diff --git a/R/padVariable.r b/R/padVariable.r
index 740fd98cb330ca8f39ebd256c9b19900f3f63cbf..b97c1915772b58491b8a78de1f560820e81b2a6c 100644
--- a/R/padVariable.r
+++ b/R/padVariable.r
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #' correctPCode <- padVariable(pCode,5)
 padVariable <- function(x,padTo){
   numDigits <- nchar(x)
-  if (padTo != numDigits){
+  if ((padTo-numDigits)>0){
     leadingZeros <- paste(rep("0",(padTo-numDigits)),collapse="",sep="")
     x <- paste(leadingZeros,x,sep="")
   }