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Laws governing when an employee has to receive their check
Do you know of any links that would tell me any state laws governing when an employee has to physically receive their paycheck? Here is the situation.. I have an employee in Utah who is calling stating that she is going to report us to the state because she is not receiving her paycheck an "acceptable amount" of time after pay date. We use ADP check for our live checks and they are mailed out on the Wednesday before pay date. I believe our only obligation is to have the checks postmarked by pay date, but she is saying different. I have skimmed the Payroll Source for the state laws but couldn't find anything. Any help you superstars could provide me would be great.
Thanks in advance...
Thanks in advance...
Comments
You have a nasty, complaining, whinning employee who seems to be confused about the "rules". DO NOT waste much of your time with this person. Especially DO NOT argue with her. She is a bully.
Ask her to provide you with documentation that specifically backs up her accusation. Tell her once you receive that, you will review your procedure for check dispersal, with your supervisor AND the HR department.
I'd bet you will not hear from her again.
Also, offer her direct deposit. And I know ADP offers paychecks on debit cards. Offer her that.
Some people really do sit around and look for reasons to try to file a complaint or lawsuit against anybody that they can.
Having attempted to call NY State on this very issue, and getting a relatively vague answer .. I concluded that anything I was doing so far, was fine. I was making a "reasonable" ATTEMPT to get paychecks to employees. Therefore, NYS didn't seem to take much interest in my question.
SNICHOLS is clearly making a "reasonable" attempt to send paychecks in a timely manner.
In California, wages, with some exceptions (see table below), must be paid at least twice during each calendar month on the days designated in advance as regular paydays. The employer must establish a regular payday and is required to post a notice that shows the day, time and location of payment.
Some days I feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall... :roll: A few jobs ago I worked for a place that did not have direct deposit for any employees and I had the same problem with
managers handing out checks early...The company was playing the money float game and would not deposit funds to cover payroll until payday so most of the employees that tried to cash their checks early were getting turned away because there were no funds in the account - 8)
Our payroll office is located in NV but 2/3 of our employees are located in 30+ different locations in CA. Our payday is Monday and we ship Fedex Priority out of NV on Friday for a Monday delivery. We haven't had any problems with this issue and I know some packages have gotten there much later than 8am.
My checks always seem to arrive the day after I needed the money (grin) and after the bank closes Friday - so it does not show up in my account until Monday. That really puts a damper on going into town and tying one on during the weekend - however one does that in Utah - and maybe it is a long way into town - gas prices are much better than they were, but the last few months that could have put a major damper on the weekend plans. In Gainesville, at least, If there was any gas in the tank, I could get into town and back - but if the dance was in Jacksonville or St. Cloud, there might be a problem.
As long as you're following the frequency of payment rule posted by David you're okay. If you want to document that you're sending the checks in a timely manner you could spend the extra money to send it certified or by FedEx but I don't think that's necessary. The only way you can be sure the employee is getting her checks on her timeline is to hand deliver them. You can't control the postal service. As long as that check is postmarked you're good. It would be different if you held the check for a week after the check date and then mailed.
As far as FedEx is concerned, if you send the checks priority overnight then they try to get it to you by 10:30a in most areas. If you want it sent later than that try sending it 2 Day. I think they try to get it to you by 5.
I had an EE in DE who did not get his check by Monday when we mailed it out on Friday... the first time it happened he waited 1 more day and received it - the 2nd time he called me, said he would wait 1 more day then called the DE DOL and said not only that we refused to re-issue the check(a LIE) but that he also feared retribution from me because he had complained. ..
The DOL called me - told me I had to FedEx the check to him and could not deduct the fee from his wages he refused to go on DD and we could not force him.
Needless to say I was not too broken up when the IRS garnished his wages for back taxes :twisted: he quit not too long after that. Good riddance.
If you read the Delaware Code, Fed-X is NOT an option - See
http://delcode.delaware.gov/title19/c011/index.shtml
See also
http://www.delawareworks.com/industrialaffairs/services/LaborLawEnforcementInfo.shtml
You need the employee's permission to mail it (mail, not fed-X) or the employee's request for direct deposit - otherwise you are to wait until the next regular work day the employee comes in (grin).
The only issue I see here is if you are paying 7 days after the end of the pay period and you know the employee won't be receiving the check within 7 days. On the other hand - are you sure this employment relationship is subject to DE law? It is not clear from your post - but DE is so small, I can't imagine that he could not pick up his check (grin).
Anyway- the DOL is correct that you cannot deduct the cost of overnighting the check, but I think the person who told you that you had to fed-X is is wrong and just did not want the employee clogging up their operations.
My take on this is that if you did Fed-X it and it did not arrive on time, the DOL could nail you for not following the procedure outline in the code (mail - which usually means U.S. Mail) - unfortunately, the term "mail" is not defined in this code section.
Guess he was having financial difficulties and needed the money quickly - but should have gone with direct deposit - unless the IRS knew where his bank account was -- seems like sometimes the people who are the biggest sticklers (and bullies) with regard to others are often pretty lax in their own affairs (grin).
We are located in IL so Ee pick up was not an option(the EE is an outside sales rep). We mail out our checks on the final day of the pay period or the day after at the latest so the 7 day rule should not have applied in this case - he just told a story to beat the band. :roll:
The worker form DE DOL told me that since this was a 1st complaint it would be better to just kiss his ring but that if he made a 2nd complaint against us they would have to take further action yada yada yada.
I wonder if the IRS has caught up with him yet :twisted: