My question, at this point, is completely academic, and I’d probably have to dig through my filing cabinet to get the real answer, but I’m wondering if I’m missing something completely obvious.
When I quit my last two jobs (last year and in 2004), I was handed my final paycheck on my last day. In both cases, instead of being a check for all my hours worked since the end of the last pay period, it was merely compensation for my unused vacation time.
In both cases, the HR person assured me that the check was small because paychecks are actually paid toward the following pay period, not the previous one. So I had already been paid for my final two weeks. I nodded and accepted this.
But just now (I was always a master of timing), it occurred to me that if this were true, I should have gotten my first paycheck at the company IN ADVANCE of actually starting work there. Which makes no sense, of course.
So, either I’m misremembering two last days, doing the math wrong, or was actually screwed by two large companies. I think the latter is fairly unlikely. But if anyone has any insight that will allow me to stop scratching my head, I’d appreciate it.
(I’m anticipating something that will make me go :smack: )
I have never in my life, as a salaried or hourly employee, been paid in advance of hours worked. How would they know what to pay you? Suppose all your sick time and vacation time were gone, and you had to take a day off?
You compare time worked with time paid for. You go back and collect your last check, if you were paid for a lesser time than you worked. You could be one of those employees that leave a final paycheck at the last job, because you didn’t go back in a week for the last check. Many employers don’t cut you a check early, and it’s ready when all the checks are ready.
My final paycheck from my previous companies was always a combination of unused vacation + regular salary. Was your last day somewhere in the middle of a pay period? I get paid on the 1[sup]st[/sup] and 15[sup]th[/sup] of each month. If my last day were, say, the 7th then my final paycheck would be 1/2 my normal pay, plus any unused vacation.
I think you need to dig out some information: time sheets, if you kept copies; pay stubs; any agreements or corporate policy statements that might apply; etc. Then ask the same question of your State Labor Department representative.
Anecdote: About a year after I was let go from a job, I got my final paycheck. It seems that, even thought they knew about my new address, this check was originally sent to my old address. (I had thought that I was missing a paycheck, but had been on direct deposit when I worked there, and the only way to view my paycheck was on a website that I no longer had access to.) It’s been awhile, so I don’t remember the details, but they may have gotten my new new address after I did my taxes. Anyway, you may have a check coming to you that you haven’t gotten because of some incompetence on their part. Have you moved recently?
My paycheck stubs show the period for which I was getting paid, and in my case it was the two weeks immediately preceding the paydate. I’ve never heard of getting paid in advance. You should really locate the paycheck stubs and check how you were getting paid.
Also, I found a website that said that in New York State whether someone is fired or quits, the final paycheck should be paid during the next scheduled payday. (In some other states, the company has to pay you immediately, particularly if you’re fired.) So you might check with the employers if they have a check waiting for you.
Did you perhaps get a paycheck on the 14th for time worked between the 1st and 15th, then quit on, say, the 17th, with only a day or two of work coming to you?
I am an HR person, although it’s been a long time since I’ve done payroll. In my experience the most likely scenario is that the employee is confused and the HR/payroll person is doing a poor job of explaining. The systems are usually fairly idiot proof in terms of getting people paid correctly. Of course, YMMV.
I mean no disrespect, but is this even remotely possible? Every job I’ve had has at least a 3-5 day turnaround. So a workweek that ended on the 15th would generate a check that was paid around the 19th.
Yes. It is more common in jobs where people work a fixed schedule. As an example, if your salary is $4000 per month they may just have it set up to pay you $2000 on the 15th and 30th. Sometimes the direct deposit will even be released a day or so earlier. If the company is closing out a separating employee, they may either follow state law or company practice to pay in full for any time worked after the last payday. This is done with a manual check request. They might be required to pay you in full upon separation, or they may just do it to get the separation done in one fell swoop.
The situation Frylock describes is also common, and can even apply to folks on monthly or biweekly payrolls, leading to a long dry spell when you start working.
I had a job once where we were paid once per month. The paychecks came on the 23rd of the month, and the pay period was the entire calendar month. So, yes indeed, we were paid in advance for the last week or so of the month. This was a deliberate decision of the company, and they did it explicitly to help offset the pain and budget problems of getting paid only once a month.
We were all salaried workers. If there had been any hourly folks I suppose they might have done some sort of estimate each month, and then adjust it the following month.
I was fired on the 25th of the month, and they told me not to worry about the advance payment, they’d consider it as severance. Actually, I think they even paid me a bit more, for unused vacation time.
(PS: Getting paid only once a month is hell. My wife and I promised each other we’d never take such a job again. Oh, how I loved my first job, with its weekly paychecks.)
I get paid (for example) for the period February 1-15th on February 15th, but… overtime (when it’s paid, as I’m salary) is paid on the subsequent period, which would be February 28th (or 29th, were it a leaping type of year). Seems reasonable to me, as being salary it’s predictable that my time is normal, but payroll can’t process OT until the next paycheck.
I’m not disputing you, but I fail to see what difference that would make after your first paycheck. You are still getting paid once a month. How is it offsetting any pain and budget problems?
This is fairly standard - all my salaried jobs have paid like this.
I pay my mortgage monthly. I pay my Council Tax monthly. I pay almost everything else monthly, apart from some shopping my wife does each week (but the big shop is monthly), and a few annual bills.
Why do people have a problem with monthly pay checks? It works easier.
Speak for yourself. I love monthly paychecks. Much easier to budget that way, plus the added bonus of having the same amount of cash every month, none of these odd months where you get 3 checks instead of 2. I’m currently paid every 2 weeks and hate it.
If you are one of those people who I admire, who has a savings acoount or some other sort of cushion, and is able to control his spending, then I’d agree that monthly is fine. But if you are like me, who has trouble keeping to a budget and juggles which bills can be paid with each paycheck, then it is very difficult to hold on to some cash until that last week before the next paycheck arrives.
Yes, I should be better and more careful, blah, blah, blah. I am trying hard and working on it. But until I get good at it, I will hate the monthly checks.
I don’t think there is going to be a factual answer as to why payroll systems seem so screwed-up to so many people. I’ve posted before about my company’s system which pays me on <<reaches for recent pay stub>> check date 2/23 for pay period 2/11-2/24. Funny thing about this check is there’s no mention of holiday pay for 2/19. That holiday pay will appear on my next paycheck which will be dated 3/9 and the pay period printed on the check will say 2/25-3/10.
Unless you’ve been keeping careful track of your paystubs from the get-go, something like this is going to be hard to reconcile.
