll issues have been a frequent issue.

In 2006, the county briefly started an employee savings bond program that erroneously overpaid more than two dozen employees. The county overpaid one individual more than $11,000, according to The Dallas Morning News’ archives.