I work for some folks who are trying to claim that paying us in paper checks rather than direct deposit, and if payday happens to fall on a weekend or holiday paying us AFTER the weekend or holiday, is “standard practice” in business today. My contention is that it isn’t, and hasn’t been for quite a few years now!
So here’s my question (or series, actually) that I’d appreciate answers to just to provide some good input to these idiots:
Are you paid via direct deposit?
If payday falls on a weekend or holiday, are you paid before or after the weekend or holiday?
What industry do you work in?
How big is your company?
Have you worked at other companies in your industry, and if so, how does your current company’s policies compare to what other firms are doing?
a) Direct Deposit
b) Before - I think (in Canada anyhow) after is against the rules
c) Government (University)
d) Big
e) Same in this industry.
I also have a part time job where checks were the norm - they are issued on pay day (which is Friday) regardless if it was a holiday.
I honestly don’t believe that it’s legal for employers to withhold money past your agreed upon payday. However, it could be a Canadian thing - we have much stricter labour laws up here, it seems. (For instance, ALL employers have to pay time and a half on stat holidays, double time and a half for X-mas, ect.)
I am an employer and I do our payroll. My policy (that is legal in California) is:
I pay each employee by paper check because using direct deposit through your bank involves using ADP, PayChex or some other paycheck processing company which involves paying all of the payroll taxes up front, before it is actually due, which does not sit well with me. When our bank(s) can get around that issue, then I will look into doing it…I have a CPA that processes the payroll and works close with me so when errors happen, they get corrected immediately on the first check, not the next check. I do not trust ADP or other companies when it comes to accurate payroll, and I avoid them like the plague.
We are closed on the weekends, therefore I do not schedule paydays to fall on Saturday, Sunday or on Holidays. My paydays are on the 5th working day after the 15th and end of the month. So, paydays can fall on any workday, Monday through Friday, but never on a weekend or holiday. Sometimes, I’m a nice guy with time on my hands and I might be able to get it done for the 3rd or 4th working day after the 15th and end of month pay periods. There’s a lot of love going on when this happens!
I’m in the Social Services industry…Day programs for developmentally disabled adults.
Our company is 65 employees and we’re a subchapter S corporation where my wife and I are the sole owners of the corporation.
Our company has been operating for 12 years now. Before that, I was working at a Costco wholesale store for 11 years prior. I have been paid weekly on Fridays, every two weeks on Thursdays, but payday has never been on the weekend. I have read in our CA labor law digest that payday can be on the following Monday if the payday (eg - the 7th and 21st of each month) falls on a Saturday or Sunday as long as the extra one or two days does not make the total number of days after the end of the pay period go over a certain amount of days. I think it’s 10-14 days here, but I’m not sure, because I wouldn’t schedule a payday that late in the first place.
From the California Labor Law Digest furnished by the California Chamber of Commerce (2002):
"All wages for the normal work period for non-exempt employees come due and are payable at least twice each calendar month on days designated in advance by the employer. Employers must post a notice informing employees of paydays.
Paydays on a twice-monthly schedule must be as follows: Work performed between:…Payment must be made by:
1st and 15th days of the month…26th day of same month
16th and last day of month…10th day of the next month
An employer also may choose to pay employees weekly, bi-weekly, or semi-monthly with payment within seven days of the end of the pay period."
There are exceptions for administrative (monthly), profressional (monthly), governmental/public (usually monthly) and farm labor (monthly if lodged and boarded).
So, Mama Tiger, my question to you is:
How many days, after the end of all your pay periods, was your latest payday?
Well, I’m in Louisiana, which is not exactly an employee-friendly state, so it’s interesting to hear other perspectives. I believe here, for example, the statute is only that they have to give us our pay within 30 days of the work performed. Sheesh. But that doesn’t affect my questioning whether it’s “standard business practice” or not, of course, since many things are handled more generously than the bare minimums the law allows.
I’m in Florida. Not sure what the law is but here’s my experience:
Are you paid via direct deposit?
No, paper checks only.
If payday falls on a weekend or holiday, are you paid before or after the weekend or holiday?
Paydays are every Friday, or if we’re off Friday we get paid on Thursday.
What industry do you work in?
Political/Governmental
How big is your company?
Six people
Have you worked at other companies in your industry, and if so, how does your current company’s policies compare to what other firms are doing?
Yes, I’ve worked at a larger company and we always got paid before the holiday. They offered both direct deposit and paper checks.
If that’s the case, then your company is not doing anything illegal whether it’s following “standard business practice” or not; what matters is they are following state/co./city law. Just like when I pay early, it does not become “standard business practice” vs. the 10th and 26th of each month for state regulated paydays. I could just adopt that practice (10th and 26th) and have no legal consequences if I do. I might piss off all my employees, but they can’t have the state labor board impose any penalties/fines on my corporation.
Preface: I work in one of the most strongly pro-employer anti-labor states in the nation (as far as law goes)*, though have worked in other states. That said, my current employer is very employee-focused.
Are you paid via direct deposit?
Yes, but this is optional, as it was when I worked for the State. Only in construction (very small business – less than 10 employees) has it been all paper; except, of course, before DD wasn’t high-tech exotica.
If payday falls on a weekend or holiday, are you paid before or after the weekend or holiday?
Before. Same for State employment and other private sector jobs I’ve held.
What industry do you work in?
Have worked in education (private and public), public service, construction, marketing, publishing, agriculture, retail, security, customer service, entertainment industry, and probably some other fields I can’t even recall anymore. Answers pretty consistent for all employers within US.
How big is your company?
Current employer just short of 200 employees.
Have you worked at other companies in your industry, and if so, how does your current company’s policies compare to what other firms are doing?
Well, I guess I answered some of that above. But the long and short of it is, whoever’s telling you this is “standard practice” is just smoking blow up your ass.
*Employment is totally “at will”. Legally, your employer can fire you if s/he doesn’t like the color of your shirt.
Oh, I realize that legally my employer can pay me after the holidays. I have no problem with that. It just burns my ass that the multi-millionaire owners stress at LENGTH their devotion to their employees, while squeezing the last possible penny of float out of the pittances they pay us.
Carry on, folks, all these answers are just providing me with more ammo!
[ol]
[li]Direct Deposit-Only because I have an account with the Bank, otherwise I would have no choice but to receive a paper check. But we get free checking, which makes it nice.[/li][li]We get paid on the 1st and the 15th. If that day falls on a Saturday, we get paid on Friday. If it falls on Sunday, we get paid on Monday.[/li][li]I work for a bank, equipment finance to be exact.[/li][li]In total, over 50,000.[/li][li]I haven’t worked at other banks or leasing companies. I have worked at a number of companies, each of which offered direct deposit regardless of whether they used a payroll service or not. [/li][/ol]
Prior to my switch to banking, I spent a number of years in HR/Payroll. I have seen a number of instances where companies are trying to get away from paper checks,as there is considerable expense in handling them. Amazingly enough people don’t deposit them immediately. And there is the issue of lost and unclaimed checks. That may be a point that they may not have thought about, the additional cost of dealing with paper checks, especially considering how low the interest rates are. Adecco, for example has completely eliminated paper checks. If you do not have a bank account, they pay you via a debit card or a stored value card.
Are you paid via direct deposit?
It’s a matter of choice: you can choose to get some, all or none of your check direct-deposited. If you don’t get it all direct-deposited, you get a paper check.
If payday falls on a weekend or holiday, are you paid before or after the weekend or holiday?
Paydays are Fridays. If Friday’s a holiday, we get paid on Thursday. If Friday and Thursday are holidays (such as the week of Thanksgiving), we get paid on Wednesday. Whether DD or paper check.
What industry do you work in?
Business-to-business catalog sales.
How big is your company?
Gi-hugeous!
Have you worked at other companies in your industry, and if so, how does your current company’s policies compare to what other firms are doing?
No, but I’ve worked other industries (like retail and fast food, years ago), and they all paid before the holiday.
Are you paid via direct deposit?
Yes. But if people want to be paid via a paper check they can choose that option.
If payday falls on a weekend or holiday, are you paid before or after the weekend or holiday?
We’re paid semi-monthly. If the 15th or end-of-month falls on a weekend, we get paid the Friday prior.
What industry do you work in?
IT. We’re a software company.
How big is your company?
~100 employees.
Have you worked at other companies in your industry, and if so, how does your current company’s policies compare to what other firms are doing?
I’ve worked at five companies in my 25 years; both small and large; industries of IT, banking, utilities; and all have had identical policies to what I have now.
Maybe it’s a regional thing. All the companies I’ve worked for have been Wisconsin companies. I would speculate that companies in a geographic area would have similar HR and benefits policies because they’re all competing to attract and retain employees from the same labor pool.
My current employer and the last couple places I’ve worked have been “every two weeks” kind of places, the upshot being that payday is always on a specific day of the week - currently Wednesday, but usually it’s been Thursday. I get direct deposit, but if Wednesday is a holiday (very rare - I think it’s happened once, at Christmas/New Year’s), we get paid the day before. My company has around 90-100 employees at this location, maybe another 25 elsewhere in the country (who get paid out of my location).
1. Are you paid via direct deposit? Heck yeah. Haven’t gotten a paper paycheck from any company/military branch since 1990. Hourly folks have the option of receiving paper checks, and it’s incredible how many do – these are passed out at work. For the couple of grandfathered salaried paper-check receivers, they only get paper checks through the mail, so they’re at the will of the USPS. 2. If payday falls on a weekend or holiday, are you paid before or after the weekend or holiday? Definitely before. We’re paid on the 15th and last-day-of-the-month. If one of these falls on a weekend or holiday, the money’s always in my account before. The hourly people get their checks/stubs before the holiday, too, and are paid weekly on Friday (or Thursday night for afternoon shift workers). 3. What industry do you work in? Automobile. 4. How big is your company? Third biggest in the world. 5. Have you worked at other companies in your industry, and if so, how does your current company’s policies compare to what other firms are doing? Yes I have, and the pay-when policies have always been identical – even at “smaller” suppliers.
[ol][li]I am, but I needn’t be. Checks are available.[/li][li]We are paid every Thursday. If that Thursday is one of the three days a year we are closed (like Thanksgiving every year), we are paid the following Friday.[/li][li]Retail[/li][li]~120,000[/li]Yes, and similar.[/ol]
1. Are you paid via direct deposit?
Yes, I don’t have much of a choice.
2. If payday falls on a weekend or holiday, are you paid before or after the weekend or holiday?
Before. But my paydays can only fall on holidays, because they’re every other Friday.
3. What industry do you work in?
Aerospace Engineer, DoD
4. How big is your company?
Federal government. Some would say it’s too big.
5. Have you worked at other companies in your industry, and if so, how does your current company’s policies compare to what other firms are doing?
No, but I know the engineers in commercial industry (contractors) live with similar policies.
We can choose direct deposit or paper - I’m direct deposit.
Before - I’m paid every 2 weeks in arrears (when I’m paid on the 16th, it will be for the period ending the 2nd.) Also, the deposit is transferred to my account at midnight Friday morning - start of business day, it’s available.
State Government
Several hundred thousand
I’ve worked in industry and the results were about the same.
