Honda Asks Workers to Repay Miscalculated Bonuses

In the cutthroat quest for talent, companies worldwide have been upping pay and dispensing with cash bonuses and other incentives, to entice new workers and motivate existing ones to stay.But Honda Motor Company appears to have hit a snag with its latest attempts at variable pay. According to Fortune.com, workers at Honda’s Marysville factory in Ohio were awarded bonuses earlier this month only to find out later that there was a problem.Fortune cites a memo that was issued, alerting certain Maryville employees that their bonuses had been miscounted and they were on the hook to return any overpayments.Workers were given the option of paying funds back upfront or allowing the company to take the cash back from future checks. For some employees, this will amount to hundreds of dollars. They were reportedly given nine days to respond with Honda saying that failure to respond would mean the money would be taken from their pay automatically.Fortune says it’s unclear as to why these overpayments took place, but that they did receive confirmation from Honda that it was true, and that they were trying to claw back the money.According to a statement they reportedly provided, Honda said that “Issues related to compensation are a sensitive matter” and that it was “working quickly on this item to minimize any potential impact to (its) associates.”The spouse of one Marysville employee – who wished to remain anonymous – told Fortune that the amount Honda was seeking from her husband was 10 percent of his overall bonus and amounted to half of their mortgage payment.