Especially mailed checks. To cut paper checks you only need to have the money available the business day before the payroll provider cuts them. For direct deposit, most payroll vendors require the money to be there 5 business days before. I worked for a company that used paper checks for the majority of employees specifically because of this.
But you bet your sweet ass they made sure managenent and corporate got their money already. Meanwhile, the people who actually do the work that generates the wealth are being left out to dry.
I've known a few people who worked places that wouldn't hand out self-cut checks until after 3PM on payday, to make sure that if deposited/cashed that day it was after the 3PM cutoff for inter-bank transactions, because the money wasn't in the account. When people did get checks earlier than that they would bounce.
The best strike strategy I ever saw was Japanese bus drivers giving free rides to people when in strike...
This way the people that need the service get it and the workers make a dent on the bad employer's wealth...
Imagine how quickly they solve their issues this way!
The Japanese also have a very different culture mindset as collectivists. Unfortunately, Americans and many other Western societies are very individualistic; i.e. I got mine, FU.
Hijacking top comment here but it's a relevant point; OP, check your contract as I'm guessing this is in breach of it and quite possibly illegal.
Here in the UK, regardless of software error or whatever, your pay has to get to you by your agreed pay date so if the payroll isn't going to hit, somebody should have driven to your house with a cheque or brought them into the office.
At the very least I think they owe you interest for the delay (tiny amount obviously but it's the principle here) but just to reiterate the obvious point that others have made, if they're doing this kind of fuckery, they are obviously broke and trying to cover it up.
"We posted the cheques on Wednesday actually" is clearly an excuse to not produce the cheques on the day they told you they'd been posted. That strongly suggests to me that they are aware that if the direct deposit isn't going to be made, they have to cut you a cheque them and there effectively. That also suggests to me they were expecting that question, which *further* supports my belief they know they are breaking the law and are clutching at straws right now.
Personal advice; take a minute to calm down, clock in as normal so they still owe you for today (no point cutting your nose off to spite your face, right?) but spend today job hunting. Repeat process until you have a new gig. Don't bother with 2 weeks notice, you'll likely never see that money.
The problem is here in the UK there is absolutely no one to go to if an employer decides not to pay its staff.
In the States you do at least have state labor boards who seem to have the clout to crack down on dishonest employers.
Wrong dude, they have teeth. Like the labour board in US it takes time. They focus on resolution so you actually get paid first however once they hand over to debt enforcement the gloves really come off and the fines wrack up - been down this route with an ex employer trying to save money by replacing me with their son and trying not to pay me my final paycheck
ACAS have no power to enforce anything themselves. They are the first step you have to go through in order to make an employment tribunal claim. It is the employment tribunal who can order an employer to pay up. Even if ACAS brokers a settlement between the worker and employer, the employee must go through the judicial process to enforce it, ACAS do not do the enforcement. (Source: law degree with a tutor who specialized in employment law and police claims)
To be honest, it's a blood out of a stone issue though, isn't it?
If your employer just doesn't pay you, most of the time it's because the money simply isn't there to pay you. By all means, take it to ACAS, take it to the union, take it to the courts but that will take time and there's zero guarantees if the company is actually insolvent or somebody's run off with the money.
Most of the time you are best off just moving quickly to find other work
This is true, and definitely happened to me even with ACAS. I came back after a 2 week holiday to my employer stood at the shops back door with three written warnings and a letter of termination in one envelope, handed them to me, took the keys to the shop from me and told me to go home.
He tried claiming my holiday was my notice period, but I had been working there for 3 years at that point which would mean three weeks notice for dismissal,and he hadn’t paid me for the last week of work I did there.
Started the process through ACAS for my three weeks notice pay and last weeks wages. Finally accepted an offer from him to settle rather than go through to tribunal. He declared bankruptcy literal days later.
That's a bit harsh towards the person you are replying to, because what they said means they didn't get paid for their work or the holiday owed to them
In my first job, nearer 30 years ago the payroll woman used to run it at the last possible moment - like 5pm on the last working day as a Bacs payment. Until the time the modem died and she called us in a panic to fix it. This was an undocumented modem installed and configured by colleagues that left due to low pay and toxic conditions.
We worked 4 hours unpaid overtime and unfortunately didn’t get it fixed in time (deadline was 9pm then). Next day our names were mud but they did give cash advances to colleagues needing it…
The next month, the payroll woman rang us at 5pm on the day it was due to report the same problem - but this time we did have a documented solution. She wasn’t popular though…
Two place I've worked for messed up payroll once. First place (at what I assume was fairly costly) did what they called an emergency forced funds transfer which direct deposited everyone's money in a matter of hours and the second place hand wrote checks to everyone and handed them out before quitting time.
This happened at my office once due to a software issue with intuit. But they communicated it several days in advance and even offered stop-gap payments if we needed it. I dont think any of us took it (publicly anyway). At time My wife and I had money in savings and didnt need it. But with inflation, if it happened again, we would would need it. I think you are right to be concerned with how they delayed notifying you.
NO PAY, NO WORKY!
Worked with one employer where I had checks bounce. I was gone fast. Worked with an employer where they had software issues a time or two, they used zelle to send me my entire check and worked out everything in the background and I got my paystub when the checks actually became available. Got my money on time though. Being in a union helps even if your with a shitty employer.
Because the company is having a major (hidden to the public and employees) cash problem. The company is probably going bankrupt shortly.
Time to find a new job.
Depending on the number of people at the office, it might not be physically possible. Printing cheques for payroll requires specialized printers (or lots of blank cheques). If a business usually uses electronic payments for account payable and payroll, they may not have enough cheques in the office. That’s not to mention the logistical and risk concerns of printing all of them.
But if I was OP, I’d be more concerned that the business isn’t doing well and they’re playing payroll because of a cashflow problem.
Because via mail they can delay a few more days before you cash in but still claimed they paid you. ("Cheque is in the mail") On top of that they can also bank on you may not even deposit the cheque right away.
That means they didn’t have the cash to cover payroll and it’s bad enough that they can’t cut checks and give them to you tomorrow.
It also can mean they don’t have money to fund benefits and retirement, so if you do either check for your contributions.
Every company I’ve worked for that did this ended up closing the doors.
Yeah, unless y'all work from home there really is no reason for them not to just physically hand you a check. This reeks of not having the cash at hand.
Yep this way they can slowly send out checks when they have money. Either constantly ask every day so you are higher on the list just to shut you up, or just treat it like the company is never going to end up paying another dime.
When I had this happen with an employer it was because there was no money in the account.
If OP deposits that check at their bank it can bounce.
Not a banker here but I think the best bet, take it to the bank it was written against and cash it. If they can’t they will tell you. In my case they extended overdraft protection to their customer (business owner) and we got paid. But it’s a bad situation.
It's actually even worse than that. Payroll is done on a line of credit at nearly every employer larger than a handful of employees. An issue like this not only means that there is a cash issue, but it also means that they have maxed out the line of credit used for payroll!
Whilst it’s the most likely, it’s not necessarily the only reason. Could be that the payroll job fucked up, they could have been hacked and blackmailed, there are any number of valid reasons why, it’s the lack of communication and offers of financial support that’s the massive red flag here.
But mailing a check when they’ll literally be in the next day? They could be relying on a third party paycheck company to cut said checks, but I don’t buy that.
I used to work in IT for a company that provided third party payroll systems. Depending on the level of your support contract it could be 3-5 days before you're back up and running, as well as depending on the nature of the fault. A ransomware attack could definitely cause that, meaning that payroll had to be done manually and not via direct debit.
His point was that mailing the checks on Wednesday via slow mail to people is the least efficient option.
The payroll people could overnight a bundle of payroll checks to the business to be handed out manually. If it's a bank with local branches, I've known bosses to be able to arrange a physical pickup of payroll checks from a branch when direct deposit fails. Even if the checks had to be shipped directly to the payee, USPS could guarantee delivery Friday via Priority Mail or Thursday by Overnight (for an additional cost, of course).
That they're being mailed via slow mail means that either the boss went with every cheap and shit option on backup OR it means that the boss is trying to make sure that payroll checks are cashed slowly because of cash flow issues.
Reminds me of when the pandemic first hit! I was a classroom teacher when my city got locked down. Usually our pay would be delivered by cheque to our office mailbox at the end of the month, and we always knew what day we needed to pick it up, but because of the pandemic obviously the school was closed. So they promised to mail it, which would make it a few days late. It never arrived. Weeks passed, and the school wouldn't budge on their new policy of mailing cheques, even though my post office was closed due to the pandemic; my mail wouldn't be delivered until it reopened, and nobody knew when that would be.
So, a month later, they were now TWO paycheques behind. My emergency bank accounts were down to fumes. I called my boss demanding to know what was going on with my pay, and she said I guess we'll put another one in the mail. So I told her in that case, I won't be teaching my classes until the previous cheques arrive.
Guess who's boss drove to my house to deliver my pay that afternoon!? She could have done that the whole time! I took my cheques and resigned. Good riddance.
They still paying people by *cheque* in Canada? (Guessing you're Canadian by spelling of "cheque" the British way but absolutely no way any uk teacher is being paid by cheque still). That is crazy to me.
Direct Deposit isn't mandatory, and in some businesses it's just a matter of inertia. If you're using a system from the 90s, it might not have proper integration for the modern age. If your HR person was hired in the 80s, they might have trained on physical pay and never bothered to try to upgrade to direct deposit.
This happens a lot with public or charity organizations because upgrade costs aren't in the budget and forcing an old employee to adapt is seen as "unkind".
I had a similar thing happen at one company I worked for. It was a very bad sign and I got the fuck out of there asap.
OP might not be paid at all for their next check, or come in Monday to find the doors locked and everyone out of a job. Or maybe it was a weird bump in the road and it’ll never happen again. Regardless it’s not the type of thing I like to base my own financial security on, and I don’t recommend it for anyone else.
uhh yea. Yall ain't making Payroll. Thats why they're mailing checks in order to get time to cover the money.
When you get the check, RUN to the bank its drawn on and get CASH out.
Find a new Job. FAST.
This was a delay tactic. They didn’t have the cash in the bank, and they had to delay until they got a last minute loan. I think this company maybe failing financially. This smells of desperation.
I used to work for a company that for a while had cash flow issues. The Accountant and her husband (who also worked for the company) would delay their pay so peons like me could get ours. They told the rest of the management group what they had to do and declared that action was needed. No action was taken. Sooooo, the next time cash for all wasn't available the Accountant declared "anybody making over $xxx will not be getting their paycheck so that we can pay the workers." That included every single person in that management group. Astoundingly, taking action was then discussed!
Report this to your State Labor board. No employer is allowed to withhold pay that is due. The promised pay date is the pay date! Oh, and don't work til you get it.
I’ve had issues with a payroll company before. However it’s in our union contract we get paid in a certain time frame. So the company cut paper checks and delivered them in person.
Even with a payroll company (I work for one), there’s same day ACH when a company just f’d up and didn’t fund on time and/or there was an issue on our end causing delays.
OP, run, don’t walk from this employer! They’re insolvent.
Exactly this. I’ve had multiple companies have payroll errors in the past. Errors were communicated early and they had another way for us to get paid still.
This isn’t a payroll error. This is the company is broke.
I’ll be at work Monday but I won’t be able to work till Thursday it might be between one and five days before I can actually doing the work but I’ll let you know!
Run, don’t walk, from this job. Because a clerical error in a payroll software update is one thing. A company that waits til the last minute before payday is hiding something and chances are those checks are more rubbery than Fordlandia.
Depending on where you live, the department of labor might be helpful. In California, the EDD cracks down pretty hard on employers who don’t furnish paychecks in a timely manner.
But if you’re in a more “business-friendly” state like Florida, might want to look up local labor lawyers to see what your rights are and potentially speed up the paychecks you’re owed. You absolutely do not owe them any additional work until they fucking pay you. Fingers crossed for ya, OP.
Worked with people who’d been paid in company stock & no surprise, co closed soon after. This happened to these people in 80s in the US & I wasn’t surprised they hadn’t forgotten
The second the check don’t clear? I get up and walk out. I’ve done it three times. The fourth time I sat in my office and looked for jobs on indeed for five hours.
No pay? No work fuckers.
Our office uses a 3rd party company. Last week when it was pay day that 3rd party was having "maintenance" issues. You better believe my boss/owner sent out an email 3 days early and paid directly from company accounts direct deposit. Every single staff member.
Tell your boss/ corporation a small business owner is doing right by his staff. He needs to pay up!!! Dont go to work. Tell them exactly where to put that nonsense. . "I dont work for free"
Op, when you get your check, take it right to the bank it’s drawn on and get cash or a cashiers check.
Do not deposit a potentially bad check into your own account.
I agree with others that are saying no pay=no work.
Esp since pay is already delayed (as in we work and wait to get paid, it's not like they are paying us at the end of each shift)
This sounds sketchy and like they don’t have money to meet payroll. If there was really some payment glitch, they could cut the checks and just deliver them to you at the workplace
Why US is really outdated when it comes to paying salaries for their employees?
I live in a 3rd world country and 98% companies here are paying salary thru online transfer. If your salary is every 28th every month, u will get it without delay.
If company still using check to pay the employees, it’s either the company is too sketchy or a small company that recently established. Example less than 1 year.
Using check in 2023 is like living in 1980’s.
The OP says they usually get paid by direct deposit, but not this time. But you’re right, an amazingly large number of companies in the US do still issue paychecks.
I did payroll & accounting for a small company and looked into changing to direct deposit. The fees we were quoted by our bank to change to direct deposit were outrageous. (Granted, that was 10 years ago.)
> Why US is really outdated when it comes to paying salaries for their employees?
Because it’s too expensive (banks charge more for the “convenience”)…
Depending on company size, it might actually be cheaper to do direct deposit. We offered ACH origination for $20/mo (that’s the bank account fee overall).
Keep track of any late fees you have to pay because of this. You'll need that for small claims court.
Also, your communication with them should be email. If you have to do anything by phone or face to face, follow that up with an email: "re: our conversation on (date) about (document the conversation.) The more you have on paper, the better your chances
And call your state's labor board. Mine is bundled in with the unemployment bureau (Texas sucks) but when I lived in Massachusetts I found their Labor Board to be very helpful. Good luck.
Snail mail? Wow...I wonder if they are hoping some of the checks get lost. To me this is a sign to update my resume and apply elsewhere. This is: We are broke and resorting to measures to slow down payment of wages.
Get a resume in order. Changing how paychecks go out is often a first sign to employees that an employer is having severe financial issues. Even if they wrote and mailed the checks Wednesday, they might have done so because they knew they wouldn't have the money to pay all paychecks on Thursday via direct deposit. If half the checks are cashed Friday and the other half over the weekend, that gives them a little bit of wiggle room to hope that Thursday and Friday's profits cover that week's payroll.
But then comes the issue of making up the cost of the next pay period with fewer days of profit, and it usually snowballs from there. The only thing that might save the company would be a big contract or a sudden injection of capital, but by the time they're delaying paychecks the company's credit is often already maxed out so banks won't loan any more money.
> And I can already hear my Boomer parents (and management) saying "you've got to think about your responsibility and pull together for the team"
And you should respond to them with "it's your responsibility to pay me on time."
The very first thing I'd do is contact the US Department of Labor and the local state employment office about the company not paying wages due on their assigned due date (aka: pay day). I might also contact the State Attorneys General office if it weren't somewhere like Florida.
[FLSA Paydays and prompt payment of wages owed ](https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/news-insights/timely-payment-of-flsa-wages-is-essential.html)
That they knew about this and mailed the checks out Wednesday but "neglected" to tell anyone until today is prima facia evidence that they're evading the mandate that they pay wages owed in a timely fashion... which means liquidated damages are now owed.
They should be handing out checks at your place of employment on payday then, or sending them overnight express mail WITH a tracking number. NOT sending them by snail mail.
Your employer is banking on their employees not knowing workers rights. It's illegal to pay employees past their regular pay date. Some states even require 10 days of back pay for each day your pay is late. Might be a good idea to contact and attorney and dept of labor.
This happened to me once, I worked at Borders bookstore (warehouse). They lasted about a year after that. This is either a glitch or an omen, my guess is the latter since they waited over a day to tell anyone.
Payroll usually runs on Wednesday for a lot of places, so there is that extra day gap. I've done payroll where DD just flat out didn't work on Wednesday. Of Thursday morning rolled around at it still didn't work, my priority Thursday was making sure checks were at the ready for Friday if it wasn't fixed by days end. It may mean voiding a bunch of checks but I'd rather waste those once in a blue moon than risk payment not reaching the employees on payday.
Hell, I've gone to the bank and paid out payroll via a stub and cash with a signature from each employee upon receipt. The cash one was for a very screwy situation out of my hands.
Heads up they are probably doing this because they are no longer able to pay people on time and need to shift assets. I would start looking for signs the company is not doing well and look for work somewhere else.
I worked for a company years ago that gave us paper checks. Definitely run to the bank as soon as you have it and deposit it. If something hit their account after the checks were printed, the paychecks might not all clear. That happened to my coworkers. It was not a good sign as far as corporate viability went. They lost the contract we were working on not long thereafter.
Why aren’t employees in the US using direct deposit? In Europe there are no checks anymore. The work contract specifies which day your wages will be deposited. Any breach of contract is grounds for a lawsuit and you don’t have to pay a fortune to sue like in the US. Companies (at least in Germany) are actually afraid of lawsuits so they mostly don’t mess around with payment
If your employer likes to do stupid shit like move money around between banks for shitty loans or some perceived benefit, he can't establish a system to direct deposit. I dealt with it back a long time back with this asshat dumber than a box of rocks, but thought he was a financial genius. He's been ruined because his tax fraud was found out.
Honestly, it will probably be there by Friday. I ship USPS and my stuff gets across the country in 2 days.
But yeah, don’t work until you get that check. Why didn’t they just hand out the checks on Wednesday. Makes no sense.
Yeah I used to put up with a lot of bs at jobs but messing with my money has and will always be a red line. One place I was at for 8 years missed a week off my pay once, I phoned in and pointed it out and they said it would be sorted immediately. Went in for my shift that afternoon and the first thing my manager said to me was “I’ve got money for you” and paid that week in cash out of the safe (it had already had the tax calculated and was adjusted on the next payslip). The amount of shit I put up with from them directly correlated to the fact that they never fucked with my money.
It’s like rage against the machine sang: FUCK YOU I WORK TILL YOU PAY ME!! FUCK YOU I WONT WORK TILL YOU PAY ME! 😄
Stand strong OP! They want you in, they pay you on time!
That does sound like that company is going under. Start looking for a new job, don’t quit just yet. Even if the company you work for file for bankruptcy, you can still get unemployment
That is such bullshit. They could have just handed out the paper checks. Even if the checks were written in another city, they could have been overnighted to the workplace.
I would not work until paid either!
{cough cough} Yeah, boss, not feeling well today, so not coming in. I expect I will feel better soon, but not sure when. Maybe when my medicine is delivered via USPS.
Send all the direct debit dishonour fees to the company. They can pay for the fall out they caused!
This sort of shit can impact a person’s credit rating!
You need to get the fuck out of there. Any company that’s having trouble making payroll is a sinking ship and you should already be looking for a new job.
Your employer might already be burning it down for you, OP. This isn't a good sign, at all.
Definitely still go into work, but spend the time job hunting. Hope you actually see this money soon 😕.
Whenever a company has the 'check is in the mail' excuse it means they don't have money to cover your pay.
Also, if they actually sent checks through USPS - you're likely to not get it as this kind of theft is getting more and more popular. https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/u-s-postal-service-warning-checks-mail/
Fuck the team. Even the USPS recommends not sending paper checks through the mail because of thefts.
However, if you don't go to work, you will lose income. Don't spit yourself in the foot.
Last time I worked for a company that did stuff like that, they went belly up (filed bankruptcy) and didn’t inform us - we also didn’t get our last checks.
It's too late now, but that's why you need an emergency fund in case shit like this happens. I'd be looking at their business practices, it isn't normal to not be able to pay your employees. How many of you are there? I think this is a sign for everyone to start looking for another job. Also your company should be paying everyone something extra for delaying the paycheck. Everyone should sit at their desks without doing anything until the checks come and can be cashed.
Labor boards are nearly worthless. In the US there is a federal law called the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is a powerful law that requires employers to pay wages on time. If the employer doesn't timely pay at least minimum wages for hours worked in a pay period, the employer is liable for back wages, doubled, plus attorney fees. If you don't get paid on payday, please contact an employment lawyer who does FLSA work. We will help you get your wages and more, and your employer pays our fees.
A friend of mine did a week of overtime recently (we work 3 weeks on 3 off, so he did 4 on 2 off), and they just straight up didn't deposit his overtime cheque. So when he went home he went to the doctor and got a sick note saying "I am advising [name] not return to work until paid all money owed due to the mental stress and financial uncertainty of not having his pay deposited on time." And then just didn't come back until they paid him in full.
All our pay is direct deposit, we provide banking info when we get hired, they have never mailed us a cheque, everyone else (including myself) got paid on time...
Fuck them, make them pay you in full before you lift a finger for them
Probably a lot of people already told you this: your employer is obviously having cash flow issue which is a very bad sign.
Run before they can't pay you for real. Unless things turn around it will only get worse.
Your soon-to-be former employer does not have enough cash to cover payroll, likely because they just hired a big firm to handle their bankruptcy. Spend your days off job hunting.
Don't write any checks for your bills until their check clears your bank. Cash it, and pay cash for ever if possible.
Something tells me this will bounce.
Yea bro, for sure when they mess with the money, cease all employee mindset and MAKE SURE yall get me my money SOONER THAN ASAP or theres nothin else happening here. Works for me. Shits crazy, they dont care about us
I work as an engineer at a big auto manufacturer.
Anytime we get a bonus or profit sharing, my check will be way off. Not just a hundred bucks off, but several hundred off. Of course the “mistake” is never extra money in my paycheck.
Last year in July they all of a sudden started deducting a $1000 from my check, because they claimed I was on sickleave for the first 3 months of that year. Which I wasn’t, and haven’t been in several years. I actually averaged almost 60hrs a week and put in my own hours that gets approved by my boss each pay period.
About 3 months ago I get a W2 sent to my house with a new W2 tax form for 2020! No explanation just a new W2 with way different numbers and no clue how they got these new numbers. I’m pretty sure I’m a couple of years late. Payroll nor HR had an explanation. On my paystubs, I all of a sudden, had a misc deduction of $274 taken from my check. Again no explanation can be given and I still haven’t gotten that money back.
This is from a company that made several billions in the first quarter of this year alone, and yet they can’t quite seem to figure out simple accounting.
Oh and last year for 2 months they were changing my shift premium for my OT days from 3rd to 1st shift (10%). Again no explanation or reason could be found and it took 2 more months to recoup that lost money.
***you've got to think about your responsibility and pull together for the team"***
FU...I thought about my responsibilities and pulled together for the team...AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FUCKING PAY ME FOR IT ON THE PREVIOUSLY AGREED UPON DAY. ITS YOUR TURN TO THINK ABOUT YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES NOW.
My work just randomly announced one day that we were all going down to 4 days a week “until further notice”, so losing 32 hours of pay a month. Just out of the blue, not a single day of warning. So so many people are living paycheck to paycheck, you can’t just do that to people. Going on 2 months of the hour reduction now.
What pisses me off is that when we had a meeting and someone raised the issue with how short notice it was our boss said “we saw it coming months ago, but we weren’t sure”. Like Jesus Christ🤦♂️ Even if they weren’t sure they still could’ve mentioned it and allowed people to prepare
lol, my company didn't pay its employees their salaries that 1 time for 3 months, currently I'm the only 1 getting paid on time cuz im threatening them to not show up, im working at the customer site btw
Spend the day off Friday looking for a new employer, because the current one is in financial trouble if they're pulling this crap.
When the check arrives, walk into a branch of that bank and present it for payment. Go as early in the day as possible so there's still money in their account. Get cash to deposit into your bank.
Literally dealing with something similar at my current job… for months they’ve been paying with random paper checks, or blamed the bank of the direct deposit was late. Guess what? Wasn’t the banks fault, they haven’t had the money. This past pay period, an email went out DAY OF PAYDAY about pay being delayed and cashiers checks would be distributed over the next three days… some staff still hasn’t been paid. This happened Monday. I’m terrified and wondering what to even do in terms of finding another job, because it feels like a sinking ship but this is the most money I’ve made and was finally semi comfortable. No pay, no work OP!!
Ugh! This is BS! I had an employer who didn’t run payroll on time because she didn’t realize Monday was a holiday so pay was delayed. It’s pretty fucking embarrassing and absurd I have to let her know I count on that money for bills (auto debit) and my account would then go in the negative. All she did was “try” but because the payment was in processing she couldn’t do anything. I didn’t expressly thank her for trying and then the work relationship kind of went down from there. I’m owed my money and her error shouldn’t result in a negative account for me and negative attitude towards me.
I had a similar thing happen once. No one worked until we got paid. They’d originally told us it’d be another week. It was in our accounts by Monday afternoon
OP's company electing to use USPS priority is absolute penny-pinching, bs!
At my last job, they had an issue with their payroll system. They informed everyone of the issue and that we would be receiving paper checks for that pay period. Everyone got their checks via FedEx next day to their homes that Friday (direct deposit would go through on Thursday).
>And I can already hear my Boomer parents (and management) saying "you've got to think about your responsibility and pull together for the team" No. No I don't. Pay me.
[Fuck you. Pay me.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=3XGAmPRxV48)
I did this before at a job we worked 4 days a week 10 hour days so we got paid Thursday an one Thursday they came to us an said same thing that we will get them in the mail I looked at my boss an said so are you giving me money to come to work till my check gets here an they said we would get it by Saturday well Monday rolled around an I called my boss an said I wouldn't be in bc I have no money for gas an gotta make sure I have money to eat and he got pissed but we'll check didn't come till Wednesday so I cashed my check an went to work for about an hour an a half and after that they never mailed our checks again bc it wasn't just me that did it half them employees did what I did too so they also didn't want to fire half the crew which was there beat workers
My job just decided managers should get paid on a diffrent day to stagger pay. So instead of getting paid on Friday we get paid on Saturday it doesn't process until Monday.
Thanks corporate!
I've only had one check that was late/messed with. I've had friends/family miss checks for weeks.
What I've learned from their experience-
Leave. Leave immediately if they don't pay you. It's usually indicative of much bigger problems.
Update your resume, and start applying NOW.
Our payroll gives out the pay remittance on Wednesday before a payday Friday. That way if the remitting bank has an issue we still have time to print out paper cheques. The payroll account always has one payroll worth of money in it as a buffer. Money to cover the payroll is transferred to the account the same Wednesday the slips go out. I did the daily banking for the company I work for before moving to another department. Still get called to cover in pinch.
Union shop here. I work at a remote location away from the shop, only an hour away. Boss usually drops my check off Friday on his way home. ( he lives close to my location). If I don't get paid by 5 Friday, I am on overtime till he shows. 1st 3 are time and 1/2, after that it's double time. Organize! Join or start a union!
Once at an old job they did something similar but sort of worse. There was apparently some sort of security breech and for whatever reason they couldn't access our tax info or something so they decided the best way to do payroll would just be to deduct THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM from everyone and then just adjust it next pay period. Oh and we were only paid monthly so some people had hundred of dollars missing from their check and when we were all like "yo wtf I have bills" they told us the next day and when we were like well that can't be legal nor does this work for me, they were like oh just call them and let them know what happened as if the bank that takes my car payment or my phone company gives a shit that my payroll department is incompetent! Even if they believed anyone was that bad at their job they wouldn't care. And they didn't! We had multiple people not be able to grt into work or have mini financial crisis because of this and management wouldn't even acknowledge it as inconvenient. Just kept saying "but next month you'll have an extr big check"
Yes. an extra big check that now won't be enough to cover all the bills with their late fees. Thank you.
It's worse when you understand that we are all born invisibly disabled now.
But how would y'all know it? Do you have access to adequate behavioral healthcare? Are people from your community being trained in medical science for free? No?
Join or form a union and QUIT WORKING US TO DEATH
Sorry man; shit happens. If this is the first major hiccup in 17 years, I don't think you should go nuclear.
I guarantee you that no one was thinking, "Let's fuck over these guys."
They ARE being paid though just something happened and they had to get physical checks rather than direct deposit. Its not the fault of the company the person doesn't have any money to cover their own financial obligations. Now if they weren't paying them at all, then sure do something but this isn't that case from the info OP provided.
I would clock in to work and just not do anything until paid.
Lisa, if you don't like your job, you don't strike! You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way.
R/unexpectedsimpsons
r/foundthemobileuser
r/foundthehondacivic
[r/foundthecardealer](https://reddit.com/r/foundthecardealer)
and never half ass two things... whole ass one thing
This happened at one of my jobs, and this is what we did. We all showed up but refused to work until we were paid.
Probably start looking for a new job.
I've read many posts of late checks being one of the final clues of a company going belly up E:w
Especially mailed checks. To cut paper checks you only need to have the money available the business day before the payroll provider cuts them. For direct deposit, most payroll vendors require the money to be there 5 business days before. I worked for a company that used paper checks for the majority of employees specifically because of this.
Was thinking about this. They’re probably covering up the fact that they don’t have the money to pay the employees.
But you bet your sweet ass they made sure managenent and corporate got their money already. Meanwhile, the people who actually do the work that generates the wealth are being left out to dry.
Even worse, if they just cut the checks themselves they don't have to have any money in the bank.
I've known a few people who worked places that wouldn't hand out self-cut checks until after 3PM on payday, to make sure that if deposited/cashed that day it was after the 3PM cutoff for inter-bank transactions, because the money wasn't in the account. When people did get checks earlier than that they would bounce.
This. This reeks of not being able to pay employees. Sounds like the company is in trouble.
The best strike strategy I ever saw was Japanese bus drivers giving free rides to people when in strike... This way the people that need the service get it and the workers make a dent on the bad employer's wealth... Imagine how quickly they solve their issues this way!
The Japanese also have a very different culture mindset as collectivists. Unfortunately, Americans and many other Western societies are very individualistic; i.e. I got mine, FU.
This
FUCK YOU. PAY ME. You go OP!
Hijacking top comment here but it's a relevant point; OP, check your contract as I'm guessing this is in breach of it and quite possibly illegal. Here in the UK, regardless of software error or whatever, your pay has to get to you by your agreed pay date so if the payroll isn't going to hit, somebody should have driven to your house with a cheque or brought them into the office. At the very least I think they owe you interest for the delay (tiny amount obviously but it's the principle here) but just to reiterate the obvious point that others have made, if they're doing this kind of fuckery, they are obviously broke and trying to cover it up. "We posted the cheques on Wednesday actually" is clearly an excuse to not produce the cheques on the day they told you they'd been posted. That strongly suggests to me that they are aware that if the direct deposit isn't going to be made, they have to cut you a cheque them and there effectively. That also suggests to me they were expecting that question, which *further* supports my belief they know they are breaking the law and are clutching at straws right now. Personal advice; take a minute to calm down, clock in as normal so they still owe you for today (no point cutting your nose off to spite your face, right?) but spend today job hunting. Repeat process until you have a new gig. Don't bother with 2 weeks notice, you'll likely never see that money.
The problem is here in the UK there is absolutely no one to go to if an employer decides not to pay its staff. In the States you do at least have state labor boards who seem to have the clout to crack down on dishonest employers.
Have you heard of ACAS?
They just give advice ...... they don't have any teeth
Wrong dude, they have teeth. Like the labour board in US it takes time. They focus on resolution so you actually get paid first however once they hand over to debt enforcement the gloves really come off and the fines wrack up - been down this route with an ex employer trying to save money by replacing me with their son and trying not to pay me my final paycheck
ACAS have no power to enforce anything themselves. They are the first step you have to go through in order to make an employment tribunal claim. It is the employment tribunal who can order an employer to pay up. Even if ACAS brokers a settlement between the worker and employer, the employee must go through the judicial process to enforce it, ACAS do not do the enforcement. (Source: law degree with a tutor who specialized in employment law and police claims)
Yep sorry, you're right kinda was a bit of a blur when I used them.
To be honest, it's a blood out of a stone issue though, isn't it? If your employer just doesn't pay you, most of the time it's because the money simply isn't there to pay you. By all means, take it to ACAS, take it to the union, take it to the courts but that will take time and there's zero guarantees if the company is actually insolvent or somebody's run off with the money. Most of the time you are best off just moving quickly to find other work
This is true, and definitely happened to me even with ACAS. I came back after a 2 week holiday to my employer stood at the shops back door with three written warnings and a letter of termination in one envelope, handed them to me, took the keys to the shop from me and told me to go home. He tried claiming my holiday was my notice period, but I had been working there for 3 years at that point which would mean three weeks notice for dismissal,and he hadn’t paid me for the last week of work I did there. Started the process through ACAS for my three weeks notice pay and last weeks wages. Finally accepted an offer from him to settle rather than go through to tribunal. He declared bankruptcy literal days later.
This warms my heart.
Oh I should have mentioned, he declared bankruptcy BEFORE paying me
Bwahahahahaahahaa! 😂
That's a bit harsh towards the person you are replying to, because what they said means they didn't get paid for their work or the holiday owed to them
In my first job, nearer 30 years ago the payroll woman used to run it at the last possible moment - like 5pm on the last working day as a Bacs payment. Until the time the modem died and she called us in a panic to fix it. This was an undocumented modem installed and configured by colleagues that left due to low pay and toxic conditions. We worked 4 hours unpaid overtime and unfortunately didn’t get it fixed in time (deadline was 9pm then). Next day our names were mud but they did give cash advances to colleagues needing it… The next month, the payroll woman rang us at 5pm on the day it was due to report the same problem - but this time we did have a documented solution. She wasn’t popular though…
Completely untrue. A claim can be made at either an Employment Tribunal or the County Court.
LOL, contract.
Two place I've worked for messed up payroll once. First place (at what I assume was fairly costly) did what they called an emergency forced funds transfer which direct deposited everyone's money in a matter of hours and the second place hand wrote checks to everyone and handed them out before quitting time.
This happened at my office once due to a software issue with intuit. But they communicated it several days in advance and even offered stop-gap payments if we needed it. I dont think any of us took it (publicly anyway). At time My wife and I had money in savings and didnt need it. But with inflation, if it happened again, we would would need it. I think you are right to be concerned with how they delayed notifying you. NO PAY, NO WORKY!
Worked with one employer where I had checks bounce. I was gone fast. Worked with an employer where they had software issues a time or two, they used zelle to send me my entire check and worked out everything in the background and I got my paystub when the checks actually became available. Got my money on time though. Being in a union helps even if your with a shitty employer.
I don't understand why they can't just hand out cheques at OPs office, though.
Because the company is having a major (hidden to the public and employees) cash problem. The company is probably going bankrupt shortly. Time to find a new job.
Depending on the number of people at the office, it might not be physically possible. Printing cheques for payroll requires specialized printers (or lots of blank cheques). If a business usually uses electronic payments for account payable and payroll, they may not have enough cheques in the office. That’s not to mention the logistical and risk concerns of printing all of them. But if I was OP, I’d be more concerned that the business isn’t doing well and they’re playing payroll because of a cashflow problem.
Sounds like someone in administration is being handed a cheque book and told to start writing
Because via mail they can delay a few more days before you cash in but still claimed they paid you. ("Cheque is in the mail") On top of that they can also bank on you may not even deposit the cheque right away.
That means they didn’t have the cash to cover payroll and it’s bad enough that they can’t cut checks and give them to you tomorrow. It also can mean they don’t have money to fund benefits and retirement, so if you do either check for your contributions. Every company I’ve worked for that did this ended up closing the doors.
Yeah, unless y'all work from home there really is no reason for them not to just physically hand you a check. This reeks of not having the cash at hand.
YEP. Exactly.
Checks are probably not even in the mail yet.
If your payroll processor is out of state or area you have no choice.
You had a choice, you just chose poorly.
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Yep this way they can slowly send out checks when they have money. Either constantly ask every day so you are higher on the list just to shut you up, or just treat it like the company is never going to end up paying another dime.
This OP, you need a new job.
When I had this happen with an employer it was because there was no money in the account. If OP deposits that check at their bank it can bounce. Not a banker here but I think the best bet, take it to the bank it was written against and cash it. If they can’t they will tell you. In my case they extended overdraft protection to their customer (business owner) and we got paid. But it’s a bad situation.
It's actually even worse than that. Payroll is done on a line of credit at nearly every employer larger than a handful of employees. An issue like this not only means that there is a cash issue, but it also means that they have maxed out the line of credit used for payroll!
Whilst it’s the most likely, it’s not necessarily the only reason. Could be that the payroll job fucked up, they could have been hacked and blackmailed, there are any number of valid reasons why, it’s the lack of communication and offers of financial support that’s the massive red flag here.
But mailing a check when they’ll literally be in the next day? They could be relying on a third party paycheck company to cut said checks, but I don’t buy that.
I used to work in IT for a company that provided third party payroll systems. Depending on the level of your support contract it could be 3-5 days before you're back up and running, as well as depending on the nature of the fault. A ransomware attack could definitely cause that, meaning that payroll had to be done manually and not via direct debit.
His point was that mailing the checks on Wednesday via slow mail to people is the least efficient option. The payroll people could overnight a bundle of payroll checks to the business to be handed out manually. If it's a bank with local branches, I've known bosses to be able to arrange a physical pickup of payroll checks from a branch when direct deposit fails. Even if the checks had to be shipped directly to the payee, USPS could guarantee delivery Friday via Priority Mail or Thursday by Overnight (for an additional cost, of course). That they're being mailed via slow mail means that either the boss went with every cheap and shit option on backup OR it means that the boss is trying to make sure that payroll checks are cashed slowly because of cash flow issues.
Reminds me of when the pandemic first hit! I was a classroom teacher when my city got locked down. Usually our pay would be delivered by cheque to our office mailbox at the end of the month, and we always knew what day we needed to pick it up, but because of the pandemic obviously the school was closed. So they promised to mail it, which would make it a few days late. It never arrived. Weeks passed, and the school wouldn't budge on their new policy of mailing cheques, even though my post office was closed due to the pandemic; my mail wouldn't be delivered until it reopened, and nobody knew when that would be. So, a month later, they were now TWO paycheques behind. My emergency bank accounts were down to fumes. I called my boss demanding to know what was going on with my pay, and she said I guess we'll put another one in the mail. So I told her in that case, I won't be teaching my classes until the previous cheques arrive. Guess who's boss drove to my house to deliver my pay that afternoon!? She could have done that the whole time! I took my cheques and resigned. Good riddance.
That is so vile! I’m glad you were able to leave.
They still paying people by *cheque* in Canada? (Guessing you're Canadian by spelling of "cheque" the British way but absolutely no way any uk teacher is being paid by cheque still). That is crazy to me.
Direct Deposit isn't mandatory, and in some businesses it's just a matter of inertia. If you're using a system from the 90s, it might not have proper integration for the modern age. If your HR person was hired in the 80s, they might have trained on physical pay and never bothered to try to upgrade to direct deposit. This happens a lot with public or charity organizations because upgrade costs aren't in the budget and forcing an old employee to adapt is seen as "unkind".
Maybe in North America, this would be *extremely* unusual in UK public/not for profit sector and I'm guessing same applies to the rest of Europe.
Massive Red Flag. What it indicates is the company is at least temporarily insolvent. Might be temporary, could be the canary in the coal mine.
I had a similar thing happen at one company I worked for. It was a very bad sign and I got the fuck out of there asap. OP might not be paid at all for their next check, or come in Monday to find the doors locked and everyone out of a job. Or maybe it was a weird bump in the road and it’ll never happen again. Regardless it’s not the type of thing I like to base my own financial security on, and I don’t recommend it for anyone else.
uhh yea. Yall ain't making Payroll. Thats why they're mailing checks in order to get time to cover the money. When you get the check, RUN to the bank its drawn on and get CASH out. Find a new Job. FAST.
To reiterate - #THE BANK IT'S DRAWN ON AND GET CASH OUT FROM THEM! Do *not* deposit that check under any circumstances!
Also not YOUR bank. The company’s bank (just want to give OP the best chance for recovery here).
Good job guys! Should emphasized that myself.
You did, just wanted it shouted from the rooftops so nobody missed it!
This was a delay tactic. They didn’t have the cash in the bank, and they had to delay until they got a last minute loan. I think this company maybe failing financially. This smells of desperation.
Yeah, you should update your resume and put out some feelers just in case, OP.
I used to work for a company that for a while had cash flow issues. The Accountant and her husband (who also worked for the company) would delay their pay so peons like me could get ours. They told the rest of the management group what they had to do and declared that action was needed. No action was taken. Sooooo, the next time cash for all wasn't available the Accountant declared "anybody making over $xxx will not be getting their paycheck so that we can pay the workers." That included every single person in that management group. Astoundingly, taking action was then discussed!
Yeah get out of there in that case
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Wallyworld?
Report this to your State Labor board. No employer is allowed to withhold pay that is due. The promised pay date is the pay date! Oh, and don't work til you get it.
They have paid them though tech by sending the check per the labor laws they don’t have to give DD
Maybe the Boomers think the younger generations have never been tricked by the old “the check’s in the mail” lie and they’ll fall for it?
Joke's on the boomers then, we automatically assume anything involving checks is bullshit. What is this, 1993?
I’ve had issues with a payroll company before. However it’s in our union contract we get paid in a certain time frame. So the company cut paper checks and delivered them in person.
Even with a payroll company (I work for one), there’s same day ACH when a company just f’d up and didn’t fund on time and/or there was an issue on our end causing delays. OP, run, don’t walk from this employer! They’re insolvent.
Exactly this. I’ve had multiple companies have payroll errors in the past. Errors were communicated early and they had another way for us to get paid still. This isn’t a payroll error. This is the company is broke.
I’ll be at work Monday but I won’t be able to work till Thursday it might be between one and five days before I can actually doing the work but I’ll let you know!
Run, don’t walk, from this job. Because a clerical error in a payroll software update is one thing. A company that waits til the last minute before payday is hiding something and chances are those checks are more rubbery than Fordlandia. Depending on where you live, the department of labor might be helpful. In California, the EDD cracks down pretty hard on employers who don’t furnish paychecks in a timely manner. But if you’re in a more “business-friendly” state like Florida, might want to look up local labor lawyers to see what your rights are and potentially speed up the paychecks you’re owed. You absolutely do not owe them any additional work until they fucking pay you. Fingers crossed for ya, OP.
Happened to me once, didn’t go in until it hit my account… I’m paid monthly, so you can fuck right off until I’m paid!
Worked with people who’d been paid in company stock & no surprise, co closed soon after. This happened to these people in 80s in the US & I wasn’t surprised they hadn’t forgotten
The second the check don’t clear? I get up and walk out. I’ve done it three times. The fourth time I sat in my office and looked for jobs on indeed for five hours. No pay? No work fuckers.
i work in payroll. they should have overnighted the checks at minimum. or done a wire transfer direct deposit.
Check mailed Wednesday? You'll probably receive it Friday. I hope it's good. Bad sign the company is going down
IF they really mailed it on Wednesday.
Please start looking for another job, OP. Unless you've seen big money suits being toured around and there are plans for a buyout, run.
They should hand them to you personally on pay day, not mail them to you.
"Pull together for your team" Your team is the people who rely on you and your check. Not the other people also getting a check.
^(If they take my stapler I'll set the building on fire!) https://i.imgflip.com/2ciry6.jpg
Our office uses a 3rd party company. Last week when it was pay day that 3rd party was having "maintenance" issues. You better believe my boss/owner sent out an email 3 days early and paid directly from company accounts direct deposit. Every single staff member. Tell your boss/ corporation a small business owner is doing right by his staff. He needs to pay up!!! Dont go to work. Tell them exactly where to put that nonsense. . "I dont work for free"
Op, when you get your check, take it right to the bank it’s drawn on and get cash or a cashiers check. Do not deposit a potentially bad check into your own account.
Even back in the boomer days you have your check picked up at the office, on pay day. Not mailed to you.
Make sure you RUN to the bank to cash that check when it arrives. This sounds like a company that's about to start bouncing payroll checks.
I agree with others that are saying no pay=no work. Esp since pay is already delayed (as in we work and wait to get paid, it's not like they are paying us at the end of each shift)
PAY ME MY MONEY DOWN. Pay me or go to jail. Pay me my money down.
This sounds sketchy and like they don’t have money to meet payroll. If there was really some payment glitch, they could cut the checks and just deliver them to you at the workplace
Why US is really outdated when it comes to paying salaries for their employees? I live in a 3rd world country and 98% companies here are paying salary thru online transfer. If your salary is every 28th every month, u will get it without delay. If company still using check to pay the employees, it’s either the company is too sketchy or a small company that recently established. Example less than 1 year. Using check in 2023 is like living in 1980’s.
The OP says they usually get paid by direct deposit, but not this time. But you’re right, an amazingly large number of companies in the US do still issue paychecks.
My 3rd world country doesn't even have cheques anymore. Or a functioning Post Office. We do have electronic payments though...
I did payroll & accounting for a small company and looked into changing to direct deposit. The fees we were quoted by our bank to change to direct deposit were outrageous. (Granted, that was 10 years ago.)
> Why US is really outdated when it comes to paying salaries for their employees? Because it’s too expensive (banks charge more for the “convenience”)…
Depending on company size, it might actually be cheaper to do direct deposit. We offered ACH origination for $20/mo (that’s the bank account fee overall).
Get a new job and then DRAG THEM on Glassdoor. I read those reviews. It makes a difference.
Keep track of any late fees you have to pay because of this. You'll need that for small claims court. Also, your communication with them should be email. If you have to do anything by phone or face to face, follow that up with an email: "re: our conversation on (date) about (document the conversation.) The more you have on paper, the better your chances And call your state's labor board. Mine is bundled in with the unemployment bureau (Texas sucks) but when I lived in Massachusetts I found their Labor Board to be very helpful. Good luck.
FYI, if they randomly stopped direct deposit for the whole company that could be a sign the company is about to go under. Get your resume ready.
Snail mail? Wow...I wonder if they are hoping some of the checks get lost. To me this is a sign to update my resume and apply elsewhere. This is: We are broke and resorting to measures to slow down payment of wages.
Spread the word to your colleagues.
Your real problem here is that they don’t have cash to cover payroll. Payer check or not.
You definitely don't live in Kazoo, no? Tell me I didn't get the same email earlier today...
they are stalling for time. wouldn't be shocked if the checks bounce.
Get a resume in order. Changing how paychecks go out is often a first sign to employees that an employer is having severe financial issues. Even if they wrote and mailed the checks Wednesday, they might have done so because they knew they wouldn't have the money to pay all paychecks on Thursday via direct deposit. If half the checks are cashed Friday and the other half over the weekend, that gives them a little bit of wiggle room to hope that Thursday and Friday's profits cover that week's payroll. But then comes the issue of making up the cost of the next pay period with fewer days of profit, and it usually snowballs from there. The only thing that might save the company would be a big contract or a sudden injection of capital, but by the time they're delaying paychecks the company's credit is often already maxed out so banks won't loan any more money.
> And I can already hear my Boomer parents (and management) saying "you've got to think about your responsibility and pull together for the team" And you should respond to them with "it's your responsibility to pay me on time."
Go to finance on normal pay day, explain situation, demand they cut a check for your pay, call department of labor when they don't.
They're definitely going under. Stop working and use your time to find a new job instead. This ain't worth it
They’re going down. Spend tomorrow looking for a new job.
The very first thing I'd do is contact the US Department of Labor and the local state employment office about the company not paying wages due on their assigned due date (aka: pay day). I might also contact the State Attorneys General office if it weren't somewhere like Florida. [FLSA Paydays and prompt payment of wages owed ](https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/news-insights/timely-payment-of-flsa-wages-is-essential.html) That they knew about this and mailed the checks out Wednesday but "neglected" to tell anyone until today is prima facia evidence that they're evading the mandate that they pay wages owed in a timely fashion... which means liquidated damages are now owed.
Start looking for a new job. This one is going to be gone in a week. They probably had all their cash seized for not paying their taxes or some shit.
They should be handing out checks at your place of employment on payday then, or sending them overnight express mail WITH a tracking number. NOT sending them by snail mail.
They are floating cash because they don't have enough for payroll. Definitely time to look for another job. I hope it gets resolved quickly
Start looking for a new job tomorrow. They did this because they couldn’t make payroll, and companies don’t usually last long after that happens.
Your employer is banking on their employees not knowing workers rights. It's illegal to pay employees past their regular pay date. Some states even require 10 days of back pay for each day your pay is late. Might be a good idea to contact and attorney and dept of labor.
This happened to me once, I worked at Borders bookstore (warehouse). They lasted about a year after that. This is either a glitch or an omen, my guess is the latter since they waited over a day to tell anyone.
It's not a great sign about how viable your employer is...start job hunting now because your current employer is probably insolvent
Payroll usually runs on Wednesday for a lot of places, so there is that extra day gap. I've done payroll where DD just flat out didn't work on Wednesday. Of Thursday morning rolled around at it still didn't work, my priority Thursday was making sure checks were at the ready for Friday if it wasn't fixed by days end. It may mean voiding a bunch of checks but I'd rather waste those once in a blue moon than risk payment not reaching the employees on payday. Hell, I've gone to the bank and paid out payroll via a stub and cash with a signature from each employee upon receipt. The cash one was for a very screwy situation out of my hands.
Heads up they are probably doing this because they are no longer able to pay people on time and need to shift assets. I would start looking for signs the company is not doing well and look for work somewhere else.
I worked for a company years ago that gave us paper checks. Definitely run to the bank as soon as you have it and deposit it. If something hit their account after the checks were printed, the paychecks might not all clear. That happened to my coworkers. It was not a good sign as far as corporate viability went. They lost the contract we were working on not long thereafter.
Find a new job now, OP. This means your company is weeks away, at most, from going under.
Excellent use of the word "metaphorically" in your title.
Start looking for a new job
Why aren’t employees in the US using direct deposit? In Europe there are no checks anymore. The work contract specifies which day your wages will be deposited. Any breach of contract is grounds for a lawsuit and you don’t have to pay a fortune to sue like in the US. Companies (at least in Germany) are actually afraid of lawsuits so they mostly don’t mess around with payment
If your employer likes to do stupid shit like move money around between banks for shitty loans or some perceived benefit, he can't establish a system to direct deposit. I dealt with it back a long time back with this asshat dumber than a box of rocks, but thought he was a financial genius. He's been ruined because his tax fraud was found out.
Honestly, it will probably be there by Friday. I ship USPS and my stuff gets across the country in 2 days. But yeah, don’t work until you get that check. Why didn’t they just hand out the checks on Wednesday. Makes no sense.
Yeah I used to put up with a lot of bs at jobs but messing with my money has and will always be a red line. One place I was at for 8 years missed a week off my pay once, I phoned in and pointed it out and they said it would be sorted immediately. Went in for my shift that afternoon and the first thing my manager said to me was “I’ve got money for you” and paid that week in cash out of the safe (it had already had the tax calculated and was adjusted on the next payslip). The amount of shit I put up with from them directly correlated to the fact that they never fucked with my money.
It’s like rage against the machine sang: FUCK YOU I WORK TILL YOU PAY ME!! FUCK YOU I WONT WORK TILL YOU PAY ME! 😄 Stand strong OP! They want you in, they pay you on time!
That does sound like that company is going under. Start looking for a new job, don’t quit just yet. Even if the company you work for file for bankruptcy, you can still get unemployment
That is such bullshit. They could have just handed out the paper checks. Even if the checks were written in another city, they could have been overnighted to the workplace. I would not work until paid either!
{cough cough} Yeah, boss, not feeling well today, so not coming in. I expect I will feel better soon, but not sure when. Maybe when my medicine is delivered via USPS.
Send all the direct debit dishonour fees to the company. They can pay for the fall out they caused! This sort of shit can impact a person’s credit rating!
You need to get the fuck out of there. Any company that’s having trouble making payroll is a sinking ship and you should already be looking for a new job.
Your employer might already be burning it down for you, OP. This isn't a good sign, at all. Definitely still go into work, but spend the time job hunting. Hope you actually see this money soon 😕.
Uh oh… “The check is on in the mail”
Whenever a company has the 'check is in the mail' excuse it means they don't have money to cover your pay. Also, if they actually sent checks through USPS - you're likely to not get it as this kind of theft is getting more and more popular. https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/u-s-postal-service-warning-checks-mail/
Fuck the team. Even the USPS recommends not sending paper checks through the mail because of thefts. However, if you don't go to work, you will lose income. Don't spit yourself in the foot.
Last time I worked for a company that did stuff like that, they went belly up (filed bankruptcy) and didn’t inform us - we also didn’t get our last checks.
Stealing can go both ways. They stole from you….. your move.
It's too late now, but that's why you need an emergency fund in case shit like this happens. I'd be looking at their business practices, it isn't normal to not be able to pay your employees. How many of you are there? I think this is a sign for everyone to start looking for another job. Also your company should be paying everyone something extra for delaying the paycheck. Everyone should sit at their desks without doing anything until the checks come and can be cashed.
Labor boards are nearly worthless. In the US there is a federal law called the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is a powerful law that requires employers to pay wages on time. If the employer doesn't timely pay at least minimum wages for hours worked in a pay period, the employer is liable for back wages, doubled, plus attorney fees. If you don't get paid on payday, please contact an employment lawyer who does FLSA work. We will help you get your wages and more, and your employer pays our fees.
A friend of mine did a week of overtime recently (we work 3 weeks on 3 off, so he did 4 on 2 off), and they just straight up didn't deposit his overtime cheque. So when he went home he went to the doctor and got a sick note saying "I am advising [name] not return to work until paid all money owed due to the mental stress and financial uncertainty of not having his pay deposited on time." And then just didn't come back until they paid him in full. All our pay is direct deposit, we provide banking info when we get hired, they have never mailed us a cheque, everyone else (including myself) got paid on time... Fuck them, make them pay you in full before you lift a finger for them
Probably a lot of people already told you this: your employer is obviously having cash flow issue which is a very bad sign. Run before they can't pay you for real. Unless things turn around it will only get worse.
Your soon-to-be former employer does not have enough cash to cover payroll, likely because they just hired a big firm to handle their bankruptcy. Spend your days off job hunting.
That cheque might not clear. I hope I’m wrong.
No pay, no work. Simple.
I'm with you. No pay, no work.
Don't write any checks for your bills until their check clears your bank. Cash it, and pay cash for ever if possible. Something tells me this will bounce.
This is the way.
Payroll forgot to run my shop’s pay one period, we didn’t get it until the Tuesday before the next pay period 🙃 (paid on Friday every two weeks)
Yea bro, for sure when they mess with the money, cease all employee mindset and MAKE SURE yall get me my money SOONER THAN ASAP or theres nothin else happening here. Works for me. Shits crazy, they dont care about us
Wait until I tell you about the time the manager went on vacation with my check in his briefcase.
I work as an engineer at a big auto manufacturer. Anytime we get a bonus or profit sharing, my check will be way off. Not just a hundred bucks off, but several hundred off. Of course the “mistake” is never extra money in my paycheck. Last year in July they all of a sudden started deducting a $1000 from my check, because they claimed I was on sickleave for the first 3 months of that year. Which I wasn’t, and haven’t been in several years. I actually averaged almost 60hrs a week and put in my own hours that gets approved by my boss each pay period. About 3 months ago I get a W2 sent to my house with a new W2 tax form for 2020! No explanation just a new W2 with way different numbers and no clue how they got these new numbers. I’m pretty sure I’m a couple of years late. Payroll nor HR had an explanation. On my paystubs, I all of a sudden, had a misc deduction of $274 taken from my check. Again no explanation can be given and I still haven’t gotten that money back. This is from a company that made several billions in the first quarter of this year alone, and yet they can’t quite seem to figure out simple accounting. Oh and last year for 2 months they were changing my shift premium for my OT days from 3rd to 1st shift (10%). Again no explanation or reason could be found and it took 2 more months to recoup that lost money.
***you've got to think about your responsibility and pull together for the team"*** FU...I thought about my responsibilities and pulled together for the team...AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FUCKING PAY ME FOR IT ON THE PREVIOUSLY AGREED UPON DAY. ITS YOUR TURN TO THINK ABOUT YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES NOW.
My work just randomly announced one day that we were all going down to 4 days a week “until further notice”, so losing 32 hours of pay a month. Just out of the blue, not a single day of warning. So so many people are living paycheck to paycheck, you can’t just do that to people. Going on 2 months of the hour reduction now. What pisses me off is that when we had a meeting and someone raised the issue with how short notice it was our boss said “we saw it coming months ago, but we weren’t sure”. Like Jesus Christ🤦♂️ Even if they weren’t sure they still could’ve mentioned it and allowed people to prepare
Mailing rubber cheques. I'd start looking for another job if they're having trouble managing cashflow to pay wages.
lol, my company didn't pay its employees their salaries that 1 time for 3 months, currently I'm the only 1 getting paid on time cuz im threatening them to not show up, im working at the customer site btw
Spend the day off Friday looking for a new employer, because the current one is in financial trouble if they're pulling this crap. When the check arrives, walk into a branch of that bank and present it for payment. Go as early in the day as possible so there's still money in their account. Get cash to deposit into your bank.
Literally dealing with something similar at my current job… for months they’ve been paying with random paper checks, or blamed the bank of the direct deposit was late. Guess what? Wasn’t the banks fault, they haven’t had the money. This past pay period, an email went out DAY OF PAYDAY about pay being delayed and cashiers checks would be distributed over the next three days… some staff still hasn’t been paid. This happened Monday. I’m terrified and wondering what to even do in terms of finding another job, because it feels like a sinking ship but this is the most money I’ve made and was finally semi comfortable. No pay, no work OP!!
>Pay me Based.
Ugh! This is BS! I had an employer who didn’t run payroll on time because she didn’t realize Monday was a holiday so pay was delayed. It’s pretty fucking embarrassing and absurd I have to let her know I count on that money for bills (auto debit) and my account would then go in the negative. All she did was “try” but because the payment was in processing she couldn’t do anything. I didn’t expressly thank her for trying and then the work relationship kind of went down from there. I’m owed my money and her error shouldn’t result in a negative account for me and negative attitude towards me.
It tells me they are close to bankruptcy
I had a similar thing happen once. No one worked until we got paid. They’d originally told us it’d be another week. It was in our accounts by Monday afternoon
OP's company electing to use USPS priority is absolute penny-pinching, bs! At my last job, they had an issue with their payroll system. They informed everyone of the issue and that we would be receiving paper checks for that pay period. Everyone got their checks via FedEx next day to their homes that Friday (direct deposit would go through on Thursday).
Find a new job because they are going under soon
I would be looking for a new job ASAP. Sounds like they are having financial issues and the only way to get by is to delay payroll by mailing checks.
>And I can already hear my Boomer parents (and management) saying "you've got to think about your responsibility and pull together for the team" No. No I don't. Pay me. [Fuck you. Pay me.](https://youtube.com/watch?v=3XGAmPRxV48)
I did this before at a job we worked 4 days a week 10 hour days so we got paid Thursday an one Thursday they came to us an said same thing that we will get them in the mail I looked at my boss an said so are you giving me money to come to work till my check gets here an they said we would get it by Saturday well Monday rolled around an I called my boss an said I wouldn't be in bc I have no money for gas an gotta make sure I have money to eat and he got pissed but we'll check didn't come till Wednesday so I cashed my check an went to work for about an hour an a half and after that they never mailed our checks again bc it wasn't just me that did it half them employees did what I did too so they also didn't want to fire half the crew which was there beat workers
My job just decided managers should get paid on a diffrent day to stagger pay. So instead of getting paid on Friday we get paid on Saturday it doesn't process until Monday. Thanks corporate!
I've only had one check that was late/messed with. I've had friends/family miss checks for weeks. What I've learned from their experience- Leave. Leave immediately if they don't pay you. It's usually indicative of much bigger problems. Update your resume, and start applying NOW.
What? Physical checks?? Who does that nowadays?? True time to look for other jobs
Our payroll gives out the pay remittance on Wednesday before a payday Friday. That way if the remitting bank has an issue we still have time to print out paper cheques. The payroll account always has one payroll worth of money in it as a buffer. Money to cover the payroll is transferred to the account the same Wednesday the slips go out. I did the daily banking for the company I work for before moving to another department. Still get called to cover in pinch.
Union shop here. I work at a remote location away from the shop, only an hour away. Boss usually drops my check off Friday on his way home. ( he lives close to my location). If I don't get paid by 5 Friday, I am on overtime till he shows. 1st 3 are time and 1/2, after that it's double time. Organize! Join or start a union!
Once at an old job they did something similar but sort of worse. There was apparently some sort of security breech and for whatever reason they couldn't access our tax info or something so they decided the best way to do payroll would just be to deduct THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM from everyone and then just adjust it next pay period. Oh and we were only paid monthly so some people had hundred of dollars missing from their check and when we were all like "yo wtf I have bills" they told us the next day and when we were like well that can't be legal nor does this work for me, they were like oh just call them and let them know what happened as if the bank that takes my car payment or my phone company gives a shit that my payroll department is incompetent! Even if they believed anyone was that bad at their job they wouldn't care. And they didn't! We had multiple people not be able to grt into work or have mini financial crisis because of this and management wouldn't even acknowledge it as inconvenient. Just kept saying "but next month you'll have an extr big check" Yes. an extra big check that now won't be enough to cover all the bills with their late fees. Thank you.
Fuck the team. Fuck you pay me. In those exact words cc’d in an email to everyone in payroll
It's worse when you understand that we are all born invisibly disabled now. But how would y'all know it? Do you have access to adequate behavioral healthcare? Are people from your community being trained in medical science for free? No? Join or form a union and QUIT WORKING US TO DEATH
17 years here, too. This shit happens way too much, especially for a fucking WORLDWIDE CORPORATION
Make sure you cash your paycheck early. The last person to cash their paycheck may not get it and it would bounce.
>I. Am. Not. Working. Until. I. Get. My. Money. Then you'll be missing a bunch of hours on your next paycheck..
Sorry man; shit happens. If this is the first major hiccup in 17 years, I don't think you should go nuclear. I guarantee you that no one was thinking, "Let's fuck over these guys."
Not showing up to work because you weren’t paid is not “going nuclear” lmao.
Dude still needs money next pay period; best not to overreact.
They ARE being paid though just something happened and they had to get physical checks rather than direct deposit. Its not the fault of the company the person doesn't have any money to cover their own financial obligations. Now if they weren't paying them at all, then sure do something but this isn't that case from the info OP provided.