I finally received backpay that IHSS has owed me since last April. That was a big relief. The process required new timesheets for the months affected. But there was a hitch; payroll mailed timesheets for me to fill out and mail back, but the one for April was missing. I had to call and request it twice and it took 2 weeks to finally get it in the mail (postal delivery time is usually 1 or 2 days). The good news I alluded to in my last post is that I was also given an extra 10 hours of pay for some of the other months last year. But my celebration was cut short.
When my paychecks arrived I found a rather large error to my detriment. Once again, IHSS over withheld the share of cost from my wages by $800!! I was fuming. I only just got reimbursed last month for a similar screw-up that happened 10 months ago, and now they've done it again! I phoned payroll immediately and was told they'd inform the social worker and get back to me. Days later I hadn't heard from anyone so I called again. This time they said it would take "a little bit of time". The social worker was not in the office, so I left a message and still haven't got a callback. I seriously hope they're not gonna make me wait 9 months for reimbursement again. This is beyond unbelievable!
It's a good thing I was cautiously optimistic. Experience with this agency taught me to be wary of errors and delays, so I put off some of my plans (like paying down my student loan), and had saved up just in case. I'm very lucky to have done this 'cause it could have been a financial disaster otherwise. Once again, my plans have to wait.
I'm beginning to think maybe this is just how things go when you're dealing with government agencies. I gotta wonder though, how much damage is done to other IHSS recipients and their families who don't have the capacity to fight for a correction or even know they've been cheated. Something more has got to be done to protect people from ongoing abuse for which there are currently no consequences.
No comments:
Post a Comment