Ask any employee what their favorite part of the year is and they’ll say “bonus season,” but the bonus has proven to be a nightmare for Honda employees working at its Marysville, Ohio plant. After handing out bonuses to several employees, Honda is now asking them to return them, saying it mistakenly overpaid them.
Just a few weeks after receiving the bonuses, the employees received a message from Honda demanding that they return their bonuses. The notice further stated that if any employee refuses to return the bonuses, the amount will be deducted from their next paycheck.
Soon after the news broke, media organizations reached out to Honda and the company confirmed the news. The company said it was legally entitled to claim the bonuses because it had overpaid them. Honda, however, declined to disclose the amount of the bonus and repayment it is requesting.
“Earlier this month, Honda provided bonus payments to its employees, some of whom received overpayments. Compensation issues are a sensitive matter and we are working quickly on this item to minimize any potential impact on our associates. As this is a personnel matter, we do not have any further information regarding this matter,” the company said in a statement.
In an interview with the media, the wife of a Honda employee said that his husband was asked to return 10% of his bonus. “It’s, you know, a car payment. That’s half our mortgage, that’s two, three weeks worth of groceries. That’s a lot of money for us,” said the wife when talking about the situation.
Many blame Honda, saying that the company did this to recover from the losses it suffered. Honda Motors’ sales fell by more than 4% for the year and profit fell by almost a quarter.
