Did not get paid

[Missy1961]

Your last day was August 28 and they are just getting around to doing that week's payroll now? What kind of payroll schedule is that? You should have been cut a check by the owner on your last day.

Why? When I left a job, I got my last check when I would have normally been paid - they just mailed it to my home.

OP, I hope you didn't call the Labor Dept. Give your old employer a break and a chance.

 

[barkley]

Why? When I left a job, I got my last check when I would have normally been paid - they just mailed it to my home.

OP, I hope you didn't call the Labor Dept. Give your old employer a break and a chance.

was your normal payroll schedual such that you didn't get paid your earnings for 24 days following the end of your payroll period? even if the employer opted to process the final paycheck w/in whatever their existing payroll timeline is it's likely that the payroll period ended either on the 31st of august or at the latest (if they do 2 week chunks and the o/p just happened to stop working on the Friday of the first week cycle) on 9/4 so she's still looking at having had to wait 17-21 days for her final pay. I don't know any employer who takes that long to do a payroll cycle.

I can't get on the o/p for not having enough to get by on at this point-I clearly remember leaving one job to start another with just a few days in-between. my new job paid on a monthly basis (10th of every month for the prior months earnings) so since I started around the 12th of the month I was without income from my new job for almost a solid month, and despite having a bit of a nest egg at the time I was relying on the vacation accruals and final earnings my former employer owed me.

I hope the o/p's former employer never fires anyone-they have to get their check at the time of termination in many states or the employer can face massive fines and restitution to the employee, so it's always good business practice to have more than one person who is capable of cutting a payroll check.

 

[Gracie09]

was your normal payroll schedual such that you didn't get paid your earnings for 24 days following the end of your payroll period? even if the employer opted to process the final paycheck w/in whatever their existing payroll timeline is it's likely that the payroll period ended either on the 31st of august or at the latest (if they do 2 week chunks and the o/p just happened to stop working on the Friday of the first week cycle) on 9/4 so she's still looking at having had to wait 17-21 days for her final pay. I don't know any employer who takes that long to do a payroll cycle.

I can't get on the o/p for not having enough to get by on at this point-I clearly remember leaving one job to start another with just a few days in-between. my new job paid on a monthly basis (10th of every month for the prior months earnings) so since I started around the 12th of the month I was without income from my new job for almost a solid month, and despite having a bit of a nest egg at the time I was relying on the vacation accruals and final earnings my former employer owed me.

I hope the o/p's former employer never fires anyone-they have to get their check at the time of termination in many states or the employer can face massive fines and restitution to the employee, so it's always good business practice to have more than one person who is capable of cutting a payroll check.

That last bit depends on your state. When dh was fired, he got his last paycheck and vacation pay during the normal cycle, provided he returned all company property (he had a car/phone/keys etc).

 

[tvguy]

Why? When I left a job, I got my last check when I would have normally been paid - they just mailed it to my home.

OP, I hope you didn't call the Labor Dept. Give your old employer a break and a chance.

State laws vary. In California, if a location has more than 50 employees, and there may be other stipulations, they have to hand you your final check on your last day.

 

[barkley]

State laws vary. In California, if a location has more than 50 employees, and there may be other stipulations, they have to hand you your final check on your last day.

California has the strictest labor laws in the u.s.-if an employee is fired, no matter the number of employees-final check must be presented upon firing. if an employee quits w/ no notice (again no matter the number of employees)-final check including all accruals must be provided within 72 hours-if the employee gives at least 72 hours notice of quitting then the final check including accruals has to be presented their final day on the job. for each day the employer fails to provide the ENTIRE final pay (including all accruals) they can be fined (payable to the employee) the employee's average daily wages for up to 30 days.

if the o/p was in California and had given her prior employer at least 72 hours notice of her last day being 8/28-that employer would currently have to pay the o/p in addition to what is already owed to her-18 days worth of the employee's average daily wages (don't matter if the employee never worked weekends-it's calendar days). looks like the o/p is in new jersey-it's required there that the final paycheck be provided on the regular payroll date for the period that includes the former employee's last day working. don't know what if any penalties the employee can get for employer's failure to provide, BUT the state of n.j. can collect a minimum of $100 to a maximum or $1000 per day for every day after that payroll date the employer fails to provide the paycheck.

 

[tvguy]

California has the strictest labor laws in the u.s.-if an employee is fired, no matter the number of employees-final check must be presented upon firing. if an employee quits w/ no notice (again no matter the number of employees)-final check including all accruals must be provided within 72 hours-if the employee gives at least 72 hours notice of quitting then the final check including accruals has to be presented their final day on the job. for each day the employer fails to provide the ENTIRE final pay (including all accruals) they can be fined (payable to the employee) the employee's average daily wages for up to 30 days.

if the o/p was in California and had given her prior employer at least 72 hours notice of her last day being 8/28-that employer would currently have to pay the o/p in addition to what is already owed to her-18 days worth of the employee's average daily wages (don't matter if the employee never worked weekends-it's calendar days). looks like the o/p is in new jersey-it's required there that the final paycheck be provided on the regular payroll date for the period that includes the former employee's last day working. don't know what if any penalties the employee can get for employer's failure to provide, BUT the state of n.j. can collect a minimum of $100 to a maximum or $1000 per day for every day after that payroll date the employer fails to provide the paycheck.

Given that corporate has taken away all ability for individual locations to write checks, our HR department has to do a lot of planning to make sure they do everything they can to make sure the final check is here on time when an employee is dismissed. The check has to be overnighted from Baltimore......so an employee may be dismissed a noon, and there is no way a check is going to be available for 2 days.

 

[kaytieeldr]

it's likely that the payroll period ended either on the 31st of august or at the latest (if they do 2 week chunks and the o/p just happened to stop working on the Friday of the first week cycle) on 9/4 so she's still looking at having had to wait 17-21 days for her final pay. I don't know any employer who takes that long to do a payroll cycle.

I can't get on the o/p for not having enough to get by on at this point-I clearly remember leaving one job to start another with just a few days in-between. my new job paid on a monthly basis (10th of every month for the prior months earnings)

It's very possible, based on the dates, that the old job did pay once a month.

 

[Ceila]

Wow, way to burn bridges, OP. Hope you never make a mistake at your job.

 

[tasha99]

I hope you didn't really file a complaint. It won't get you your money faster, and burns professional bridges. It would be a very foolish thing to do at this point . . .

 

[barkley]

comments below-

Given that corporate has taken away all ability for individual locations to write checks, our HR department has to do a lot of planning to make sure they do everything they can to make sure the final check is here on time when an employee is dismissed. The check has to be overnighted from Baltimore......so an employee may be dismissed a noon, and there is no way a check is going to be available for 2 days.

seeing as you are in California I'm guessing like all other California employers it takes an act of god and tremendous documentation to terminate an employee. given that-my experience in both California private and public industry was such that in order to actually terminate an employee (short of an event that entailed law enforcement and an arrest which gave us some leeway on providing final compensation), it was a step by step process wherein h/r and payroll were well aware prior to termination of the exact minute to the hour the employee would be handed their walking papers. w/my employment prior to retirement-we were union, and the union contract waived the right to final compensation upon termination-our employer could provide the final compensation on the next scheduled pay date.

even when I worked private industry in California wherein our corporate was out of state-there was always someone w/in management who had signatory powers on a checking account to write a final paycheck in the case of an unanticipated termination.

It's very possible, based on the dates, that the old job did pay once a month.

if that's the case I still can't imagine any employer whose payroll is such that (now-today) employees are just being paid for hours they worked almost 20 days ago.

 

[tvguy]

comments below-



seeing as you are in California I'm guessing like all other California employers it takes an act of god and tremendous documentation to terminate an employee. given that-my experience in both California private and public industry was such that in order to actually terminate an employee (short of an event that entailed law enforcement and an arrest which gave us some leeway on providing final compensation), it was a step by step process wherein h/r and payroll were well aware prior to termination of the exact minute to the hour the employee would be handed their walking papers. w/my employment prior to retirement-we were union, and the union contract waived the right to final compensation upon termination-our employer could provide the final compensation on the next scheduled pay date.

even when I worked private industry in California wherein our corporate was out of state-there was always someone w/in management who had signatory powers on a checking account to write a final paycheck in the case of an unanticipated termination.



if that's the case I still can't imagine any employer whose payroll is such that (now-today) employees are just being paid for hours they worked almost 20 days ago.

State of California pays state workers once a month. But it seems government exempts itself from state laws. We have had a few employees terminated recently, it was odd because one guy was let go at the end of his shift, after he had loaded up all his gear in a company car. Guy next morning went to get into that van and found all the gear. The let him know and he was out the door, check in hand.
One thing that has changed is with employees that are under personal service contracts. Used to be they would be told 30,60 or 90 days before the end of their contract that their services were no longer needed, and be shown the door on the spot, but continue to be paid through the end of their contract. Now, they are still told 30, 60 or 90 days in advance, but work to the end of the contract. I have only worked under a personal service contract once.....worked 9 months of a 3 year contract with "outs". I started a new job a week after leaving my old one, drew a full paycheck from two employers for almost 90 days.

 

[barkley]

Wow, way to burn bridges, OP. Hope you never make a mistake at your job.

MANY employers will not comment on any prior employees. at the most some will only verify final compensation and if the employee is eligible to re-hire (with a definition of re-hire eligibility). reason-slander.

the o/p went from one job to another-and if the new employer contacted the prior apparently the reference was good enough to get her hired, so if something happened with the new job, if the former employer gave a bad reference to a subsequent potential employer (based on the final pay issue) that employer would be opening themselves up to slander litigation up the wazoo.

this was why the private and public employers I had PROHIBITED any form of references for former employees-and if a supervisor/manager had a scintilla of common sense they would in no way, shape or form make so much as an 'off the record' comment or eye roll about a former employee for fear of a personal slander law suit in addition to immediate professional termination for violation of our management contracts.

I always advised my staff to retain every written evaluation they received b/c it was the only performance recommendation a future employer would be able to access from our employer.

 

[barkley]

State of California pays state workers once a month. But it seems government exempts itself from state laws. We have had a few employees terminated recently, it was odd because one guy was let go at the end of his shift, after he had loaded up all his gear in a company car. Guy next morning went to get into that van and found all the gear. The let him know and he was out the door, check in hand.
One thing that has changed is with employees that are under personal service contracts. Used to be they would be told 30,60 or 90 days before the end of their contract that their services were no longer needed, and be shown the door on the spot, but continue to be paid through the end of their contract. Now, they are still told 30, 60 or 90 days in advance, but work to the end of the contract. I have only worked under a personal service contract once.....worked 9 months of a 3 year contract with "outs". I started a new job a week after leaving my old one, drew a full paycheck from two employers for almost 90 days.

yup-ca pays once a month but it's not over 20 days after the end of the pay period (have current and prior family who are state employees and retirees)-and state employees for the most part are union who often have contracts that negotiate around some labor laws regarding final compensation in the event of termination (and let's be honest-the majority are negotiated as voluntary resignations to benefit the employee and avoid a s-load of paperwork on the employer's part).

as for the personal service contracts-SMART MOVE on California employer's part-bypasses California's right to work laws and makes the employees 'at will' so the employer can terminate w/o cause. it's nice for the employee that they can still get paid through the end of their contracts vs. what they would have happen in a state like mine-WA- just 'your services are no longer needed', and out the door. no explanation of the basis of termination (which is lousy when applying for a subsequent job wherein the prospective employer asks why you were released from your prior job).

disclaimer-years ago I worked for a preschool daycare in accounting/payroll. I was directed to ignore that state's laws regarding final compensation and told that if the former employee complained about it they would risking a bad reference. as a parent I've dealt w/my kids going over the decades to 5 different private daycares/preschools/schools-and no matter how great/well thought of/proven a staff member was-the minute they resigned to go into the public sector where they would receive equitable compensation for their education/skills/experience-they were bad mouthed with a vengeance.

I therefore have the opinion that it's the exception that a daycare/private school will EVER give a positive reference to any former employee who voluntarily resigns no matter what the basis.

 

[tvguy]

yup-ca pays once a month but it's not over 20 days after the end of the pay period (have current and prior family who are state employees and retirees)-and state employees for the most part are union who often have contracts that negotiate around some labor laws regarding final compensation in the event of termination (and let's be honest-the majority are negotiated as voluntary resignations to benefit the employee and avoid a s-load of paperwork on the employer's part).

as for the personal service contracts-SMART MOVE on California employer's part-bypasses California's right to work laws and makes the employees 'at will' so the employer can terminate w/o cause. it's nice for the employee that they can still get paid through the end of their contracts vs. what they would have happen in a state like mine-WA- just 'your services are no longer needed', and out the door. no explanation of the basis of termination (which is lousy when applying for a subsequent job wherein the prospective employer asks why you were released from your prior job).

disclaimer-years ago I worked for a preschool daycare in accounting/payroll. I was directed to ignore that state's laws regarding final compensation and told that if the former employee complained about it they would risking a bad reference. as a parent I've dealt w/my kids going over the decades to 5 different private daycares/preschools/schools-and no matter how great/well thought of/proven a staff member was-the minute they resigned to go into the public sector where they would receive equitable compensation for their education/skills/experience-they were bad mouthed with a vengeance.

I therefore have the opinion that it's the exception that a daycare/private school will EVER give a positive reference to any former employee who voluntarily resigns no matter what the basis.

LOL on bad references. Last 2 companies I worked for will fire ANYONE who gives a reference for a former co-worker/employee. All those calls go to HR.......and HR can only answer yes or no to 3 questions. 1) Did this person work there. 2) Did this person work there from 2008 to 2015 (the caller has to have that information). 3) Did that employee make $22 an hour? (again, the caller has to have that information, HR can not volunteer it.)

 

[barkley]

LOL on bad references. Last 2 companies I worked for will fire ANYONE who gives a reference for a former co-worker/employee. All those calls go to HR.......and HR can only answer yes or no to 3 questions. 1) Did this person work there. 2) Did this person work there from 2008 to 2015 (the caller has to have that information). 3) Did that employee make $22 an hour? (again, the caller has to have that information, HR can not volunteer it.)

similar to my last employer-that's why I always told the people I supervised to hold on to their copies of their employee evaluations (esp. the narrative) and file it away. that way if they decided they wanted to change jobs they could provide some kind of reference from our employer.

 

[tvguy]

similar to my last employer-that's why I always told the people I supervised to hold on to their copies of their employee evaluations (esp. the narrative) and file it away. that way if they decided they wanted to change jobs they could provide some kind of reference from our employer.

I always wonder about references anyway. I have never had any of mine called, and I have never been called back when I was allowed to be a reference. However, I know a few people who have had people they did not list as references called, usually people they did not want to know they were job hunting!

 

[barkley]

I always wonder about references anyway. I have never had any of mine called, and I have never been called back when I was allowed to be a reference. However, I know a few people who have had people they did not list as references called, usually people they did not want to know they were job hunting!

oh dang-I didn't sit on the specific hiring panel for the guy but was on one of several doing a mass hiring for my government employer at one point. our agency's policy was to always ask a candidate if we had their permission to contact a current employer (b/c we knew some would fire people if they knew a person was looking)-and if they declined, unless it was for a non entry level job we respected their request (actually didn't get burned much at all w/this). well one candidate said 'no problem, go ahead and contact them'-so the hiring panel did; and when the contact person for the place he worked for got the call and found out what they were being called on and about who, first they asked "where exactly is your agency?" (we were in another state that the employee had shared with the panel he had come to a few days prior "to visit family and friends, just enjoy"), and if they could find out how far in advance their employee's interview had been scheduled (my co-worker told them it had been at least 2 weeks earlier per our policies and practices), and then they said that their policy was not to give references but "just so you're aware-if you're interested in hiring him, whenever he gets back to work he'll learn that he's available immediately because we don't tolerate falsifying attendance, and since he knew about this 2 weeks ago but has chosen to leave us scrambling when he's called in 10 minutes before his shifts have started every day for the past 4 days claiming to be too sick to come in but might be in for his next shift, yeah if you want him-he will be available"


um, yeah-I guess there were some other red flags during the interview but that cemented that panel's decision to not recommend hiring him.

 

[Ceila]

MANY employers will not comment on any prior employees. at the most some will only verify final compensation and if the employee is eligible to re-hire (with a definition of re-hire eligibility). reason-slander.

the o/p went from one job to another-and if the new employer contacted the prior apparently the reference was good enough to get her hired, so if something happened with the new job, if the former employer gave a bad reference to a subsequent potential employer (based on the final pay issue) that employer would be opening themselves up to slander litigation up the wazoo.

this was why the private and public employers I had PROHIBITED any form of references for former employees-and if a supervisor/manager had a scintilla of common sense they would in no way, shape or form make so much as an 'off the record' comment or eye roll about a former employee for fear of a personal slander law suit in addition to immediate professional termination for violation of our management contracts.

I always advised my staff to retain every written evaluation they received b/c it was the only performance recommendation a future employer would be able to access from our employer.

I used to be in HR and am very well aware that most companies will not release much information on former employees. However, references are hardly the only bridges you can burn, you know. Maintaining a good network in your field of interest is critical for future job hunting. It's all about who you know. Many people find jobs because someone in their network knows of an opening elsewhere. If you've burned bridges, you've lost any possibility of having that person pass along a lead to you or referring you to someone they know.

If the OP goes to the Labor Department or up the corporate chain, she's jeopardizing any possibility of including her former employer in her network, and I think that's incredibly foolish for something that will probably be worked out this week.

 

[Alesia]

I used to be in HR and am very well aware that most companies will not release much information on former employees. However, references are hardly the only bridges you can burn, you know. Maintaining a good network in your field of interest is critical for future job hunting. It's all about who you know. Many people find jobs because someone in their network knows of an opening elsewhere. If you've burned bridges, you've lost any possibility of having that person pass along a lead to you or referring you to someone they know.

If the OP goes to the Labor Department or up the corporate chain, she's jeopardizing any possibility of including her former employer in her network, and I think that's incredibly foolish for something that will probably be worked out this week.

I agree. People are focusing on references, but that's the least of the OP's worries. The fact of the matter is that people talk - not officially, but word gets around the grapevine pretty quickly. And, speaking from experience, in the childcare field, that grapevine is very long indeed. Not holding your horses for 2 days (2 days!) to give them a chance to make it right is a very good way to get a very bad reputation.

 

[barkley]

I used to be in HR and am very well aware that most companies will not release much information on former employees. However, references are hardly the only bridges you can burn, you know. Maintaining a good network in your field of interest is critical for future job hunting. It's all about who you know. Many people find jobs because someone in their network knows of an opening elsewhere. If you've burned bridges, you've lost any possibility of having that person pass along a lead to you or referring you to someone they know.

If the OP goes to the Labor Department or up the corporate chain, she's jeopardizing any possibility of including her former employer in her network, and I think that's incredibly foolish for something that will probably be worked out this week.

I agree. People are focusing on references, but that's the least of the OP's worries. The fact of the matter is that people talk - not officially, but word gets around the grapevine pretty quickly. And, speaking from experience, in the childcare field, that grapevine is very long indeed. Not holding your horses for 2 days (2 days!) to give them a chance to make it right is a very good way to get a very bad reputation.

I guess this all where we just have to agree to disagree.

I just see it as yet another employer who cares so little about a former employee (and likely ticked off she left for likely better pay and such) who is NOT making someone wait 2 days for their final pay, but (as of tomorrow) making her wait at minimum-24 days.

as for her former employer being someone who is going to give her job leads or referring the o/p to someone they know-it's unlikely in my experience w/the field. anytime a care provider left a center I worked at way back in the day, or one left where my kids were at it was like the person never existed-and was never spoken of again (which I thought sucked for the kids who would ask where 'miss such and such' went to). as far as the grapevine went-it goes both ways. the good directors/owners knew which of the other directors/owners ran their places well, hired and through their treatment of them/working conditions retained good staff, and complied with the law-they also knew which places didn't and as such any negativity they heard about an employee who had left (esp. w/the traditionally high turnover in the industry) was always taken with a HUGE grain of salt (esp. if the prior employer never spoke negatively about the person when they were in their employ AND raised no red flags that prevented them from taking the likely much better job they left to accept.