Okay, I need to rant.....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

ARGH! This is why I left my *^)^&^% old company. They pay the last day of every month, and are one month behind in their billing cycle. Which sucks when you start, since you don’t get paid for 2 months. However, when you leave, you keep getting paid for an extra month. My roomie still works there.

Flashback to last Friday. I’m at my new job, waiting for an assignment run to finish, when I get an email from my roomie. She said she had a crappy day, and “bottom line, we may not get paid.” In a nutshell, the IDIOTS who ran my old firm couldn’t realize that the internet boondoggles they were running weren’t bringing in any money, while costing them an arm and a leg. Simply put, they have NO cash. They said they were going to work out a deal with the bank. I get through the day, get to my car, and cry. I can cover rent this month, but then I’m broke. Luckily, I get paid twice a month. But shit…I have rent to cover, bills, money to save for moving in a month…and she didn’t offer to kick ANYTHING in.

I get home, see my last paycheck from them in the mail. (For hours I worked back in August.) Roomie says not to cash it, because while they issued checks, they know they can’t cover them. (HELLO, that’s illegal.) She stayed until 5 working on something for a Monday deadline. Over the weekend, she worked on her resume. She’s hoping to get a job where I work now, which I doubt she’ll get…she already turned them down once. (And jerked them around doing it.)

Flash forward to last night. I know her email password at work, so I was checking for updates. (It also pisses me off that they didn’t contact any old employees to tell us…thank GOD I didn’t cash that check!) I see the update from the former CEO. Basically, the bank said no go until they get money in from billing their contracts. So, they have NO money. They might get some by Friday, and could pay checks out as they get the money in. What, are they going to do it by alphabet? “People whose last names begin with B can cash their payroll checks today…”

I’m beyond pissed right now. I got in today and called both the Maryland and Federal wage & labor boards and filed a complaint. Federal guy told me to call EPA and tell my old firm’s contract officer. I’m tempted. And to top it off…my roomie WENT IN TO WORK! Fuck, I’d be taking vacation until I got paid. There’s a limit to how much someone can take advantage of me. I told the roomie via email that I filed a complaint…I’m sure she’s told some people, so everyone knows. Good. I’m so upset right now it’s not even funny. I did NOT need this.

I know y’all can’t help me much, but I just needed to vent somewhere. Grrrrr…

2

Oh no. I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am for you. Really. This is definitely one of those times I wish I was independently wealthy and could just tell you not to worry–the check’s on its way. You have no idea how badly I wish I could do that. I can only tell you that I’m sorry you’re stuck in this. Please know that I’m thinking about you.

Big hugs to you,
struuter

3

Falc–you should send the EPA a letter telling them you’re charging them interest on that last paycheck until it’s cashable and a penalty–credit card companies do it all the time, why can’t you?

Sorry for the bummer…

4

Peta -

I don’t think I want to tell the EPA anything…I could probably get sued for slandering ISSI’s reputation. sighs

5

Slander is something that’s not true though plus they’d have to show that you did it with malice and intent.

Bummer that its going on! Hope things end up okay. Thinkin’ 'bout ya.

I’m with you: your roommate is nut to keep working there. No payee, no workee. It’s kind of a given. I’d be using that time to hit the streets, giving out my resume to anyone who’d give me the time of day!

Good luck!

6

Instead of depositing the check in your checking account why can’t you just get all the money in cash? If the check bounces the company has to cover it plus they’ll have to pay the bank fee won’t they? Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. I’m just trying to think of a way for you to get your money. I hope everything works out.

{{{{{Falcon}}}}}

7

{{{{{{{{Falcon}}}}}}}}

{{{{{{{{Falcon}}}}}}}}

{{{{{{{{Falcon}}}}}}}}

Rachelle, we thought about doing that when we were at Dave’s place yesterday, but bottom line Amy’s have to pay a $25 charge if they didn’t have the funds, plus she wouldn’t get her money. So she’d lose money doing that.

8

I would take the check right to the bank it’s been drawn on. If they won’t cash it, they should at least be aware that bad checks are being passed on that account. If by some chance they have the money to cover it, Falc will get her cash and be on her way. They can’t charge you for trying to cash a check at the bank it’s drawn on.

Zette

9

Good one, Zette, as long as the bank is local (my company’s cheques come from another state).

Falcon, BunnyGirl is right. If you are simply stating the truth, it is not slanderous in any way. And your roomie is crazy to put up with that sh*t. No way, not a chance. My boss kids me every once in a while about signing my timesheet. “And what would you do if I refuse to sign this?” “Take an extended vacation until you do, pal. It’s real simple.”

10

Falcon, try taking it to the bank it’s written on, and cashing it there. Unless they’ve frozen the account in the computer, you should be able to cash it. Covering it is their problem, not yours.

Meanwhile, hang in there, Hon. We’re pullin’ for you, although I know that doesn’t put beans on the table.

11

In the past, I’ve had situations like that, with customers who were on a cash only basis.

What I would do is contact their bank, and ask if there was enough money for the check to clear. If yes, I was right on top of it. Perhaps, you can get lucky and catch them at the right time of the day! :o)

12

Um, dumbass question time…can I cash a check at a bank if I don’t have an account there? Just endorse it and show my ID?

13

If it is the bank that their account is at, you should be able to with photo ID.

14

The check has to be cashed at THE bank that holds the signature card. This will usually be the bank location whose address is on the check.

You have taken the most important step in contacting your local labor board. What your ex-company has done is tantamount to fraud and they need to answer for it. File a claim with your labor board right away so that your penalty clock starts right now!

Screw all corrupt employers!

15

Falcon, if you go to the bank that the check is drawn from, YES, you can cash it, even if you don’t have an account. You’ll have to show id and use the little fingerprint doohickey, but you should not have a problem. If the bank has outright frozen the company’s accounts, then you might have a problem - I’m not sure how they would handle that. It’s the bank’s & the company’s problem to cover the check, not yours.

This happened to me once - my old company was in a cash crunch and didn’t meet payroll OVER THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS and didn’t tell anyone prior. Pretty much everyone was on direct deposit, but since they knew they weren’t going to meet payroll they didn’t do direct deposit, instead they issued everyone paper checks and snuck them into our mailboxes late on Wednesday night (after everyone was gone for the holiday) to give them a few more days to come up with the money. Just GREAT for the people at my level who were living paycheck to paycheck - my rent check, student loans, and credit card payment all bounced. I totalled up everything I had to pay in bounced check fees (when you bounce a rent check, they require you to pay in cashier’s checks from then on, total pain in the ass and an extra $7.00/month) - the total came to over $200 ($25 bank charge, $25 returned check fee from the institution for every check). I submitted the charges in an expense report and the company reimbursed me.

But you better believe that when I got that paper check I took it to my company’s bank and got the cold hard cash to put in my account.

Good luck, be glad you don’t work there anymore. Don’t be afraid to make a stink until you get your money.

16

magdalene -

That’s how ISSI just did it…I had direct deposit, and so did the roomie. They KNEW they couldn’t cover the direct deposit, so they issued checks instead. And then told everyone in a meeting Friday morning not to cash them. (Which, according to Maryland state law, is the same as not paying.)

And on the “making a stink” front…I just left a message with their contract officer at EPA. The woman I talked to who gave me the number was amazed. She asked what the problem was, and I said “They didn’t pay the employees last month,” and she was like, “WELL now…yep, that’s a complaint.”

My mom actually made a good comment: if the people there had a half a brain, they’d pay those of us who’ve already quit. The sheep that are left there won’t complain, but I sure as hell will…I have NOTHING to lose. Damn, this actually feels GOOD.

17

:mad: :mad: :mad:

{{{{{:(}}}}}

18

Falc, that freakin’ sucks.
I used to work for a HUGE bank (the second largest in the country) and if you did not have an account there, you could not cash a check. There were a few big companies that we had branchwide permission to cash checks for, but they were for places like Blockbuster, Gap and The New York City Board of Education. It all depends on the banks policy. Sorry :frowning:
Rose

19

Honey, that totally f***ing sucks. I’m gonna send up a prayer to the paycheck gods that you can go to the bank and get your money. I’ve been there with not knowing how you’re going to make ends meet, and there’s not too many feelings worse than that.
:mad:
{{{{{Amy}}}}}

20

I hate to tell yo this Falcon, the behavior of the company and the bank (based on your OP) sounds like what happened before my last job belly up. It’s common pratice by banks not to extend additional credit when a company is failing to meet current loan payments. Generally in the next week, the bank begins to keep the receivables