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

[mobilehaathi]

What is "the other place"?

Curious about that myself...

 

[A.Goldberg]

I'd relax. A one day difference is minor infraction.

Perhaps your company isn't aware of this law. It it becomes a regular pattern talk to your boss/HR department about it. That will probably be enough to resolve it.

Going straight to the labor board is not going to look well in the eyes of your company.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

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.

Hm.

While I see what you are saying when you write this post, I do find myself wondering whether the somewhat varied reactions to this are yet another manifestation of the differences between attitudes to such things in the US and in Europe, and reflect the different relative strengths of the employer/employee relationship on the Two Respective Sides of the Pond.

This is because if salaries are late by a day or two in most European companies, - and international organisations - questions are asked, and the staff do tend to let their managers and employers know about this, and in no uncertain terms. Salaries are not a discretionary element of the employment contract in most cases, and nor are they an optional extra. They are expected and due, and other matters - say, for example, direct debits - are predicted on monies being there to meet them.

Now, as it happens, I have worked for international organisations where - again - on occasion, salaries were a little late arriving in bank accounts; it was the usual stuff, people on leave failing or forgetting to sign off on stuff, casual carelessness, failure of oversight and so on. However, those at the receiving end were not slow in expressing their displeasure, and invariably, management apologised profusely. And nobody would be penalised whatsoever for drawing attention to management incompetence or carelessness on such an issue.

So, I do see the OP's issue, here, and I would be a little concerned at the blithe disregard that many on the thread seem to express, arguing that this is 'not uncommon' and that it is a 'minor inconvenience'. Some people earn such low incomes that they have little choice but to live from cheque to cheque - (check to check?), meaning that, therefore, a delay of a few days may be a bit more than a minor inconvenience, especially if there are other demands for payment.

Indeed, if the actual delay is the fault of the boss, - although that is not clear from the OP's original post - I am not sure that a boss would use that very example during a reference check, as this is something that would not exactly reflect terribly well on them, either.

Having said that, as I advised in earlier posts, I would recommend holding my fire on this - especially if it is the first time it has happened, and seek to find out what exactly happened, and why it happened before even beginning to contemplate proceeding any further.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'd relax. A one day difference is minor infraction.

Perhaps your company isn't aware of this law. It it becomes a regular pattern talk to your boss/HR department about it. That will probably be enough to resolve it.

Going straight to the labor board is not going to look well in the eyes of your company.

I agree with this very strongly, and couldn't have said it better myself.

As I said in my earlier post, pick your battles. Employment in Utah is "at will", meaning that you can pretty much be fired for any reason or no reason at all.

Keep track of it, and bring it up with the appropriate person. If the it happens repeatedly, escalate it within the chain of command of your company and only go to the state if you don't get a satisfactory resolution there. Taking it to the state is probably going to result in you losing your job. If you've been making noise about it, they will know it was you even if the complaint is anonymous.

As I said, I've dealt with not getting a paycheck before. Fortunately, I work for a large enough organization and my position is such that I can't be terminated at will(even though Kentucky is an at will state) that I'm somewhat insulated when I start making noise. There's also a much deeper chain of command to escalate things. I've worked for small employers, though.

If you bring it up respectfully and make it clear that-at least the first time-you are just pointing out the law and not necessarily complaining-you will likely have a much more positive outcome than if you go directly to the state.

 

[wct097]

I wouldn't complain unless it becomes a pattern. As others have mentioned, I'd make sure the complaint is valid given other related regulations (within 10 days, etc).

I understand that people living paycheck to paycheck can be substantially impacted by a holiday weekend where they didn't get paid appropriately. That's something I've dealt with a number of times while working with users of payroll systems. My employer goes out of it's way to minimize those impacts. People still complain about the change we made 10 years ago to a single bi-weekly payroll from alternating bi-weekly payrolls (originally we split the org into two pay batches, on different weeks). When we made that change, we actually paid half of our employees half of their normal check a week in advance, then their full check two weeks later. Now they get their money sooner after they work the hours, but still felt like they somehow got cheated.

I still haven't been paid for side work I did for a client from September - December of last year and will be taking a loss of a portion under a settlement with that client to finally get paid. A couple days late on my regular paycheck would be minor in comparison.