I'm wondering if I should report my employer regarding the state wage laws?!

[jc0481]

By the way I work for a small company. I researched the state laws for Utah. Especially the labor laws. It's state law that if your payday falls on a weekend or a holiday that you should get paid on the day that precedes it.

So I get paid on the 5th and 20th of every month. I waited to see what my employer will do. I did not get paid Friday April 3rd like I should have according to state law. I asked my immediate boss and she told me I will get paid on Monday.

I called her up yesterday to clarify. She blamed it more on the banks and that payroll is processed before the actual payday. Last week I called the Utah state department of labor. They told me your funds from your check have to be available on the Friday if your payday falls on a weekend if you have direct deposit and given a live check if you don't.

The Utah Department of Labor suggested I file a claim online. I have only been with the company three months. I like the job and it's decent pay. I'm not doing this only for myself. I'm also doing this for my co-workers. Some of them speak very little English. I know they struggle with money and don't like get paid after the weekend or after a holiday.

My question is should I talk to my boss's boss or file a claim with the department of labor?

I don't know what to do. Please help. I don't want upper management to hate me for reporting it. I want to keep this job until I finish school. I'm still years away from graduating.

 

[tzhu07]

I can't speak for your state. I live in Washington state and my employer normally pays on the 15th and last day of the month. If it lands on a holiday, I get it the preceding day.

 

[Apple fanboy]

By the way I work for a small company. I researched the state laws for Utah. Especially the labor laws. It's state law that if your payday falls on a weekend or a holiday that you should get paid on the day that precedes it.

So I get paid on the 5th and 20th of every month. I waited to see what my employer will do. I did not get paid Friday April 3rd like I should have according to state law. I asked my immediate boss and she told me I will get paid on Monday.

I called her up yesterday to clarify. She blamed it more on the banks and that payroll is processed before the actual payday. Last week I called the Utah state department of labor. They told me your funds from your check have to be available on the Friday if your payday falls on a weekend if you have direct deposit and given a live check if you don't.

The Utah Department of Labor suggested I file a claim online. I have only been with the company three months. I like the job and it's decent pay. I'm not doing this only for myself. I'm also doing this for my co-workers. Some of them speak very little English. I know they struggle with money and don't like get paid after the weekend or after a holiday.

My question is should I talk to my boss's boss or file a claim with the department of labor?

I don't know what to do. Please help. I don't want upper management to hate me for reporting it. I want to keep this job until I finish school. I'm still years away from graduating.

I'd say if you plan on continuing working there, it's not worth reporting your boss for a day or two late payment.
I often hear the question at work about what day we get paid. My response is always the same. I have no idea, as I always have at least a months salary left in my current account at the end of the month.

 

[maflynn]

My question is should I talk to my boss's boss or file a claim with the department of labor?

Is it that big of a deal or hardship? Since you were already asking about it in the office, if you file a claim with the labor board, they will know its you. I suspect life will get quite difficult there for you if you do.

If you go over your bosses head, that too is a career ending decision.

You say, that you need the job, due to graduate school - then don't make waves.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Pay is not a luxury optional extra, it is something that a work force have the right to expect to be paid regularly, and predictably, so that they can plan their lives accordingly.

I have some sympathy with the OP because I recall what this feeling was like. In my very early teaching days, I was paid late on a few occasions, and it was a massive inconvenience, especially if planned pay checks had not been issued - although due - before a long weekend holiday (as actually happened), on account of pay clerks being sick, or on leave.

However, what the OP had not made clear is whether this delay has been caused by the bank or by his employer.

For what it is worth, for now, I would recommend that he leave it, but note it and see if a pattern develops and seek to raise it then.

 

[lowendlinux]

If it becomes a habit talk to your supervisor if it's a one time occurrence let it go. The next time the 20th falls on a weekend is June and it's a Saturday so my guess is it'll process Friday.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you report your boss, you will look like a fool, in my opinion. And as Mike said, life could get hard for you at work if you do.

Your boss hasn't broken the law that I can see. Focus your attention on something more worthwhile.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Is it that big of a deal or hardship? Since you were already asking about it in the office, if you file a claim with the labor board, they will know its you. I suspect life will get quite difficult there for you if you do.

If you go over your bosses head, that too is a career ending decision.

You say, that you need the job, due to graduate school - then don't make waves.

Agreed. Getting paid one day late isn't the end of the world.

 

[mobilehaathi]

For what it is worth, for now, I would recommend that he leave it, but note it and see if a pattern develops and seek to raise it then.

At that point it is probably best to confer with fellow employees to decide on a plan for collective action.

 

[bunnspecial]

Unfortunately, stuff happens.

In my current position, I am "terminated" on June 30th of every year, and then rehired on July 1st. One year, the person who takes care of all of that failed to check a box in the computer on me(and two other people in the department) which meant that we officially didn't get rehired on July 1st as usual. I didn't realize anything was amiss until my check didn't show up in my account on July 30th. Once I got the rehiring sorted out, Payroll drug their feet on actually issuing me a paycheck. If I'd let them do it at their own pace, it would have taken roughly 2 1/2 weeks past payday(which is sort of a big deal when you only get paid once a month). They had the ability to make it happen faster, but not the desire to. I escalated things up the chain of command, and my check ended up only being roughly 1 week late.

A couple of years back, the government here in the good old Commonwealth of Kentucky decided to delay paydays for state workers by three or four days. Effectively, what they did was shuffle one round of paychecks into the next fiscal year. I'm not sure what it was supposed to accomplish, but it left a lot of folks without pay over a holiday(in this case the 4th of July). The whole thing was announced about a month in advance, and several area banks offered short term, interest free loans for those who needed them as a good will gesture. Basically, at least as far as I'm aware, they only did it if you had your check direct deposited to that bank and would put the normal amount of your check in your account on your payday, then keep your actual paycheck when it came in as repayment on the loan.

To make a long, rambling story short I'd pick your battles. As said, in a small company(as you seem to indicate you work for) if you've already been making noise about the late check they will most likely know a state complaint came from you even if it was anonymous. If this becomes a pattern, complain, but I'd let it slide on one occasion.

 

[sjinsjca]

Keep it up and you'll be first against the wall.

Seriously, figure out how to maximize your value to your employer rather than picking the tiniest of nits three months into your employment.

 

[divideby]

Honestly shocked at some of the responses here. If I was running a company, I would like to know when it breaks state law, especially if I didn't know it.

I would probably go to my manager, "Hey, thanks for answering that question regarding payroll, I got it Monday like you said. Also, while I was trying to figure this out last week, it said online and it looks like it's actually state law to pay before. *Hand print out* Am I reading this right? I'm not trying to pull the fire alarms or anything. Anyway no big deal to me but I just thought it would be worth bringing to someone's attention at least. *Continue conversation on each other's weekends.*"


Definitely tread lightly and don't threaten anyone or get them in trouble, but it is the right thing to do.

Good luck!

 

[hallux]

I'm just sitting here finding it interesting that pay day is on the same specific date every month rather than just every other Friday. Maybe that's the difference between working for a small firm and a large company. Makes some months real nice with 3 paychecks when the first one falls on the 1st of the month.

Here, some people actually get "paid" on Wed. or Thurs., some credit unions will make the money available to the person as soon as they "see" it from the employer while others wait until the actual check date.

 

[yg17]

I'm just sitting here finding it interesting that pay day is on the same specific date every month rather than just every other Friday. Maybe that's the difference between working for a small firm and a large company. Makes some months real nice with 3 paychecks when the first one falls on the 1st of the month.

Here, some people actually get "paid" on Wed. or Thurs., some credit unions will make the money available to the person as soon as they "see" it from the employer while others wait until the actual check date.

I get paid on specific dates too and I work for a huge company. Doesn't really matter to me, I still get the same amount of money no matter how often they pay me.

I guess it could be a bigger deal if you're living paycheck to paycheck though.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Like most people in the UK, I get paid monthly. One month years ago, at my old employer, my wife asked if I had spent a lot that month (we had a joint account). When I said no, we checked our account, and my employer had forgotten to pay me for a month!
Turned out they paid me into an old account I'd stopped using 2 years previous. As it was a high interest account they should have paid into, I made them pay the months interest.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Effective 5/13/2014
34-28-3. Regular paydays -- Currency or negotiable checks required -- Deposit in financial institution -- Statement of total deductions -- Unlawful withholding or diversion of wages.
(1)
(a) An employer shall pay the wages earned by an employee at regular intervals, but in periods no longer than semimonthly on days to be designated in advance by the employer as the regular payday.
(b) An employer shall pay for services rendered during a pay period within 10 days after the close of that pay period.
(c) If a payday falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, an employer shall pay wages earned during the pay period on the day preceding the Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

http://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title34/Chapter28/34-28-S3.html

If you want to make a mountain out of a mole hill, your employer still has provision b to fall back on, according to the law cited.

 

[citizenzen]

... My question is should I talk to my boss's boss or file a claim with the department of labor?

I don't know what to do. Please help. I don't want upper management to hate me for reporting it. I want to keep this job until I finish school. I'm still years away from graduating.

You sound like a really, really picky person.

Do they pay you? Do they pay you in a relatively timely manner?

If the answers are yes, then stop being a stickler for them not adhering to the letter of the law.

And learn to go with the flow a little bit more.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I confess that I, too, am somewhat surprised at the tone and content of some of the responses.

Now, I don't think that the OP is 'picky' or complaining inappropriately. A salary or a wage is earned money, not something to be paid at the discretion of an employer. It is money that belongs to - and has been earned by - the employee as of right.

However, it is still not clear whether the delay was caused by the employer, the bank, or whether it was a systemic arrangement, or simply a (single) occasion of sloppy oversight.

Here, I would agree that the OP has cause to feel some concern; as I wrote earlier, I was in a similar situation on a few occasions in my first few years teaching when the university was extraordinarily casual and careless in how - and when - it paid junior teaching staff. Things changed.

Nevertheless, my advice is that some caution is in order, as is some planning and forethought, before taking this any further.

The first is to make a note of it, or a log of it, and continue to log payments; secondly to check where the fault lay - was it a fault of the bank, or of the employer; thirdly, to find out whether others were affected equally, and fourthly, to stay sufficiently alert to check whether this is a regular occurrence or a once off unfortunate mistake.

To be honest, if this pattern continues, this is the sort of situation where trade unions come into their own.

In paid, and unionised employment, if pay is issued late - deliberately late, (because of incompetence, or poor organisation, or because a company has sought to extract maximum advantage from interest bearing bank accounts prior to paying staff), on a regular basis, the person to approach to raise such concerns with management - on your behalf - is the union rep.

This ensures that individual employees are not penalised for raising such issues, it distances the employee in question from the complaint, and it also serves to place the context in which such issues are raised on an official, formal and objective setting rather than a personal and subjective one, where, with the best will in the world, an employer may seek to brand any member of staff who legitimately raises such concerns as a possible trouble-maker.

Where workforces are not represented by unions, where collective bargaining and negotiation is replaced by individuals representing themselves as sole practitioners, and where management (or banking) incompetence becomes the norm, the power imbalance strikes me as a little too tilted in favour of management.

However, it is still not clear from the OP's post where this error originated.

For now, I would advise that he sit and wait; watch what happens next and check whether this was a once off mistake or is part of a regular pattern of behaviour, in which case a discreet case of sounding out other colleagues in order to raise the matter collectively (or at the very least, collate some information) might be in order.

 

[rei101]

By the way I work for a small company. I researched the state laws for Utah. Especially the labor laws. It's state law that if your payday falls on a weekend or a holiday that you should get paid on the day that precedes it.

So I get paid on the 5th and 20th of every month. I waited to see what my employer will do. I did not get paid Friday April 3rd like I should have according to state law. I asked my immediate boss and she told me I will get paid on Monday.

I called her up yesterday to clarify. She blamed it more on the banks and that payroll is processed before the actual payday. Last week I called the Utah state department of labor. They told me your funds from your check have to be available on the Friday if your payday falls on a weekend if you have direct deposit and given a live check if you don't.

The Utah Department of Labor suggested I file a claim online. I have only been with the company three months. I like the job and it's decent pay. I'm not doing this only for myself. I'm also doing this for my co-workers. Some of them speak very little English. I know they struggle with money and don't like get paid after the weekend or after a holiday.

My question is should I talk to my boss's boss or file a claim with the department of labor?

I don't know what to do. Please help. I don't want upper management to hate me for reporting it. I want to keep this job until I finish school. I'm still years away from graduating.

Just because you have no experience, but you could use your common sense here and there.

Samll business does not have the cashflow, they need to get paid too. One or two days is not a problem at all. If day pay on the day good, nice.

If you are so picky they will get picky on you and micromanagement you and you would be fired with hours if you consider how you should be performing as well.

I had clients that had broken contracts on me and I haven't suit them, they are hiring me again later on.

You have to understand something in life, and everybody has: to be right does not give you the right.

 

[mobilehaathi]

I confess that I, too, am somewhat surprised at the tone and content of some of the responses.

Now, I don't think that the OP is 'picky' or complaining inappropriately. A salary or a wage is earned money, not something to be paid at the discretion of an employer. It is money that belongs to - and has been earned by - the employee as of right.

However, it is till not clear whether the delay was caused by the employer, the bank, or whether it was a systemic arrangement, or simply a (single) occasion of sloppy oversight.

Here, I would agree that the OP has cause to feel some concern; as I wrote earlier, I was in a similar situation on a few occasions in my first few years teaching when the university was extraordinarily casual and careless in how - and when - it paid junior teaching staff. Things changed.

Nevertheless, my advice is that some caution is in order, as is some planning and forethought, before taking this any further.

The first is to make a note of it, or a log of it, and continue to log payments; secondly to check where the fault lay - was it a fault of the bank, or of the employer; thirdly, to find out whether others were affected equally, and fourthly, to stay sufficiently alert to check whether this is a regular occurrence or a once off unfortunate mistake.

To be honest, if this pattern continues, this is the sort of situation where trade unions come into their own.

In paid, and unionised employment, if pay is issued late - deliberately late, (because of incompetence, or poor organisation, or because a company has sought to extract maximum advantage from interest bearing bank accounts prior to paying staff), on a regular basis, the person to approach to raise such concerns with management - on your behalf - is the union rep.

This ensures that individual employees are not penalised for raising such issues, it distances the employee in question from the complaint, and it also serves to place the context in which such issues are raised on an official, formal and objective setting rather than a personal and subjective one, where, with the best will in the world, an employer may seek to brand any member of staff who legitimately raises such concerns as a possible trouble-maker.

Where workforces are not represented by unions, where collective bargaining and negotiation is replaced by individuals representing themselves as sole practitioners, and where management (or banking) incompetence becomes the norm, the power imbalance strikes me as a little too tilted in favour of management.

However, it is still not clear from the OP's post where this error originated.

For now, I would advise that he sit and wait; watch what happens next and check whether this was a once off mistake or is part of a regular pattern of behaviour, in which case a discreet case of sounding out other colleagues in order to raise the matter collectively (or at the very least, collate some information) might be in order.

Shock, horror! An utterly reasonable and respectful post!?

 

[z31fanatic]

If it's only the first time, you should just let it go especially that you like the job and want to work there.
But if it happens regularly then definitely talk to the boss and if he doesn't offer a solution, take it to the department of labor.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I'd drop it. No good can come from arguing over a single day late payment. I once spoke to a lawyer about an issue, and was given the following advice:

2. Never get a lawyer involved because they just cost money.
2. If you have to get a lawyer involved, make sure the person you're going after has money to make it worthwhile.

Do you want to make an issue out of it? Maybe they chance their practices. But maybe they don't, and then fire you a month later as your job was made "redundant". Do you lawyer up for a wrongful termination? What do you put on your resume? Are you prepared to start job hunting over this issue?

Honestly, what will probably end up happening - either way - is that you leave a bad taste in a lot of peoples' mouths because some HR person was lazy and set patrol on some "auto" mode.

 

[citizenzen]

I confess that I, too, am somewhat surprised at the tone and content of some of the responses.

Now, I don't think that the OP is 'picky' or complaining inappropriately. A salary or a wage is earned money, not something to be paid at the discretion of an employer. It is money that belongs to - and has been earned by - the employee as of right. ...

I read the OP and I see trouble. Here we have (I'm assuming) an entry-level worker digging into regulations and contemplating filing grievances over an occasional paycheck being one or two days late.

I've worked at a number of places where that wasn't uncommon, where you learned to cash the paycheck before depositing it to avoid it bouncing later and messing with your finances. Her complaint amounts to a very small inconvenience, and any attempt to force her boss to comply will not be received well.

What happens when she's applying for her next job and during a reference check her previous employer brings this little matter up?

If I were on the hiring committee (I'm on two currently) I see red flags. I see a person who's more concerned with the letter of the law, than the spirit. I see someone who gets lost in minor details and lets it potentially get in the way of her work and working relationships. I see someone who lacks perspective and the ability to roll with punches. I see someone that I'd be very leery about hiring.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I find it interesting how the answers here differ from the "other place" where you asked the same question. People at MR seem to have way more money where they don't care about a cheque coming in a day or two late, and are much more critical of you.

However, I think they're also a more mature group of people, and have more experience.

 

[yg17]

I find it interesting how the answers here differ from the "other place" where you asked the same question. People at MR seem to have way more money where they don't care about a cheque coming in a day or two late, and are much more critical of you.

What is "the other place"?