ZURICH (AFP) – Some 30,000 Zurich municipal employees were paid their February salary twice following a computer glitch, with many seeing the funny side on Tuesday despite having to pay the extra money back.
Staff were paid twice on Monday “due to a technical processing error”, the city’s finance department said in a statement, in a blunder that saw an extra CHF175 million (USD200 million) going out the door.
The Zurich Cantonal Bank, which triggered the double payment, apologised.
“The employees of the city of Zurich are obliged to repay the amount,” the Finance Department said.
“The bank is working with the city of Zurich on a proposed solution for a simple repayment of the amount paid twice.”
The error was pinned on software from a supplier to telecoms operator Swisscom.
“Swisscom is aware of the explosive nature of this incident and apologises for the inconvenience caused,” it said, adding that it was conducting an investigation.
“Many employees took it with a sense of humour,” said spokeswoman for the finance department in Switzerland’s biggest city Claudia Naegeli.
Some wondered whether it was a pilot project for an extra month’s salary, “or just wrote, ‘thank-you, please repeat’”, she told AFP.
