paycheck delay

For convenience purposes, our second shift hourly employees receive their paychecks on Thursday. We do this so that they can go to the bank and cash their checks on Friday before coming to work. Of course, you know the ramifications of this practice. One employee quite often takes off on Friday.

Would there be a problem if we withhold this individual's paycheck until Friday? Of course we would let him know we are doing this ahead of time and our reason for doing it. We don't want to penalize the whole shift by doing this, just one person who can't seem to make it to work on Fridays. Thanks.

Comments

  • 15 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • I'm not too sure what the law is, but I would not withhold the paycheck. I would, however, write the ee up as per our attendance rules.
  • Here is OH law:

    Ohio requires that employers pay employees at least semimonthly. On or before the 1st of the month, employers must pay all wages earned from the 1st to the 15th of the preceding month. On or before the 15th of the month, employers must pay all wages earned from the 16th through the last day of the preceding month.

    If a written contract between the employer and employees provides otherwise or if the custom of the industry dictates otherwise, employers need not follow this requirement.

    Employees absent on paydays must be paid on demand any time thereafter at the usual place of payment. Employers must pay all wages due a deceased employee first to the surviving spouse, than to any children 18 or older, and then to the mother or father of the deceased employee.

    I would not alter the pay day for one person. Your are missing the unacceptable behavior. It's not that he's getting his paycheck on Thursday, it's that he's missing work. Can't you discipline him for missing work?
  • The only discipline this employee is getting is attendance points. Once he reaches his point limit he will lose his job. This person just started working for us two months ago and is scheduled to go on our insurance coverage soon. I would like to get rid of him before that happens however, management wants to let him go until he puts himself out of a job. I thought perhaps by not giving him his paycheck until Friday would ensure that he would be here on those days. When he is here he's a good worker but what good is he if he isn't here? Thanks for your responses.
  • MUSHROOMHR: It is hard to believe you would not pull stakes on this employee and move on to an employee who is willing to work and be there on time everyday in which he/she is scheduled. The EE would already be gone in our company! Simple tell the individual in an orientation/training period that "it simply is not working out" and cut the string and be done with it!

    By keeping the ee beyond the training and orientation period you are clearily booking a date with "wrongful discharge" or some other legal term in which you have to spend time in defense of your actions. As Don has often written, why buy more work for one's self?

    PORK
  • PORK: I agree with you however, our VP of Ops. thinks differently. He wants the guy to keep working until he gets himself fired for attendance points. Makes no sense to me. I would have fired him after his second no call/no show. This past Friday was his third incident and we're still letting him work today. xx(
  • Mush: An employee who has only been with you for two months has already no called/no showed three times???? Why on earth would the VP want to continue with this person? There is nothing wrong with going ahead and cutting your losses. How many chances does an employee get before they are terminated?

    I am reminded of an excellent (or so I thought) worker who worked temporary for us for three months and we had planned on hiring her permanent. Two weeks before we were to put her on permanent, she started exhibiting bad habits picked up from one of her co-workers about not clocking in and out appropriately. She was told once about this and she did it again. We just gave her the "no thanks" the Friday before she was to start on Monday as a permanent employee. She cried, begged and all but wallowed on the floor, but we would not hire.

    We've just begun taking a hard time with behavior antics of newly hired employees. We warn them once and if they choose not to shape up, they are gone the next time they exhibit the behavior.
  • Our policy is one noshow/no call, a written warning. Second noshow/no call, a suspension. Third noshow/no call, terminated. No show/no calls should be treated separately from an attendance points policy.
  • In Ks a no call no report is not considered an attendance issue, it is general misconduct. I don't know about other states.

    Having said that I see no reason not to include it in an attendance policy. We track hours of unavailability and if there is a no call no report it hits the unavailability hours along with discipline for general misconduct.
  • If an ee calls, the supervisor can, at least, plan for the day and place workers where needed. If there is a no call, the supervisor cannot plan.


  • Whatever,
    My "why" was directed to them not including it in the attendance policy. We include it in ours and they get a warning for the NCNS as well as an attendance violation.
  • when is your paydate? if you normally pay on friday, but as a convenience pay 2nd shift ee's on thursday, then by not paying them until friday is not "withholding" their pay. simple advise thie employee you can no longer accommodate their request, or make it a convenience and they will now have to pick up their check on friday. if that means they have to come in early in order to get their check and cash it, then so be it. and they are not entitled to wages for the time they are in the office to pick up their check.

  • The discussion seems to have jumped the tracks entirely and is mired solidly in the ditch. The issue here is not what the law might be regarding required paydays, but, what are you going to allow in the way of policy violation or repeated attendance issues? Pay the guy according to whatever schedule you have, in accordance with law, and if he can't stay at work after his paycheck is handed off to him or report the next day, fire him summarily in accordance with your policy. If you don't have one, develop one. If someone up the food chain overrules you, keep documentation of that as well. Employees who cannot stay at work after being paid and who cannot report the day after payday are not contributing to your bottom line and should under no circumstances, none at all, be retained.
  • I would not want to be responsible for any one employee by trying to motivate his/her attendance individually. I would make sure that the company attendance policy is firm enough and specific enough that an employee would run out of points before it became an aggravation to me.

    During the initial 3-month trial period, every absence generates a notice to the employee, which the employee must sign, stating how many points remain, etc. This way we have documentation proving that the employee clearly understood that if they missed work again, for ANY reason, they would be terminated.
  • only had the opportunity to read a couple replies, so if this is a duplicate you'll have to excuse me. You state "for convenience purposes, second shift..." does this mean your actual payday is Friday's? If so why not stick to policy for everyone - Friday is pay day. Our employees on 2nd shift come in early on Friday so they can run to the back b/4 their shift starts or they get direct deposit.

    2nd point - the attendance issue should not be dealt with by holding his check. Is there anyone in this employees chain of command that supports your view that this ees attendance needs to be dealt with NOW? If so you may want them to also express their wishes on dealing with this situation immediately.

    Good luck, if the powers that be wish to run out the point system on this guy there really isn't much that you can do. I would document your recommendation to them and wait out the clock.
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