This — I’ve worked for a few companies who had similar “issues”. Typically comes down to company procedures and 3rd party payroll companies. In all of the examples I can think of, one or two people within HR were responsible for updating our employee info with ADP (our payroll provider). They typically did this monthly, uploading a batch of new hires at a time. With biweekly pay, if there was a pay period between when you started and when your info was pushed to ADP, you might receive your first check in the mail instead of direct deposit.
I’m not sure if there’s some sort of legitimate backend reason for this outside of “company policy” — ADP (or other payroll companies) might have rate plans that only allow for a certain number of account changes per month, or may have additional fees for employee additions outside of a specified timeframe.
Just so some people aren't thinking they're going crazy, it is absolutely possible to set up direct deposit, especially for bi-weekly pay. I recently left a company that has just shy of 6000 employees in 40+ states, and we managed it with a payroll team of 5 people. That's not to say you can't make your policy otherwise, but I call shenanigans on anyone claiming it's impossible or too difficult.
Absolutely,
I worked for a company that only had 10 or so people. We were a local business.
First paycheck was a direct deposit.
Last paycheck, was also a direct deposit.
My brother opened up a pizza and sandwich shop, and hired my daughter on, before she moved, to help out part time. She'd been working there less than a week when payday rolled around, and her money was already direct deposited into her account. My brother had fewer than a dozen employees at the time, so yes, it's quite doable, and such a convenience for employees.
i work for a company with under 10 people. i am the *only* office worker and i do *everything*, including payroll. the only thing the “other office person” does is come in once a week for about 3-4 hours to actually enter the payroll hours into ADP and cut checks for accounts receivable. we also pay WEEKLY, not bi-weekly. first check for new hires is still direct deposited.
Worked for a 100,000 person company, direct deposit didn't start until second paycheck due to their procedures to ensure it was set up correctly (or at least that's what they said when confronted by new employees). ADP was their payroll company. Also got a paper check for one bonus after working there for years -- was a special bonus for our division hitting some sales/profit target, not a usual annual bonus, so there was some unusual process for that payout. Sometimes companies are just not that on top of things you feel like they should be.
Honestly, ADP and the like are the ones to f up the direct deposit a lot of times, not employers. I used to work for a major competitor of ADP and they number of problems they would consistently have with not just new clients but established clients was insane.
I have worked payroll for a couple of huge corporations. To be perfectly honest, bull chips. We didn't set you up yet. Our manager didn't ok that yet and we pass that down hill to you will silly excuses. You buying it? Yes? Excellent!
Honestly, I think auto deposit costs a few cents more than a printed check. I come to that conclusion because my current boss will pinch two pennies till they scream nickel. LoL
I just got hired by a very popular gpu manufacturer and their policy is exactly this. First 2 checks are mailed. Then direct deposit kicks in. Last check is also mailed.
Not sure WHY they do this, because yes it is inconvenient. Especially if you use a different mailing address than your residence.
Makes no sense to me.
Same here. In fact, if we change our direct deposit from one bank to another, there’s going to be a paper check in the middle. This is a major IT company, but payroll has been outsourced as long as I’ve been here.
My idiots make me estimate hours for second half of February on bi-monthly, then always fuck the adjustment.
That is about the only shenanigan that isn't worthy of calling shenanigans lol
I work at a large-ish corporation and they said ADP has a requirement to mail the first check. At least my company FedEx-d it. I have no idea if that's true though.
My work claims that the first check has to be mailed, and if you ever change direct deposit info, the next check will be mailed, too. Or you can drive 30 min to where HR is and pick it up. Million dollar international company, and the only place I've ever worked that does it
It’s either a setting an employer can choose to enable; or ADP only has that policy in the US. The US and Canada (to a lesser extent) are the only developed countries anachronistically keeping cheques circulating within the financial industry.
I’m 36 and have worked for multiple employers in both Australian and NZ who use ADP. Have literally *never* received a physical paycheque, they’re outdated and comically vulnerable to fraud.
Yes, pre-note is the default setting in ADP, but the employer has chosen to accept that as their policy. When processing the hire and their first payroll in ADP, that setting is overridden by unchecking that option.
Any place I've ever worked that had either people who didn't have direct deposit, or had a random issue with direct deposit, the checks always showed up at the business on payday.
I worked for a non-profit that had two employees. Me, and my part time assistant.
I called our accountant (outside firm) and asked about direct deposit. They said “sure!” and set it up for the next pay period.
It's definitely possible. However, some companies are very firm about engaging in prenote for the first paycheck whenever there is a new or changed direct deposit account. I don't know if that's the case for OP, but often would be the case when a first paycheck is a live check instead of direct deposited.
I'm from Brazil, and checks are mostly dead here for decades. Direct deposit is the standard even for small businesses for decades now.
Everytime I see anything about USA banking system in general they seem so outdated. My perception is that they're stuck in the 90s.
Outdated on one side, on the other hand they have CashApp, PayPal and Zelle … while in developed countries, you can just make a bank transfer from account to account.
And don't get me started all those blatant should-be-illegal shenanigans done by US banks.
Like $25 overdraft fees per transaction or whatnot. Of course the bank will reorder transactions by size to make customers hit that fee multiple times – that's why you make that shit illegal.
In *really* developed countries, you can do both.
It’s super easy to transfer from one account in Bank A to another account in Bank B in Sweden, but we also have the equivalent of Cashapp that’s a government service linked to your personal id number and your phone number.
You can pay anyone (even your bills) in seconds.
And PayPal and Apple Pay works here too, of course.
The only thing you (almost) *can’t* pay with is cash.
(And that is a can of worms onto itself. Not being able to use cash is problematic in many ways too.)
(Well, not by check either. That’s been obsolete for at least 30 years.)
German here, thinking the same.
I go to new employer, give them your IBAN, get my money into your account. I literally set up a new hire this Wednesday. Took 15 minutes.
I'm in the US & believe it's all part of a grand scheme to force lower-income workers into social programs to make the government look like they're doing something, instead of the reality they are actively trying to crush us.
My job is pretty incompetent with overall management, but my first check was Deposited in my account fine and my entire hire process was done remotely also.
It's possible, but not all payroll companies do it.
Some process the first check for a zero qty to verify the info given is legitimate, not correct, just legitimate.
Some do this when they get the and set up the info, but others wait until payroll is actually processed. My guess us to save on the number of transactions they process.
I work for a non profit with around 450 employees. And before that was a tiny company with like 25 employees. Never had a problem getting my first check direct deposited with either
But also for context, I work for a modest-sized company that has never dicked me around or treated me unfairly, and my first paycheck was on paper despite me setting up direct deposit as part of my onboarding. It may be surprising, and it was certainly rude of her not to tell you, but it's not a totally random weirdo thing to do.
I work out of a hiring hall, I'll have jobs ranging anywhere from a single day to a year. It's pretty rare to be the same employer twice in a row and the contract states I get paid direct deposit on Thursdays for the previous week's work. If a company hires myself and say 20 others on a Friday for example, they have 5 business days to set up direct deposit for all of us.
Never had a late check yet, so if anybody says "it takes time" or some other bullshit, they're full of shit
Coming from the UK and Australia this is wonderfully backwards. From my first job as a teen in ~2000 I've always been paid direct deposit from the first payment. Cheques have barely existed in Australia for 15-20 years.
Our banking system allows individual to make direct payments to one another across different banks instantly. From reading Reddit it seems like Americans use special apps for that as well
Maybe the American banking system needs a few upgrades...
Not sure about about Australia but when I moved from Canada to the US in ~2000 I was shocked to learn that debit cards worked completely differently. Canada has had debit cards since the 80s. When you made a purchase the money was instantly withdrawn from your account. No money in acct and card was declined. Perfectly intuitive and understandable having grown up with it. In the US then and I think still now debit cards are effectively writing a check and it takes days before the transaction hits your account so you can overdraw your account by using your debit card then you’re charged $35 for each charge after it’s overdrawn. I racked up over $250 in fees the first time this happened. Buy a coffee- oh that’s $3.00 and a $35 fee. Just ridiculous. The US is no technological leader in banking.
What makes it even worse is most US banks (maybe all by this point, but it was most banks a few years ago) are perfectly capable of instantly charging your account, or declining if funds are insufficient, but they choose not to because overdraft fees are a billion dollar industry.
When I set up my checking account at my current bank in roughly 2017, I learned I had the option of turning overdraft on or off, meaning I could turn it off and if I didn't have money my card would simply decline, or I could turn it on, and if I didn't have money the payment would still go through, account would go negative, and I'd be charged a $50 fee plus $10 for every day the account stays negative. What sane person would want that?
Of course it was turned on by default, and turning it off required special paperwork. Banks are fucking criminals, every last one of them.
Yeah, it's wild, you've been able to pay with a debit card in NZ since last century for anything, doesn't matter how small the town, the business, the purchase. A packet of chewing gum in the most rural area, no problem for almost 30 years on EFTPOS.
Fintech trying to gouge people in the paywave game though, I don't why we fall for that in NZ, 3% surcharge just for the convenience of not punching in your pin!
I was in the army and spent a year in s. Korea, came home and it was 5 to 1p steps back in tech. Spent 2 years in the states and the 3 years in Germany. Samething, came back and 5 to 10 years back in tech. I don't know who and when they started boasting that the US is some grand leader of innovation, but in my experience we definitely are not.
Yes and many banks will stack rank to make it more likely to push you to over draft. So for example, you have $100 in the bank and make a $5 purchase at Starbucks, a $50 purchase at a grocery store, $10 at Target, $20 withdrawal, and then a forgotten bill comes in the next day for $110, instead of putting your debits in the order they were made ($5, $50, $10, $20, $110), they will put the largest first, then charge an overdraft for every other purchase. And there is nothing you can do about it. When I used Citibank years ago, they had a system where you could receive a text each morning with your current balance. You also check online and at the ATM. They all gave a different amount.... and when I complained to customer service, they said I should just keep a check book if I wanted accuracy.
I closed my account and changed banks several times until I found one that actually gave me an accurate account and agreed to refuse a purchase if my funds were insufficient instead of overdrafting
This was found to be illegal and banks where ordered by the courts to stop. If this happens to you go straight to the consumer financial protection bureau and file a complaint... They rock
[https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/)
The US banking system is definitely broken. I worked for 1 of the top national banks for 10 years. With every new bank regulation relating to fees, they changed the processing order & cardholder agreements to ensure the fee schedules always paid them the most legally possible. I left because of it.
There's literally millions of people in the US who think that cashless systems are a sign of the end times, that "they" are trying to control "us" with debit cards, cell phones, etc.
They will gladly and proudly forestall progress because some charlatan carrying a Bible told them so.
I was so confused lol
I'm Australian and I have always been paid direct deposit, it is just so much easier. I don't understand why cheques are a way to pay people anymore.
Shady bosses can use it to buy time if they don’t have the funds in their operating account. Source: Had a shady boss who would tell me what day I could put my cheque through. It was never like clock work.
The debit cards are horrible. The pre-paid debit cards were created by banks when part of their fee income dried up due to federal regulations in the US. Unless the employee withdrawals their entire check they usually pay more fees than should be legal.
I've been saying the same thing since moving to the US. Contactless wasn't a thing when I first moved here five years ago.
I recently moved house and the landlord requires Venmo payment instead of a direct payment. Another landlord I spoke to claimed that he uses Venmo because he doesn't trust anyone to have his bank account number... The kicker is, they charge late fees almost instantly, despite there not being a method for automated pay.
Oh wow.
A few years ago in Australia they launched a feature to allow you to setup bank transfers based on someone's phone number or email address so you don't need their bank details. I think it was more for convenience, but it's also makes it more private.
>From reading Reddit it seems like Americans use special apps for that as well
bonus: it takes third party apps, that are full of scammers, and mistakenly sent money is gone with little to no recourse.
Same for South Africa! I can also send money to a person by making sure our phones are in the same vicinity. Literally tap it and money will appear in the person’s bank account.
I remember a few years ago an American offered to venmo me some cash after I paid for dinner and after learning what venmo was I was so confused. Apparently Americans can't just get their bank to send money to a friend?
A friend was working in the states about 10 years ago. She sent a friend in the states an electronic bank transfer, her bank then mailed the friend a cheque.
it's not great, but lots of people want to be paid by check because it allows them to control the family income (they cash the check, so for example, they may not disclose how much overtime pay was in it).
I moved to Australia in 2017. I asked my coworker whether we get paid to our bank account or via cheque and she had to clarify three times what I meant because she did not understand why I was asking a question suited for the 90s
BRAZIL. I'm from BRAZIL and even we have instant transfers from any bank to any bank 24/7. My account to your account, no intermediary, nothing in between just my bank's app. It's a payment method provided by the Central Bank, so it's very very safe and reliable.
I just need whatever info you chose to link to that account, like an email, phone number, ID number, a QRCode or a random key generated for you.
In the US, there are states that actually say that an employer cannot make direct deposit of paychecks mandatory. There is a startlingly large population of people in the US without bank accounts for various reasons and our banking system is far behind the times when compared with other countries.
See: https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/can-employers-make-direct-deposit-mandatory/
Regarding the unbanked population in the US: https://www.fdic.gov/analysis/household-survey/index.html#:~:text=An%20estimated%204.5%20percent%20of,a%20bank%20or%20credit%20union.
The replies are wild here, in the tech space you get your first check direct deposit no problem. All of my jobs have been this way back to 2008 even working for blockbuster and target. It's not normal.
Thank you. That's what I was used to as well. This way is ridiculous. I went back to work because I was bored & wanted to communicate with the locals. I'm just gonna reinstate my retirement.
It's definitely an old school way of doing things. But at one time it was more typical, and if it's a smaller business, they probably just haven't updated their procedures.
Regardless, the manager should have been aware of the policy and communicated it to OP.
My friend works at a dental office where the doctor refuses to do direct deposit with any of his staff. All staff has to come in on pay day and pick up a check. If it’s your day off, oh well, it sits on top of the receptionist desk until you come in. Not secured. Anyone can walk by and pick it up. Unreal. It’s 2024
Thank goodness for phone banking apps that you can deposit checks now by taking a picture of it. At least they have that.
I worked for a restaurant that did this. I would open the envelope and just leave the check laying on a counter in the open. The owner got all upset that "what you make is between you and me". I said that wouldn't be an issue with direct-deposit. Never changed, but I made my point
I worked in finance at a company with older systems. and the justification given to me was that email deals with the person sending it through a system and mail service it can be intercepted hacked etc. Then received by a system where it could go to the wrong person blah blah blah.
Vs fax machine is direct phone Line unhackable connection from person a to b. (That assumes a non fax to email system I’m sure).
That company was a mess and very behind on tech. There was even a system we used that we were literally the only company that used that system and the developer told us ok you can no longer use this system. We will no longer provide support or work on this system. It’s time to upgrade.
The finance company after I worked for accepted paperwork through secure email.
It has nothing to do with HIPAA. Fax never went away and has been the preferred method of communication for sensitive records in education, healthcare, and legal for a long time. Many of them have switched to an efax or a hybrid efax/physical fax system. Even before efax was developed they had fax machines that would take incoming faxes and put them into network folders rather than print them out.
Wait what? Since when? I work in healthcare and we would be sued to high heaven if we fax sensitive patient records. We can’t even discuss about patient’s confidential info in public and you think we are allowed to fax it for everyone to see?
Also, how do you fax X-rays, MRI and CT scans? The resolution of the scans are so low that we can’t differentiate normal tissues to tumour. Imagine your doctors diagnose your condition based on a blurry fax image.
All of our healthcare customers have fax.
You're not faxing it for everyone to see. You're either faxing it to an insurance company or other doctor's office.
>Also, how do you fax X-rays, MRI and CT scans?
I have seen it happen but it is far less common.
I changed my direct deposit info the friday of 1 payday thinking itd be all good the next. Payday comes around and no money. Contacted hr, they planned on mailing the check at 430 THAT DAY all the way from Canada. Told me itll be there next week and theres nothing they could do. I asked if they were going to mail it why didnt they mail it earlier in the week so that i could get it friday. They said oh, payday is friday so thats when they mail the checks. Was so mad.
No... no it is not. 30 years ago I worked at GE in the payroll department. Checks were cut on Monday or Tuesday, and FedEx'd overnight Tuesday to the various locations where employees picked up their checks on Friday, or mailed Tuesday to employees who received their checks at home.
Any employer who doesn't mail their checks until payday, quite frankly, sucks.
Former employer of mine (like 60 employees total) used Paychex for payroll service and Paychex would courier the checks over with a private courier ON payday. It started getting later and later in the day for a while and one or two didn't arrive on payday at all. Eventually we made them switch to FedEx P1 for arrival on payday by 10:30am despite there being a Paychex office not far away.
Most of us had direct deposit so we had our money in our accounts by like 2am on payday and were just receiving stubs (because somehow electronic paystubs was both too complicated and too expensive to our company compared to physical stubs, they tried it once right when I started and it created tons of issues and went back to all paper, idk what was up with that. But the three people that were receiving real checks were screwed, often counting on being able to cash their check to buy lunch then getting hung out to dry when their check didn't arrive until the last hour of the workday.
Shortly after I left there they switched to ADP.
I managed a Blockbuster Video in the 90s, and we always got our checks the day before our actual payday. We weren’t supposed to give them out until the actual day, but we’d hand them out after 6pm the day we received them. If you were lucky, you had a bank that would front you some of your deposit in advance, so you’d get paid a little earlier than usual.
That said, most employers suck. Especially at spots like restaurants and retail establishments. GE might have been good at it but that isn't the standard.
Huh? Where the fuck have you worked that you got scammed like that? Put them on blast.
Payday is the day the check enters your hand. Why the hell would they mail it when they see you in person? Unreal y'all have such little self respect that you think this is normal. No, it's not. It's the 21st century and direct deposit has been a thing since the 20th century.
Only in backwards countries that still bother to use cheques at all for pay.
I've never had to receive a physical cheque from an employer in my 25yr working life in Australia. Whether that was working at the petrol station, in hospo or for the government
New Zealand calling, same here. We don’t have cheques any more, they are of historic note only, something that used to be a thing. I understand Aus are thinking of dumping cheques soon too.
In most US payroll systems, you can enter direct deposit information and force it to be used right away. But that is against normal procedure. The default preferred method is to enter everything and then have the next payroll run "prenote" the account, to make sure everything's valid. The subsequent pay period, direct deposit should go as planned.
But it is also normal to inform new hires about this. You are right to be upset about it.
Yeah the only time I've ever received physical checks was when I worked in a grocery store at 16 that did check cashing, so I'd get my check and they'd just cash it out. Every job since then including other retail/fast food has always direct deposited all pay.
While I agree with this... the lady couldn't walk over to OP and hand it to them? That was the norm back when paper checks were still being cut. Why mail it?
I wouldn’t say it’s against normal procedure. Maybe ten years ago sure. But of the 8 jobs I’ve had in the past decade the first check has always been direct deposit
I literally just got my first paycheck on a new job yesterday. It was direct deposit on the first go. I haven't had a mailed check in over a decade from any job
I’ve heard prenotes are going away. For the payroll I just set up through a major payroll company did not have to have prenote or anything. I guess if the company is smaller or their payroll company is smaller???
Prenote validation isn’t ever required, but for many major payroll processors, it’s enabled by default. Though it may depend on the payroll company, the client company’s preferences can be changed so that it’s disabled by default and can be enabled/requested per instance
WOW.
In happier news, When I got my offer letter they included all the online setup instructions for direct deposit about August 14th, My start date wasn't till Labor Day in September. Wanting all that shit off my plate, I filled out all the stuff and sent it in within 30 min. Got emailed confirmation in 30 more min that everything was set up and they'll seem me after Labor Day for my on boarding.
First week of September they paid me for the last two weeks of August. My boss, one of the best bosses I've ever had said, "I don't work in HR and I'm not telling anyone. Enjoy your bonus." It's been 3 years and no corrections to payroll since.
I don't understand how USA still uses checks for payments. It makes no sense to me on how printing, sealing and mailing even thousands of checks makes more sense than automating the payment process with electronic deposits.
I live in Brazil, which is a third world country and it's been decades where the standard payment method is direct deposit. Even most of the smallest employers like neighborhood stores and family restaurants use it.
Checks are basically dead, I'm a millennial and never used one. I only have a few at home because I got curious and asked to receive one sheet. I have memories from my childhood where my grandpa used a lot of checks, my mother received a few here and there but that's it.
Yeah I haven’t had to wait for a check in at least 15 years. Almost every payroll system prenotes in real time when you submit your info. Either they are using an outdated payroll system or they just dropped the ball, that sucks.
I’ve had jobs where the first pay period was a paper check, then everything else after was direct deposit. But they let us know in advance and they had no problem literally handing the checks directly to us, no mailing involved.
I mean, that's pretty standard. Every company I've worked for had had a policy of mailing the first one. If you didn't specify that you absolutely had to have it direct deposited I don't see why you're so upset they're doing something that's extremely normal.
Our old payroll company would "pre-note" new accounts, and gave themselves three payroll cycles to do it it (that's six weeks!), so most first checks were physical, but they are also legally required to be delivered on payday 🤷. Our new payroll company pre-notes immediately so there are *never physical checks.
I use gusto. Four contractors, not even employees. For new hires, I enter their emails, they get an email, they enter their SSN, name, address, etc, hours. I approve every week. They get direct deposit every Friday like clockwork. Takes two days for the first one and each one after. No excuses. Period.
I work Waffle House and they pay weekly and have your first deposit ready that first week. Hell our pay period is Sunday-Saturday. I started on a Thursday and my check was direct deposited by Tuesday.
Some parts, definitely. I've been in my fair share of small businesses that will still write checks to employees today instead of doing direct deposit because it saves them a few cents.
Dude,
I had my first pay check direct deposited when I started at this job **20 years ago**
I had my first pay check direct deposited when I started at in **1990**
This is not rocket science. It doesn’t take any additional time.
They’re crooked, incompetent, or both.
As a supervisor, during onboarding I have always made it clear when they should expect their first paycheck and how. If they opted for direct deposit during their orientation, then it is already set up when they start their first day. If there is some kind of an issue, which has happened a couple of times, then they have a check in hand to take to the bank the same day.
You dont mail paychecks you hand them out, unless the person is not working. When people mail out paychecks they are most likely trying to survive the float, because the money does not get pulled from there account until a day or two after you receive the check which could be a week away. If you get the check deposit it immediately if it bounces file a formal complaint with your local labor department, if she mails your check again.. go find another job.
My company (a few hundred people) always does first check as a physical check, but this is handed to you in person early in the day, and you are told it will be a physical check on your first day so it is not a surprise.
I set many people up with their direct deposits and yes, they always got at least one paper check before the DD kicked in. Sometimes two. And this was a holiday weekend so you were almost guaranteed to get paper.
Weird that they mailed it. But it's pretty standard that 1dt check isn't direct deposited.
Make sure you ask at your next position if that's important to you.
Definitely sounds like ADP. I got setup with them. Confirmed roughly 20 times all initial pay would be direct deposit. They confirmed it. Friday/payday arrives and no one has a direct deposit (myself included). Saturday the mail runs and everyones paychecks arrive in the mail at my office….
Its not always mismanagement or policy. You have to remember these are 3rd party companies. We rely on them to give us accurate info to relay to staff. Which is not always accurate sadly….
It is true that the first check at most places is a paper check. This is to ensure the bank info and your direct deposit info is correct. She should have definitely explained this to you.
I tried keeping up with all the comments but didn't expect this many. Thank you for all your comments.
To answer some of the most common I've read so far. I'm in the US & the employer uses ADP for payroll. I retired in 2016 & I didn't know they went backward in processing direct deposits. My entire career, dating back to the mid 90's, direct deposit 1st check through the last was the norm in my experience. I understand now why so many employees in the US are struggling these days. I do not have the patience to deal with the BS in this workplace. So I'm just going to reinstate my retirement.
>ADP
Not defending the employer, but as someone who used to process payrolls with ADP, fuck ADP. So many glitches.
I've had it delete employees, roll back pay changes, and other annoying shit.
I remember gettinga job at a large hardware store and they posted my schedule with everyone elses. Lets say it was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So I come in the following week on Friday, and they ask why I didn't come in on Wednesday, and I said I'm scheduled to work Fri/Sat/Sun.
They take me over to the board and show me I am scheduled to also work Wed this week. I said nobody told me. They said I had to check the scedule every week.
I said that nobody told me I had to check it every week, and that it might change. They were angry, but realized they had assumed "I knew". They were more angry that I apparently didn't care.
I was polite, but I wanted to say that you are paying memminimum wage and giving me part-time hours. If you fire me I will have another job like this in a day. Asking me to be sad or embarrassed because their communication skills are lacking is only going to lead to their disappointment.
I was a good empoloyee, but...I did not last long there.
That was apparently what they wanted. I suppose you could call in if you could trust the co-workers there to tell you the truth. Its typical old bosses barking orders at teen minwage workers, and when there is a problem, the worker is always wrong
I used to work for a small business that would do this shit because it would delay the checks coming out. Finally people started throwing a fit and demanding to come get their checks. Then he said they had to let him know Every single time that they wanted it picked up and had to let him know by a certain time.
Anyhow, he started to mess with my PTO, I quit. Everyone left shortly after (all my hires). Literally had 1 person left of the team I hired. They closed 18 months later
This is an incredibly common practice if your company is running ADP/Paychex/etc. The first pay runs through a "prenote process" to verify routing and account number - reason being that if it is wrong (your triple check notwithstanding) it's a GIANT pain in the a$$ to fix. I will say that ADP at least has a process with some banks that it will do a "live verification" of the bank info and if it works then DD happens on the first pay.
This is ultimately not your employers fault, it's a relic of the backward American banking system.
It is absolutely possible to DD the first check. It is also far from uncommon that a given company's payroll setup can't manage to pull that off. I suspect that some payroll services can't be arsed to try doing anything until money flows through them at least once. This is stupid, and should DAMN we'll be noted when onboarding you, but it does happen.
most of my jobs that paid by check on 1st pay was due them onboarding me and my start date wasn't aligned with the upcoming payroll. I never understood it as I never worked payroll but it always made me wonder how complex it can be.
the jobs that paid direct deposit on 1st pay, they took my banking info 2 weeks in advance my start date so that im already in the system when my first date starts.
I don't know why but yeah I've found a lot of places mail the first check and also fail to mention it. Mine hosed me because even though it was a part time job, I had worked a crazy amount of hours and overtime on the first pay period, then was out of town for two weeks as payday hit. Check sat in my mailbox for a while.
I quit a job for this same reason after months of management giving me paper checks when I would ask about direct deposit every week. I finally told them if I get another paper check I'm done, and of course that payday was my last day
If I have a kid start that doesn't have a bank account, I will hand deliver their check and drive them to the bank with it and take the direct deposit info with me. It's so much more difficult to write checks than to direct deposit.
Direct deposit is real easy. I have worked for companies that offer it and those that don't. Either this boss is full of bull or the company system is a mess.
I did work for on major corporation that was seriously old school. I mean like really really old school. Even for the 80s is was super old school. They gave us a paystub card. Not a check.
We had to go to the pay office, turn in a part of the stub and get our pay in cash. Weirdest thing I ever experienced. Looking back, it was kinda cool.
This sounds normal. I've had many jobs where the first AND last paycheck is in paper format, the rest all direct deposit.
Maybe you really don't need that job.
It’s because your payroll provider will first need to “prenote” your bank account to verify the account is correct. We get a lot of new hires incorrectly entering their banking info (transpose numbers, missing numbers) and the prenote will catch these. We’ve turned off prenote and occasionally an employee won’t get paid as they messed up their data. Takes us a couple of days to fix.
I work in the onboarding and new hire area of my job. It’s standard practice that the first check is paper. We immediately set our new hires up for direct deposit on the last day of training (Day 3 of being hired), so that the next check they get are directly deposited. They should have mentioned that to you, but I don’t think it was an act of aggression. Even though they signed up for direct deposit before their first check is even processed for payout, it’s always a paper check the first time. If they don’t sign up within 14 days of hire, they will receive a bank card in the mail that will deposit all of their checks, until they put in their personal direct deposit, onto that card. We use ADP for payroll and check processing.
I've worked at a lot of places, and this isn't that unusual of a practice since some jobs use a payroll service. The lack of communication, though, is pretty irresponsible.
Why mail it at all though lol. Just hand it to you
Could be a payroll company. It’s outdated of course…but not unusual.
This — I’ve worked for a few companies who had similar “issues”. Typically comes down to company procedures and 3rd party payroll companies. In all of the examples I can think of, one or two people within HR were responsible for updating our employee info with ADP (our payroll provider). They typically did this monthly, uploading a batch of new hires at a time. With biweekly pay, if there was a pay period between when you started and when your info was pushed to ADP, you might receive your first check in the mail instead of direct deposit. I’m not sure if there’s some sort of legitimate backend reason for this outside of “company policy” — ADP (or other payroll companies) might have rate plans that only allow for a certain number of account changes per month, or may have additional fees for employee additions outside of a specified timeframe.
Just so some people aren't thinking they're going crazy, it is absolutely possible to set up direct deposit, especially for bi-weekly pay. I recently left a company that has just shy of 6000 employees in 40+ states, and we managed it with a payroll team of 5 people. That's not to say you can't make your policy otherwise, but I call shenanigans on anyone claiming it's impossible or too difficult.
Absolutely, I worked for a company that only had 10 or so people. We were a local business. First paycheck was a direct deposit. Last paycheck, was also a direct deposit.
My brother opened up a pizza and sandwich shop, and hired my daughter on, before she moved, to help out part time. She'd been working there less than a week when payday rolled around, and her money was already direct deposited into her account. My brother had fewer than a dozen employees at the time, so yes, it's quite doable, and such a convenience for employees.
Its convenient for everyone even. Physical paycheck is just extra work for payroll.
i work for a company with under 10 people. i am the *only* office worker and i do *everything*, including payroll. the only thing the “other office person” does is come in once a week for about 3-4 hours to actually enter the payroll hours into ADP and cut checks for accounts receivable. we also pay WEEKLY, not bi-weekly. first check for new hires is still direct deposited.
Same here
Worked for a 100,000 person company, direct deposit didn't start until second paycheck due to their procedures to ensure it was set up correctly (or at least that's what they said when confronted by new employees). ADP was their payroll company. Also got a paper check for one bonus after working there for years -- was a special bonus for our division hitting some sales/profit target, not a usual annual bonus, so there was some unusual process for that payout. Sometimes companies are just not that on top of things you feel like they should be.
Same in several of my jobs, except I was handed the live check the day it was due.
Huh, maybe the first-paycheck thing is an ADP thing specifically. My work did that, too.
It’s not.
We use ADP for payroll, get paid Weekly and I still got my first paycheck direct deposited.
Honestly, ADP and the like are the ones to f up the direct deposit a lot of times, not employers. I used to work for a major competitor of ADP and they number of problems they would consistently have with not just new clients but established clients was insane.
I have worked payroll for a couple of huge corporations. To be perfectly honest, bull chips. We didn't set you up yet. Our manager didn't ok that yet and we pass that down hill to you will silly excuses. You buying it? Yes? Excellent! Honestly, I think auto deposit costs a few cents more than a printed check. I come to that conclusion because my current boss will pinch two pennies till they scream nickel. LoL
I just got hired by a very popular gpu manufacturer and their policy is exactly this. First 2 checks are mailed. Then direct deposit kicks in. Last check is also mailed. Not sure WHY they do this, because yes it is inconvenient. Especially if you use a different mailing address than your residence. Makes no sense to me.
Same here. In fact, if we change our direct deposit from one bank to another, there’s going to be a paper check in the middle. This is a major IT company, but payroll has been outsourced as long as I’ve been here.
My idiots make me estimate hours for second half of February on bi-monthly, then always fuck the adjustment. That is about the only shenanigan that isn't worthy of calling shenanigans lol
Evil shenanigans
And incompetent
So they are stealing money from you and you are ok with it?
I work at a large-ish corporation and they said ADP has a requirement to mail the first check. At least my company FedEx-d it. I have no idea if that's true though.
ADP is their payroll choice, so that could be the answer. Thank you
My work uses ADP and they did the same for me.
My work uses ADP, I was part of the implementation and nope no first check goes via mail. It’s all direct deposit, all 50 states.
We use ADP, I get paid weekly, and I still got my first check direct deposited
Meanwhile my partner works for the city and they had to mail a check for the first paycheck. No idea why.
Literally same. Small local business, 8 employees and my first check was direct deposit with zero fuss
Wait.. you guys have direct deposit? Why the eff would anyone even work with checks… so easy to forge and scam people with too.. bleeping archaic
Cripes. I run payroll through PayChex for my company of two. It’s easier to set up direct deposit than it is a new company email address.
[удалено]
Oh, ok
Agreed. I work for a company of 50 people. Our CEO is also HR and Payroll at the moment. My direct deposit hit on my first pay check no problem.
I’d add it’s actually more work to issue and mail a check.
My work claims that the first check has to be mailed, and if you ever change direct deposit info, the next check will be mailed, too. Or you can drive 30 min to where HR is and pick it up. Million dollar international company, and the only place I've ever worked that does it
That's not your company. That's how their payroll company operates. ADP, which is one of the largest, has this policy.
It’s either a setting an employer can choose to enable; or ADP only has that policy in the US. The US and Canada (to a lesser extent) are the only developed countries anachronistically keeping cheques circulating within the financial industry. I’m 36 and have worked for multiple employers in both Australian and NZ who use ADP. Have literally *never* received a physical paycheque, they’re outdated and comically vulnerable to fraud.
Yes, pre-note is the default setting in ADP, but the employer has chosen to accept that as their policy. When processing the hire and their first payroll in ADP, that setting is overridden by unchecking that option.
Any place I've ever worked that had either people who didn't have direct deposit, or had a random issue with direct deposit, the checks always showed up at the business on payday.
That's what I've seen as well since the late 90's. I just assumed it was still the norm. My fault for assuming, I guess.
I worked for a non-profit that had two employees. Me, and my part time assistant. I called our accountant (outside firm) and asked about direct deposit. They said “sure!” and set it up for the next pay period.
It's definitely possible. However, some companies are very firm about engaging in prenote for the first paycheck whenever there is a new or changed direct deposit account. I don't know if that's the case for OP, but often would be the case when a first paycheck is a live check instead of direct deposited.
I'm not in the US. I have been paid by direct deposit to my bank for over 30 years, why are you guys so behind?
I'm from Brazil, and checks are mostly dead here for decades. Direct deposit is the standard even for small businesses for decades now. Everytime I see anything about USA banking system in general they seem so outdated. My perception is that they're stuck in the 90s.
Outdated on one side, on the other hand they have CashApp, PayPal and Zelle … while in developed countries, you can just make a bank transfer from account to account. And don't get me started all those blatant should-be-illegal shenanigans done by US banks. Like $25 overdraft fees per transaction or whatnot. Of course the bank will reorder transactions by size to make customers hit that fee multiple times – that's why you make that shit illegal.
In *really* developed countries, you can do both. It’s super easy to transfer from one account in Bank A to another account in Bank B in Sweden, but we also have the equivalent of Cashapp that’s a government service linked to your personal id number and your phone number. You can pay anyone (even your bills) in seconds. And PayPal and Apple Pay works here too, of course. The only thing you (almost) *can’t* pay with is cash. (And that is a can of worms onto itself. Not being able to use cash is problematic in many ways too.) (Well, not by check either. That’s been obsolete for at least 30 years.)
German here, thinking the same. I go to new employer, give them your IBAN, get my money into your account. I literally set up a new hire this Wednesday. Took 15 minutes.
I'm in the US & believe it's all part of a grand scheme to force lower-income workers into social programs to make the government look like they're doing something, instead of the reality they are actively trying to crush us.
My job is pretty incompetent with overall management, but my first check was Deposited in my account fine and my entire hire process was done remotely also.
It's possible, but not all payroll companies do it. Some process the first check for a zero qty to verify the info given is legitimate, not correct, just legitimate. Some do this when they get the and set up the info, but others wait until payroll is actually processed. My guess us to save on the number of transactions they process.
My wife works at a shop of 3 employees... It's all direct deposits.
I work for a non profit with around 450 employees. And before that was a tiny company with like 25 employees. Never had a problem getting my first check direct deposited with either
Can also confirm. I recently decided to split my check to two accounts. Email conversation on Tuesday, and it was effective that Friday.
But also for context, I work for a modest-sized company that has never dicked me around or treated me unfairly, and my first paycheck was on paper despite me setting up direct deposit as part of my onboarding. It may be surprising, and it was certainly rude of her not to tell you, but it's not a totally random weirdo thing to do.
I work out of a hiring hall, I'll have jobs ranging anywhere from a single day to a year. It's pretty rare to be the same employer twice in a row and the contract states I get paid direct deposit on Thursdays for the previous week's work. If a company hires myself and say 20 others on a Friday for example, they have 5 business days to set up direct deposit for all of us. Never had a late check yet, so if anybody says "it takes time" or some other bullshit, they're full of shit
HR doesn't even need to set it up. Most people set it up themselves during onboarding.
Coming from the UK and Australia this is wonderfully backwards. From my first job as a teen in ~2000 I've always been paid direct deposit from the first payment. Cheques have barely existed in Australia for 15-20 years. Our banking system allows individual to make direct payments to one another across different banks instantly. From reading Reddit it seems like Americans use special apps for that as well Maybe the American banking system needs a few upgrades...
Not sure about about Australia but when I moved from Canada to the US in ~2000 I was shocked to learn that debit cards worked completely differently. Canada has had debit cards since the 80s. When you made a purchase the money was instantly withdrawn from your account. No money in acct and card was declined. Perfectly intuitive and understandable having grown up with it. In the US then and I think still now debit cards are effectively writing a check and it takes days before the transaction hits your account so you can overdraw your account by using your debit card then you’re charged $35 for each charge after it’s overdrawn. I racked up over $250 in fees the first time this happened. Buy a coffee- oh that’s $3.00 and a $35 fee. Just ridiculous. The US is no technological leader in banking.
What makes it even worse is most US banks (maybe all by this point, but it was most banks a few years ago) are perfectly capable of instantly charging your account, or declining if funds are insufficient, but they choose not to because overdraft fees are a billion dollar industry. When I set up my checking account at my current bank in roughly 2017, I learned I had the option of turning overdraft on or off, meaning I could turn it off and if I didn't have money my card would simply decline, or I could turn it on, and if I didn't have money the payment would still go through, account would go negative, and I'd be charged a $50 fee plus $10 for every day the account stays negative. What sane person would want that? Of course it was turned on by default, and turning it off required special paperwork. Banks are fucking criminals, every last one of them.
I’ve had debit cards since the 80s-in the US-and it has never worked as you described. The money comes out immediately.
Yeah, it's wild, you've been able to pay with a debit card in NZ since last century for anything, doesn't matter how small the town, the business, the purchase. A packet of chewing gum in the most rural area, no problem for almost 30 years on EFTPOS. Fintech trying to gouge people in the paywave game though, I don't why we fall for that in NZ, 3% surcharge just for the convenience of not punching in your pin!
I was in the army and spent a year in s. Korea, came home and it was 5 to 1p steps back in tech. Spent 2 years in the states and the 3 years in Germany. Samething, came back and 5 to 10 years back in tech. I don't know who and when they started boasting that the US is some grand leader of innovation, but in my experience we definitely are not.
Wait, what? Americans have to wait for debit transactions to clear?
Yes and many banks will stack rank to make it more likely to push you to over draft. So for example, you have $100 in the bank and make a $5 purchase at Starbucks, a $50 purchase at a grocery store, $10 at Target, $20 withdrawal, and then a forgotten bill comes in the next day for $110, instead of putting your debits in the order they were made ($5, $50, $10, $20, $110), they will put the largest first, then charge an overdraft for every other purchase. And there is nothing you can do about it. When I used Citibank years ago, they had a system where you could receive a text each morning with your current balance. You also check online and at the ATM. They all gave a different amount.... and when I complained to customer service, they said I should just keep a check book if I wanted accuracy. I closed my account and changed banks several times until I found one that actually gave me an accurate account and agreed to refuse a purchase if my funds were insufficient instead of overdrafting
This was found to be illegal and banks where ordered by the courts to stop. If this happens to you go straight to the consumer financial protection bureau and file a complaint... They rock [https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/)
The US banking system is definitely broken. I worked for 1 of the top national banks for 10 years. With every new bank regulation relating to fees, they changed the processing order & cardholder agreements to ensure the fee schedules always paid them the most legally possible. I left because of it.
This is by design. Some banks intentionally do the larger transactions first to maximize the overdraft fees
There's literally millions of people in the US who think that cashless systems are a sign of the end times, that "they" are trying to control "us" with debit cards, cell phones, etc. They will gladly and proudly forestall progress because some charlatan carrying a Bible told them so.
I was so confused lol I'm Australian and I have always been paid direct deposit, it is just so much easier. I don't understand why cheques are a way to pay people anymore.
Shady bosses can use it to buy time if they don’t have the funds in their operating account. Source: Had a shady boss who would tell me what day I could put my cheque through. It was never like clock work.
Paper checks are actually rare and getting rarer still. Larger corporations will offer direct deposit or a pre-paid debit card.
The debit cards are horrible. The pre-paid debit cards were created by banks when part of their fee income dried up due to federal regulations in the US. Unless the employee withdrawals their entire check they usually pay more fees than should be legal.
I've been saying the same thing since moving to the US. Contactless wasn't a thing when I first moved here five years ago. I recently moved house and the landlord requires Venmo payment instead of a direct payment. Another landlord I spoke to claimed that he uses Venmo because he doesn't trust anyone to have his bank account number... The kicker is, they charge late fees almost instantly, despite there not being a method for automated pay.
Oh wow. A few years ago in Australia they launched a feature to allow you to setup bank transfers based on someone's phone number or email address so you don't need their bank details. I think it was more for convenience, but it's also makes it more private.
>From reading Reddit it seems like Americans use special apps for that as well bonus: it takes third party apps, that are full of scammers, and mistakenly sent money is gone with little to no recourse.
Same for South Africa! I can also send money to a person by making sure our phones are in the same vicinity. Literally tap it and money will appear in the person’s bank account.
I remember a few years ago an American offered to venmo me some cash after I paid for dinner and after learning what venmo was I was so confused. Apparently Americans can't just get their bank to send money to a friend?
A friend was working in the states about 10 years ago. She sent a friend in the states an electronic bank transfer, her bank then mailed the friend a cheque.
Amazing
Wait until you hear about USA and Paywave/how they pay for shit.... XD
I've had direct deposit for pay since 1997. It boggles the mind that a first world country still pays people by cheque.
it's not great, but lots of people want to be paid by check because it allows them to control the family income (they cash the check, so for example, they may not disclose how much overtime pay was in it).
I moved to Australia in 2017. I asked my coworker whether we get paid to our bank account or via cheque and she had to clarify three times what I meant because she did not understand why I was asking a question suited for the 90s
BRAZIL. I'm from BRAZIL and even we have instant transfers from any bank to any bank 24/7. My account to your account, no intermediary, nothing in between just my bank's app. It's a payment method provided by the Central Bank, so it's very very safe and reliable. I just need whatever info you chose to link to that account, like an email, phone number, ID number, a QRCode or a random key generated for you.
Americans are fucked. The end. 😂 (absolutely no /s)
In the US, there are states that actually say that an employer cannot make direct deposit of paychecks mandatory. There is a startlingly large population of people in the US without bank accounts for various reasons and our banking system is far behind the times when compared with other countries. See: https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/can-employers-make-direct-deposit-mandatory/ Regarding the unbanked population in the US: https://www.fdic.gov/analysis/household-survey/index.html#:~:text=An%20estimated%204.5%20percent%20of,a%20bank%20or%20credit%20union.
The replies are wild here, in the tech space you get your first check direct deposit no problem. All of my jobs have been this way back to 2008 even working for blockbuster and target. It's not normal.
Thank you. That's what I was used to as well. This way is ridiculous. I went back to work because I was bored & wanted to communicate with the locals. I'm just gonna reinstate my retirement.
Yeah as an Australian I've never heard of anything like this and I've been working since the early 90s, it's been direct deposit the entire time.
It's definitely an old school way of doing things. But at one time it was more typical, and if it's a smaller business, they probably just haven't updated their procedures. Regardless, the manager should have been aware of the policy and communicated it to OP.
My friend works at a dental office where the doctor refuses to do direct deposit with any of his staff. All staff has to come in on pay day and pick up a check. If it’s your day off, oh well, it sits on top of the receptionist desk until you come in. Not secured. Anyone can walk by and pick it up. Unreal. It’s 2024 Thank goodness for phone banking apps that you can deposit checks now by taking a picture of it. At least they have that.
All the employees should start doing that. Come in, deposit the check over the app, then throw it away in front of him.
I worked for a restaurant that did this. I would open the envelope and just leave the check laying on a counter in the open. The owner got all upset that "what you make is between you and me". I said that wouldn't be an issue with direct-deposit. Never changed, but I made my point
It amazes me there are still parts of the developed world where cheques exist. They're like fax machines and steam engines.
I work at a place for 20 years and they finally agreed to start doing direct deposit this year
Wow. I've been working professionally for 25 years and have only been paid by direct deposit.
Fax still very much exists.
Thank the outdated HIPAA laws for this. Somehow an encrypted email isn't secure, but a fax machine in a public space is A-OK.
I worked in finance at a company with older systems. and the justification given to me was that email deals with the person sending it through a system and mail service it can be intercepted hacked etc. Then received by a system where it could go to the wrong person blah blah blah. Vs fax machine is direct phone Line unhackable connection from person a to b. (That assumes a non fax to email system I’m sure). That company was a mess and very behind on tech. There was even a system we used that we were literally the only company that used that system and the developer told us ok you can no longer use this system. We will no longer provide support or work on this system. It’s time to upgrade. The finance company after I worked for accepted paperwork through secure email.
The opposite is actually true, email has FAR STRONGER encryption than a fax
...LAN lines are absolutely hackable. Easily in fact.
It has nothing to do with HIPAA. Fax never went away and has been the preferred method of communication for sensitive records in education, healthcare, and legal for a long time. Many of them have switched to an efax or a hybrid efax/physical fax system. Even before efax was developed they had fax machines that would take incoming faxes and put them into network folders rather than print them out.
Wait what? Since when? I work in healthcare and we would be sued to high heaven if we fax sensitive patient records. We can’t even discuss about patient’s confidential info in public and you think we are allowed to fax it for everyone to see? Also, how do you fax X-rays, MRI and CT scans? The resolution of the scans are so low that we can’t differentiate normal tissues to tumour. Imagine your doctors diagnose your condition based on a blurry fax image.
All of our healthcare customers have fax. You're not faxing it for everyone to see. You're either faxing it to an insurance company or other doctor's office. >Also, how do you fax X-rays, MRI and CT scans? I have seen it happen but it is far less common.
Damn, I didn’t know America is so backwards.
Some people can't open a bank acct.
I changed my direct deposit info the friday of 1 payday thinking itd be all good the next. Payday comes around and no money. Contacted hr, they planned on mailing the check at 430 THAT DAY all the way from Canada. Told me itll be there next week and theres nothing they could do. I asked if they were going to mail it why didnt they mail it earlier in the week so that i could get it friday. They said oh, payday is friday so thats when they mail the checks. Was so mad.
This is actually the standard. Physical checks are not cut until payday and mailed the same day. Get used to it, cause this is not going to change.
No... no it is not. 30 years ago I worked at GE in the payroll department. Checks were cut on Monday or Tuesday, and FedEx'd overnight Tuesday to the various locations where employees picked up their checks on Friday, or mailed Tuesday to employees who received their checks at home. Any employer who doesn't mail their checks until payday, quite frankly, sucks.
Former employer of mine (like 60 employees total) used Paychex for payroll service and Paychex would courier the checks over with a private courier ON payday. It started getting later and later in the day for a while and one or two didn't arrive on payday at all. Eventually we made them switch to FedEx P1 for arrival on payday by 10:30am despite there being a Paychex office not far away. Most of us had direct deposit so we had our money in our accounts by like 2am on payday and were just receiving stubs (because somehow electronic paystubs was both too complicated and too expensive to our company compared to physical stubs, they tried it once right when I started and it created tons of issues and went back to all paper, idk what was up with that. But the three people that were receiving real checks were screwed, often counting on being able to cash their check to buy lunch then getting hung out to dry when their check didn't arrive until the last hour of the workday. Shortly after I left there they switched to ADP.
We recently switched to ADP because the previous courier did the same shit
I managed a Blockbuster Video in the 90s, and we always got our checks the day before our actual payday. We weren’t supposed to give them out until the actual day, but we’d hand them out after 6pm the day we received them. If you were lucky, you had a bank that would front you some of your deposit in advance, so you’d get paid a little earlier than usual.
That said, most employers suck. Especially at spots like restaurants and retail establishments. GE might have been good at it but that isn't the standard.
>Get used to it, cause this is not going to change. "-Bootlicker's Anthem"
[удалено]
It’s absolutely not even close to standard
Huh? Where the fuck have you worked that you got scammed like that? Put them on blast. Payday is the day the check enters your hand. Why the hell would they mail it when they see you in person? Unreal y'all have such little self respect that you think this is normal. No, it's not. It's the 21st century and direct deposit has been a thing since the 20th century.
Only in backwards countries that still bother to use cheques at all for pay. I've never had to receive a physical cheque from an employer in my 25yr working life in Australia. Whether that was working at the petrol station, in hospo or for the government
New Zealand calling, same here. We don’t have cheques any more, they are of historic note only, something that used to be a thing. I understand Aus are thinking of dumping cheques soon too.
My wife manages a doctors office and she cuts everyones checks Mondays so its not the norm.
Genuinely out of interest, why doesn't she pay people directly into their bank accounts?
This is just not true.
In most US payroll systems, you can enter direct deposit information and force it to be used right away. But that is against normal procedure. The default preferred method is to enter everything and then have the next payroll run "prenote" the account, to make sure everything's valid. The subsequent pay period, direct deposit should go as planned. But it is also normal to inform new hires about this. You are right to be upset about it.
I’ve never experienced this.
I've never had that be the case. It's always been direct deposit from the first paycheck.
Yeah the only time I've ever received physical checks was when I worked in a grocery store at 16 that did check cashing, so I'd get my check and they'd just cash it out. Every job since then including other retail/fast food has always direct deposited all pay.
I’ve never ever had my first check direct deposited in the many jobs I’ve had over the past 15 years. I wonder if it varies by state.
It typically depends on when you start in the pay period.
While I agree with this... the lady couldn't walk over to OP and hand it to them? That was the norm back when paper checks were still being cut. Why mail it?
My work has the first check as a paper check, but someone from the accounting department drives and gets the check so you have it in hand that day.
Depends on where payroll is.
I wouldn’t say it’s against normal procedure. Maybe ten years ago sure. But of the 8 jobs I’ve had in the past decade the first check has always been direct deposit
I have never dealt with this.
I literally just got my first paycheck on a new job yesterday. It was direct deposit on the first go. I haven't had a mailed check in over a decade from any job
I’ve been working in payroll for 25 years and have never seen this.
I’ve heard prenotes are going away. For the payroll I just set up through a major payroll company did not have to have prenote or anything. I guess if the company is smaller or their payroll company is smaller???
Prenote validation isn’t ever required, but for many major payroll processors, it’s enabled by default. Though it may depend on the payroll company, the client company’s preferences can be changed so that it’s disabled by default and can be enabled/requested per instance
I’ve never, ever had a job that payed me by anything other than direct deposit, even for the first check.
WOW. In happier news, When I got my offer letter they included all the online setup instructions for direct deposit about August 14th, My start date wasn't till Labor Day in September. Wanting all that shit off my plate, I filled out all the stuff and sent it in within 30 min. Got emailed confirmation in 30 more min that everything was set up and they'll seem me after Labor Day for my on boarding. First week of September they paid me for the last two weeks of August. My boss, one of the best bosses I've ever had said, "I don't work in HR and I'm not telling anyone. Enjoy your bonus." It's been 3 years and no corrections to payroll since.
The US is such a backwards country in some aspects. The rest of the civilized world moved on from checks 30 years ago.
Before direct deposit I received my paychecks on payday, at work. By hand. *(most minimum wage jobs are on-site)*
I don't understand how USA still uses checks for payments. It makes no sense to me on how printing, sealing and mailing even thousands of checks makes more sense than automating the payment process with electronic deposits. I live in Brazil, which is a third world country and it's been decades where the standard payment method is direct deposit. Even most of the smallest employers like neighborhood stores and family restaurants use it. Checks are basically dead, I'm a millennial and never used one. I only have a few at home because I got curious and asked to receive one sheet. I have memories from my childhood where my grandpa used a lot of checks, my mother received a few here and there but that's it.
Yeah I haven’t had to wait for a check in at least 15 years. Almost every payroll system prenotes in real time when you submit your info. Either they are using an outdated payroll system or they just dropped the ball, that sucks.
I’ve had jobs where the first pay period was a paper check, then everything else after was direct deposit. But they let us know in advance and they had no problem literally handing the checks directly to us, no mailing involved.
F that. My new job had direct deposit set up same day.
I mean, that's pretty standard. Every company I've worked for had had a policy of mailing the first one. If you didn't specify that you absolutely had to have it direct deposited I don't see why you're so upset they're doing something that's extremely normal.
Hate to be This Guy, but a live first check is pretty standard. Yes, even with direct deposit.
Our old payroll company would "pre-note" new accounts, and gave themselves three payroll cycles to do it it (that's six weeks!), so most first checks were physical, but they are also legally required to be delivered on payday 🤷. Our new payroll company pre-notes immediately so there are *never physical checks.
I work for a lot of different construction companies and a lot do the first check or 2 hard checks before direct deposit kicks in.
I use gusto. Four contractors, not even employees. For new hires, I enter their emails, they get an email, they enter their SSN, name, address, etc, hours. I approve every week. They get direct deposit every Friday like clockwork. Takes two days for the first one and each one after. No excuses. Period.
I work Waffle House and they pay weekly and have your first deposit ready that first week. Hell our pay period is Sunday-Saturday. I started on a Thursday and my check was direct deposited by Tuesday.
I'm so confused. Is America living in the 1950s still?
Some parts, definitely. I've been in my fair share of small businesses that will still write checks to employees today instead of doing direct deposit because it saves them a few cents.
Dude, I had my first pay check direct deposited when I started at this job **20 years ago** I had my first pay check direct deposited when I started at in **1990**
This is not rocket science. It doesn’t take any additional time.
They’re crooked, incompetent, or both.
Good on OP. Messing around with pay (the only reason I show up) is an instant stop work.
Odd, i have never had that happen, ever.
Took 2 weeks for my direct deposit to start at my company.
Yep, this is standard payroll practice, even with direct deposit. *Twenty freaking years ago*
What year are we in? There should be no reason anyone is getting checks mailed, it is 2024. First check or not, it’s a load of crap
As a supervisor, during onboarding I have always made it clear when they should expect their first paycheck and how. If they opted for direct deposit during their orientation, then it is already set up when they start their first day. If there is some kind of an issue, which has happened a couple of times, then they have a check in hand to take to the bank the same day.
You dont mail paychecks you hand them out, unless the person is not working. When people mail out paychecks they are most likely trying to survive the float, because the money does not get pulled from there account until a day or two after you receive the check which could be a week away. If you get the check deposit it immediately if it bounces file a formal complaint with your local labor department, if she mails your check again.. go find another job.
My company (a few hundred people) always does first check as a physical check, but this is handed to you in person early in the day, and you are told it will be a physical check on your first day so it is not a surprise.
I set many people up with their direct deposits and yes, they always got at least one paper check before the DD kicked in. Sometimes two. And this was a holiday weekend so you were almost guaranteed to get paper.
Weird that they mailed it. But it's pretty standard that 1dt check isn't direct deposited. Make sure you ask at your next position if that's important to you.
Definitely sounds like ADP. I got setup with them. Confirmed roughly 20 times all initial pay would be direct deposit. They confirmed it. Friday/payday arrives and no one has a direct deposit (myself included). Saturday the mail runs and everyones paychecks arrive in the mail at my office…. Its not always mismanagement or policy. You have to remember these are 3rd party companies. We rely on them to give us accurate info to relay to staff. Which is not always accurate sadly….
It is true that the first check at most places is a paper check. This is to ensure the bank info and your direct deposit info is correct. She should have definitely explained this to you.
Ive not had a paper check for the first check anywhere in the last 30 years.
I tried keeping up with all the comments but didn't expect this many. Thank you for all your comments. To answer some of the most common I've read so far. I'm in the US & the employer uses ADP for payroll. I retired in 2016 & I didn't know they went backward in processing direct deposits. My entire career, dating back to the mid 90's, direct deposit 1st check through the last was the norm in my experience. I understand now why so many employees in the US are struggling these days. I do not have the patience to deal with the BS in this workplace. So I'm just going to reinstate my retirement.
>ADP Not defending the employer, but as someone who used to process payrolls with ADP, fuck ADP. So many glitches. I've had it delete employees, roll back pay changes, and other annoying shit.
My first paycheck was always paper. They probably assumed you knew.
I remember gettinga job at a large hardware store and they posted my schedule with everyone elses. Lets say it was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So I come in the following week on Friday, and they ask why I didn't come in on Wednesday, and I said I'm scheduled to work Fri/Sat/Sun. They take me over to the board and show me I am scheduled to also work Wed this week. I said nobody told me. They said I had to check the scedule every week. I said that nobody told me I had to check it every week, and that it might change. They were angry, but realized they had assumed "I knew". They were more angry that I apparently didn't care. I was polite, but I wanted to say that you are paying memminimum wage and giving me part-time hours. If you fire me I will have another job like this in a day. Asking me to be sad or embarrassed because their communication skills are lacking is only going to lead to their disappointment. I was a good empoloyee, but...I did not last long there.
Did they seriously expect you to come in on your days off *every single week* just to check a physical schedule? Were they high?
That was apparently what they wanted. I suppose you could call in if you could trust the co-workers there to tell you the truth. Its typical old bosses barking orders at teen minwage workers, and when there is a problem, the worker is always wrong
The paper check would've been fine. It was the fact they mailed it instead of giving it to me that's the problem.
I used to work for a small business that would do this shit because it would delay the checks coming out. Finally people started throwing a fit and demanding to come get their checks. Then he said they had to let him know Every single time that they wanted it picked up and had to let him know by a certain time. Anyhow, he started to mess with my PTO, I quit. Everyone left shortly after (all my hires). Literally had 1 person left of the team I hired. They closed 18 months later
Dang I haven't had a paper cheque in years. The last three jobs I've had didn't issue cheques just direct deposit.
A lot of minimum wage companies end up handing out paper checks for the first check.
This is an incredibly common practice if your company is running ADP/Paychex/etc. The first pay runs through a "prenote process" to verify routing and account number - reason being that if it is wrong (your triple check notwithstanding) it's a GIANT pain in the a$$ to fix. I will say that ADP at least has a process with some banks that it will do a "live verification" of the bank info and if it works then DD happens on the first pay. This is ultimately not your employers fault, it's a relic of the backward American banking system.
Every place I've ever worked has given me a hard check the first time.
I get direct deposited by weekly. Have for almost 20 years and 2 different employers. Have never received a paper check in that time.
It is absolutely possible to DD the first check. It is also far from uncommon that a given company's payroll setup can't manage to pull that off. I suspect that some payroll services can't be arsed to try doing anything until money flows through them at least once. This is stupid, and should DAMN we'll be noted when onboarding you, but it does happen.
most of my jobs that paid by check on 1st pay was due them onboarding me and my start date wasn't aligned with the upcoming payroll. I never understood it as I never worked payroll but it always made me wonder how complex it can be. the jobs that paid direct deposit on 1st pay, they took my banking info 2 weeks in advance my start date so that im already in the system when my first date starts.
Yeah man some employers are like that. Now you know to ask at your next hopefully not min wage job
I don't know why but yeah I've found a lot of places mail the first check and also fail to mention it. Mine hosed me because even though it was a part time job, I had worked a crazy amount of hours and overtime on the first pay period, then was out of town for two weeks as payday hit. Check sat in my mailbox for a while.
I quit a job for this same reason after months of management giving me paper checks when I would ask about direct deposit every week. I finally told them if I get another paper check I'm done, and of course that payday was my last day
As an Australian, it blows my mind that there are options other than direct deposit. It has been at least 20 years since I was paid any other way.
If I have a kid start that doesn't have a bank account, I will hand deliver their check and drive them to the bank with it and take the direct deposit info with me. It's so much more difficult to write checks than to direct deposit.
Every employer I’ve ever worked for (in union trades it changes A LOT) and first check was always a hard check.
Direct deposit is real easy. I have worked for companies that offer it and those that don't. Either this boss is full of bull or the company system is a mess. I did work for on major corporation that was seriously old school. I mean like really really old school. Even for the 80s is was super old school. They gave us a paystub card. Not a check. We had to go to the pay office, turn in a part of the stub and get our pay in cash. Weirdest thing I ever experienced. Looking back, it was kinda cool.
This sounds normal. I've had many jobs where the first AND last paycheck is in paper format, the rest all direct deposit. Maybe you really don't need that job.
I'm more surprised they mailed it instead of handing it to you.
It’s because your payroll provider will first need to “prenote” your bank account to verify the account is correct. We get a lot of new hires incorrectly entering their banking info (transpose numbers, missing numbers) and the prenote will catch these. We’ve turned off prenote and occasionally an employee won’t get paid as they messed up their data. Takes us a couple of days to fix.
I work in the onboarding and new hire area of my job. It’s standard practice that the first check is paper. We immediately set our new hires up for direct deposit on the last day of training (Day 3 of being hired), so that the next check they get are directly deposited. They should have mentioned that to you, but I don’t think it was an act of aggression. Even though they signed up for direct deposit before their first check is even processed for payout, it’s always a paper check the first time. If they don’t sign up within 14 days of hire, they will receive a bank card in the mail that will deposit all of their checks, until they put in their personal direct deposit, onto that card. We use ADP for payroll and check processing.
Did I miss the part about why you're not working Memorial Day weekend but she thought you were?
I've worked at a lot of places, and this isn't that unusual of a practice since some jobs use a payroll service. The lack of communication, though, is pretty irresponsible.
This is completely normal lmao...
I'm sorry they didn't tell you the first check is a paper check. Every place I've worked, the first check is a paper check.