Payroll Check Pickup

LindaS

Maybe I'm just being picky but I'm really frustrated with an "unwritten" polciy that has been going on since before I came to this company...

Our factory employees are being allowed to pick up their paychecks early (before the actual payday). Our payday is every Thursday but I have had employees asking for their check yesterday due to their being on vacation and not wanting to come in to pick up their check, or being out of town tomorrow. I even had two individuals WHO ARE SCHEDULED TO WORK TOMORROW come in for their check this morning. I also had another individual who had the nerve, after she was given her check this morning, to be upset when I told her she could not cash the check until tomorrow (I know that the bank will probably allow her to cash it today but you still have to go through the motions). We offer direct deposit so it's not like they don't have some options.

Am I being too picky? What, if any, policy do some of you have?

sonny

Our pay day is Friday, checks are usually ready Thursday after 2. If you want your check early it has to be approved by the Dept. head for a bona fide reason. The exception of course is Police and Fire who get theirs Thursday just because they are special. I would just put a stop to it.

jmpmo

We just keep it simple. We do not allow early pick up for any reason other then holidays. For example, Friday we are closed, so we will hand them out Thursday, but no earlier.

safety

There are no circumstances where we hand out checks before the date on the check. Now that we offer direct deposit to all employees the issue of early checks has virtually disappeared. Approx. 1/2 of our staff has direct deposit now. Occasionally we have an employee ask for an early check but the answer has always been no.

Hunter1

We used direct deposit as the excuse to end all early checks. We even used to provide checks early if the employee was going to be on vacation on pay week. Boy, was that a hassle, but direct deposit removed the employees' excuses for needing checks early. (Except, of course, for those who cannot budget) : )

Ruskanen

What did you do if an employee didn't have a bank account? I would love to have direct deposit for all employees but I know that many of our employees don't have accounts...that's why they come in early to pick up their checks so they can cash them immediately.

ritaanz

Our payday is Wednesday. We pay our second shift people on Tuesday evening. We do our payroll in-house and check are usually ready by Tuesday morning. About 80% of our employees have direct deposit. If an employee is going to be out on payday, we will give them their check onTuesday. There are times when an employee has an emergency and needs to have their spouse cash it first thing Wednesday morning. We will let the employee have his check. What's the big deal?

mwild31

When I first started here, this used to happen to me as well. Just put an end to it. It's a huge time-waster for you - constantly getting interupted, etc. Tell people when their checks will be ready and then consistenly stick with it. If certain shifts get theirs sooner - then, only those people on that shift get theirs sooner... If you're not the manager of HR, or god forbid, report to a CFO, then get their buy-in first - thereby circumventing those ee's that love to go over HR's head. x:-)

Kiwi

No, you certainly are not being too picky. They are being too pushy. We used to have a lot of the same thing, but got rid of many such requests when we went to outsourced payroll checks and direct deposit as an option. (We'd even have people asking for their check on Tuesday, which is before they are even created. And we have weekly payroll!) We still get some requests but never give a check out before the check date. If they aren't scheduled to work on that day, we offer to mail it or hold it until they get back or they can come in and pick it up.

Rockie

Requiring direct deposit will put an end to a lot of this. I would simply not do it any longer unless there was an emergency and then it had to be approved by the department manager. You are buying yourself a lot of hassles otherwise. We don't allow early checks - we suggest direct deposit if an employee needs their funds guaranteed in their account by a certain date.

Pixie

I put a stop to employees demands that I must jump through the hoops they hold up for me. First of all, I discussed the Constructive Receipt Laws with my boss and explained the potential financial liabilty for releaseing checks early. It was actually pretty exciting when the powers that asked if they could send out the notification to the offendres and their managers. I've now got policies and procedures in place that have eliminated the abuse by 99%. It's interesting that I just happened upon this post shortlty after having to scold one of my employees for insisting that I jump through the "you better gimme my paycheck early hoop". My problem was that my predecessor played favorites with some employees which was a nightmare that I inherited.

LindaS

Thanks to all for your replies.

I spoke with the president of the company, who was unaware that this was a regular practice, and he agreed that employees should not be allowed to get their checks early without a significant, bona fide reason. I am putting a notice up on Monday informing employees that the only personnel who will be allowed to provide checks early (no earlier than one day before payroll) will be the plant manager or myself. I'm sure I'm going to be REAL popular when this comes out!!

sonny

They will get over it

Pixie

LindaS .... Here's the memo that I posted for my employees. It worked quite well.

Please be advised that PAYDAY is scheduled every other Friday. Whenever payday falls on a holiday, you will be paid on the regularly scheduled day before the holiday.

If an advance check is required because you are scheduled to be on vacation you must mark the appropriate box on your vacation notification request form, said form must also be submitted to and received in the Payroll Department by noon at least 15 (fifteen) working days before the normal pay date.

If you are scheduled to be out of the office on payday and require your check the day before, a written request from your Supervisor/Manager must be submitted to and received in the Payroll Department by noon on the Monday of pay week. Your check will then be available Thursday after 4:00 P.M.

Checks are not available prior to pay day. . In an effort to remain in compliance with the Constructive Receipt Laws, if a paycheck is required prior to the actual check date, the check will not be released "prior to 4:00 PM local time on the banking day immediately before pay date". Cashing checks prior to 4 PM the day prior to the pay date is also a violation of law and can lead to penalties, additional taxes and legal issues. To avoid such incidents, CHECKS ARE VALUE DATED FOR FRIDAY (PAYDAY) AND CANNOT BE CASHED PRIOR TO THE ACTUAL CHECK DATE.

We understand that there are times that an employee will be faced with some type of an emergency and may request that a check be released early, in such an instance the request will be reviewed and consideration will be given on a case by case basis

Consider signing up for direct deposit.

 Payments made by Direct Deposit have never been lost. In fact, you are much more likely to have a problem with a check.
 Direct Deposit is more confidential. A check passes through many more hands than an electronic transfer.
 By using Direct Deposit , you may save the equivalent of three workdays each year by not having to go to the bank to deposit checks.
 With Direct Deposit, you may choose a combination of up to three different checking/savings accounts, enabling you to decide how to divide your pay among your accounts and it will be done automatically each payday.
 You don’t have to be in town for your money to be securely deposited into your account.
 Problems, which are rare, are quickly resolved. By contrast, problems with checks may take much longer to correct, such as a lost check, which takes an average of 7 to 10 days to replace.

For your consideration, the attached file contains a Full Service Direct Deposit Enrollment Form. If you choose to sign up for direct deposit, simply print the attached form, follow the printed instructions and submit the completed and signed form to payroll.

LindaS

Thanks for the help Pixie - I copied the notice and will change it as needed. I like the information added to the bottom!

mrbill

Our payday is Thursday, and we never release the checks prior to that day. If Thursday happens to be a Holiday, (Thanksgiving)then we pay on Wednesday, however a direct deposit might not be available for ATM withdrawl on Thursday.
What used to frost me was when we pre-paid vacation checks, then one would come in on the Thursday of their Vacation to pick up their previous weeks pay, meaning that when they returned from vacation - no check. Could not do anything about it however, due to State laws.