Sarbanes Oxley has indirectly caused me suffering. 299



  • It is so frustrating that the auditing had to come to our company when it did. I started out as a temp in the IT department, with full domain admin rights. I had the abilities and responsibilities of the other 3 domain admins here. Then, a helpdesk department was created, and someone with only basic computer skills was hired to take the helpdesk calls. Then it became a requirement that every change made in the company, with regard to operations, personnel, and any IT-related issue be documented via helpdesk. Then, the person was termnated because, at the time, the helpdesk position wasn’t taken as seriously as sarbanes-oxley auditors would eventually demand it to be taken, and so the employee didn’t have much work to do, and there was no point, according to the CIO, in keeping said employee aboard.
    So, my direct manager, the CIO, asked me to take over the helpdesk position, in addition to my existing duties as an admin. I agreed, and did the work of two employees. Of course, I still documented all the changes I made, and didn’t make any changes without the approval of my boss.
    Then, I am informed that, according to the policies that the auditors put in place, supposedly in accordance with SOX, I was stripped of my domain administrator rights because I was working the helpdesk, and now have all the same responsibilities, with limited ability to carry them out.
    That’s fine, but the timing- ouch. I was in the process of getting evaluated for the potential of becoming a permanent employee. As part of my trying to get hired, I was told to give some figures of what I would expect in salary. I was told to take into consideration both helpdesk and domain admin/sys admin average salary figures in my pitch. So, I did. But, my boss was completely consumed with the SOX auditors, and now I have basically been demoted. And even if my boss wanted to hire me now, it’s too late, since the quarter’s over.
    It is very ironic- that quote from George Bush about the SOX act- ‘deter and punish corporate and accounting fraud and corruption, ensure justice for wrongdoers, and protect the interests of workers and shareholders’… If he actually were subjected to these standards, with regard to his interaction with all the various corporations he has been involved with, I think he would be so very far out of compliance that his very job might have an opening available.


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