High Risk Corporate Responsibility

Could this happen to your company?

As Kathy hangs up the phone, it is obvious that she is not happy. Kathy works as the HR Director for a large, nationally known insurance company, and she has just taken a call from a Times reporter who is investigating an allegation that the company is holding onto child support payments for its own gain. She was not aware that there was a problem, but clearly something is amiss. As she heads to the Finance Department, it hits her:

After she speaks to Bill, the Vice President of Finance, they both march down to the payroll department to investigate. What they find is more than they cared to know about their company's garnishment function.

Despite best efforts, the company has a compliance problem stemming from a lack of in-house expertise, and poor turn-around time on payments. Several parents have had problems getting their child support payments in the time mandated by law and they have decided to report the company to the newspapers.

Bill knows if the paper carries the story, so will its sister TV channel. It will be difficult to present a positive side to this complaint given all the recent corporate scandals.