Employer won't fix name error on contract?

newbie18892

Hi, I have recently been offered a job at a large multinational. I got sent my contract and other paperwork today. On every piece of paper my name is incorrect. My work login is also wrong. It's an easy typo to make but it's a completely different name e.g. Carl instead of Carlos.

I thought it would be an easy mistake to correct so I sent the recruitment team a quick email to point out the error to them. They got back to me and told me that it is not super important and won't cause any problems to leave it as it is on their system. I'm quite surprised by their response to be honest. I thought it could cause problems with the contract and with payroll possibly. Perhaps it's more of a pride thing but I also don't fancy being known as the wrong name.

This is my first "proper" job and I want to approach things the right way. How do I respond?

liam7831

newbie18892 wrote: »

Hi, I have recently been offered a job at a large multinational. I got sent my contract and other paperwork today. On every piece of paper my name is incorrect. My work login is also wrong. It's an easy typo to make but it's a completely different name e.g. Carl instead of Carlos.

I thought it would be an easy mistake to correct so I sent the recruitment team a quick email to point out the error to them. They got back to me and told me that it is not super important and won't cause any problems to leave it as it is on their system. I'm quite surprised by their response to be honest. I thought it could cause problems with the contract and with payroll possibly. Perhaps it's more of a pride thing but I also don't fancy being known as the wrong name.

This is my first "proper" job and I want to approach things the right way. How do I respond?

Lodge a complaint with HR and speak to your union rep

893bet

Forget it and move on and start the job. Small potatoes.

stopthevoting

I think you are absolutely correct to request them to correct the error.
If it was me I would not be happy with that situation and I would definitely expect them to sort it out.

ari101

If the system is wrong, the email address may end up wrong? I would want to know that I won't end up having to use a name that is not my own in correspondence with colleagues and clients...
I'd send back a signed contact that is hand amended and initialed to correct but follow up with HR to make sure the name is right otherwise.
It's your name, a few letters is as different as a whole other name. Years down the line, come time to produce a payslip to get a mortgage, some administrator in a bank won't accept it due to their super strict rules...

Tow

Under the data protection acts and GDPR they are legally required to correct it. I would contact HR directly to correct it. It can cause problems with Revenue/Payroll, as employers are 'supposed' to validate names against PPSN numbers on ROS (Revenue's website) before a new employee is first paid. This is greatly confounded if they do not enter your PPSN for your first payment(s) and you name is subsequently changed/corrected.

cannotlogin

Would echo the above, correct it in pen and initial and date the changes and include a signed & dated note staying contact was issued in incorrect name and that you are highlighting it so it's correct on all systems and documents going forward.

Keep a copy of it for yourself too.

Mrs OBumble

Very surprised to hear that a recruiter for a multi-national was this dumb.

Usually they make a major issue if there's any difference between the name on your application and birthcert/passport (eg Seamus applied, who has a birth-cert that says James will likely have a fight to get appointed).

Agree with the advice to hand-correct. Also assuming you've already started (which is how you know login details), raise a ticket with IT to have your name corrected in the logins - you may have to show them a birth cert etc to convince them to do it, but they will give HR a telling off, too.

Jim2007

newbie18892 wrote: »

Hi, I have recently been offered a job at a large multinational. I got sent my contract and other paperwork today. On every piece of paper my name is incorrect. My work login is also wrong. It's an easy typo to make but it's a completely different name e.g. Carl instead of Carlos.

I thought it would be an easy mistake to correct so I sent the recruitment team a quick email to point out the error to them. They got back to me and told me that it is not super important and won't cause any problems to leave it as it is on their system. I'm quite surprised by their response to be honest. I thought it could cause problems with the contract and with payroll possibly. Perhaps it's more of a pride thing but I also don't fancy being known as the wrong name.

This is my first "proper" job and I want to approach things the right way. How do I respond?

Of course it's important, it's your name and is how you will be addressed by the majority staff that encounter you for the first time.


If the contract is not in your name, then don't sign it, it is not addressed to you. If people could not be bothered to address such a basic requirement when you have not even started working there, who are the going to treat you when you do?

IAMAMORON

They sound like a sloppy outfit. Keep looking around.

It won't be long until you will be getting bollickings for typos yourself.

Welcome to the real world.

Collie D

IAMAMORON wrote: »

They sound like a sloppy outfit. Keep looking around.

It won't be long until you will be getting bollickings for typos yourself.

Welcome to the real world.

Indeed.

“Mistakes are only an issue when they’re not my mistakes”

IAMAMORON

Collie D wrote: »

Indeed.

“Mistakes are only an issue when they’re not my mistakes”

The narcissist's motto.

I get that getting names wrong is not a massive biggie, but I would be fuming myself.

Op, don't expect things to improve. Also get your neck toughened up, multi-nationals are the epicenter of rigmarole. Be prepared to be disappointed, overworked and underpaid. Watch your TLA's.

sheepondrugs

I'd try and get it corrected. I was asked for the work contract for a mortgage application and a more recently for a credit card application.

daheff

If they won't sort this out on the way in(when they are trying to impress you enough to join) be damn sure other problems won't be sorted when you are there.

If you have a choice don't go there.

This kinda thing would be a red flag for me.

dpforce

Don't be so dramatic guys.
Main question here is if your contract is with agency or directly with the company. Recruitment agencies - they are most of the time useless. Delays expected.
Talk to HR when you'll start and it should be fixed in no time. At least for payroll and contract. Different story is internal systems. A lot of MNCs do everything globally and even smallest change can take weeks.

ED E

They probably don't want to request approval again. If they have a hiring platform it may require supervisor and local director/legal approval once any edits are made.

Claw Hammer

I would wait till I started the job and had my feet under the table before making trouble.

Jim2007

Claw Hammer wrote: »

I would wait till I started the job and had my feet under the table before making trouble.

You can't sign a contract that is not in your name. Although it does make the termination process simpler.

Claw Hammer

Jim2007 wrote: »

You can't sign a contract that is not in your name. Although it does make the termination process simpler.

Technically you can't sign a contract at all. Once you are the person intended to be a party to the contract and you sign your own name as the party, the fact that there is an error in the description of your name does not matter a damn. I know a girl who had 2 court cases simultaneously. In one case she was Katherine and in the other Catherine. It didn't have any effect at all on either case.
there is no such person as Bertie Ahern yet a person signed international treaties on behalf of Ireland as Bertie Ahern.

daheff

Question has to be, if it's such a small error, WHY won't the company fix it??

Claw Hammer

daheff wrote: »

Question has to be, if it's such a small error, WHY won't the company fix it??

Laziness!

Vestiapx

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Technically you can't sign a contract at all. Once you are the person intended to be a party to the contract and you sign your own name as the party, the fact that there is an error in the description of your name does not matter a damn. I know a girl who had 2 court cases simultaneously. In one case she was Katherine and in the other Catherine. It didn't have any effect at all on either case.
there is no such person as Bertie Ahern yet a person signed international treaties on behalf of Ireland as Bertie Ahern.

There is such a person as Bertie Ahern.

In Ireland you decide what your name is and that what it is.

There is no formality prescribed by law for the change of a person’s name or the assumption of another name. You may change the name you commonly use by simply adopting a new name.

Claw Hammer

Vestiapx wrote: »

There is such a person as Bertie Ahern.

No there is not. There is a person who uses the name Bertie Ahern but his birth certificate has no mention of a Bertie.

Vestiapx

Claw Hammer wrote: »

No there is not. There is a person who uses the name Bertie Ahern but his birth certificate has no mention of a Bertie.

You are wrong but that's ok I'm fine with it.

Feisar

I’ll be the asshole and say it, it it was some bullish!t gender identity issue they wouldn’t be long fixing it.

Dempo1

liam7831 wrote: »

Lodge a complaint with HR and speak to your union rep

That will really endear OP To knew employer, especially as they state its their first serious job.

I'd leave it be, keep communication from recruitment people, settle in and then address it. The main thing is insuring you speak to payroll to insure they have correct details for payment and Tax purposes, good luck

Claw Hammer

Vestiapx wrote: »

You are wrong but that's ok I'm fine with it.

Wrong about what?

IAMAMORON

daheff wrote: »

Question has to be, if it's such a small error, WHY won't the company fix it??

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Laziness!

You can be guaranteed they will, especially if the op persists.

Most importantly OP try not to be over the top about it. At the moment this is a source of embarrassment for the HR dept. You will have to smooth that one over yourself ( I know , what a joke ??), but don't be a bitch about it. Kindly request the docs get correctly reconciled with your proper details.... and leave it at that. Put the request in writing.

Get on with getting on with your new job and good luck with it.

Vestiapx

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Wrong about what?

You have said that there is no such person as Bertie Ahern. As I pointed out you can change your name in Ireland simply by adopting that name. Bertie adopted the name Bertie and from then on that was his name.
Looking up if you don't believe me.

Strumms

If they are going to fûck up something as basic, important and necessary like your name, how can they be trusted with the more important stuff like pay ? Go to HR and get it resolved.

When I worked in France my French colleague in an international intergovernmental organization constantly mispronounced my name... she was absolutely fluent in English but couldn’t be arsed trying to pronounce my name...she had a masters degree but still the wrong pronunciation despite multiple corrections...

So one day having corrected her much to her chagrin about four or five times in two months..... I’d respond to her with a smile... ‘ morning Valerie ‘... her name was Veronique... and she’d go “ why do you call me Valerie “ ? “ well as we seem to be playing a game of addressing each other by names we weren’t christened with, I thought I’d like to join in “... she throws her eyes skywards, fecks off away and remembered my name for ever more, the lazy mupfûck.

Your name should be correct in how you are addressed, and on all correspondence, end of.

Claw Hammer

Vestiapx wrote: »

You have said that there is no such person as Bertie Ahern. As I pointed out you can change your name in Ireland simply by adopting that name. Bertie adopted the name Bertie and from then on that was his name.
Looking up if you don't believe me.

You can't change your name, you can change the name by which you habitually call yourself and by which you are known. Bartholomew Patrick Ahern also known as Bertie Ahern.

newbie18892

Thanks for the help everyone. I emailed HR and she said it definitely should be changed. It'll be a while before my log-in and everything get sorted as it has to be flagged with IT. I'm glad they had a different attitude to the recruitment department though.

The One Doctor

IAMAMORON wrote: »

Watch your TLA's.

Thrust Lever Angles?

wench

Claw Hammer wrote: »

You can't change your name, you can change the name by which you habitually call yourself and by which you are known. Bartholomew Patrick Ahern also known as Bertie Ahern.

Strange that the Depts of Foreign Affairs and Transport haven't gotten that memo.
They will quite happily issue official ID in a name not found on any birth cert or deed poll.

_Brian

It’s more than a little offensive not to bother correcting a misspelling of someone’s name. I’d guess it will carry over into email address etc.

I’d want it changed.

OMM 0000

newbie18892 wrote: »

I got sent my contract and other paperwork today. On every piece of paper my name is incorrect. I sent the recruitment team a quick email to point out the error to them. They got back to me and told me that it is not super important and won't cause any problems to leave it as it is on their system.

newbie18892 wrote: »

I emailed HR and she said it definitely should be changed.

Good for you for sorting it out.

I think the recruiter is technically correct - as long as you sign the contract, it would be hard for you to argue you didn't think the contract was for you - but it's still weird and should be sorted.

Claw Hammer

wench wrote: »

Strange that the Depts of Foreign Affairs and Transport haven't gotten that memo.
They will quite happily issue official ID in a name not found on any birth cert or deed poll.

Just because some government departments have weak procedures doesn't mean that someone's name has changed.

wench

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Just because some government departments have weak procedures doesn't mean that someone's name has changed.

It isn't weak procedure, it's policy. Once you've used a name for 2 years, that is your name.
https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/62a4e7-public-service-identity/


If every govt dept, family, friends, employer etc, accept the new name, then your name has changed.

rock22

Claw Hammer wrote: »

You can't change your name, you can change the name by which you habitually call yourself and by which you are known. Bartholomew Patrick Ahern also known as Bertie Ahern.

I never used the name on my birth certificate. So I didn't need to change it.

Do I exist ??