Changing payroll periods and lawful deductions

Peggy UH in LA

Currently we are paid on the 15th and end of month with periods being 22-6 (for 15th) and 7-21 (for end of month) to allow payroll time to process accurately. Our CEO wants the period to actually be 1-15 and 16-31 to have project revenue coincide with the payroll periods; the financial analyst has to "back out" some revenue in order for the periods to align with revenue. In LA we are required to pay for accrued vacation on termination. If someone is terminated the 13th and they are paid for 2 extra days (payroll has to transmit 3 days prior to the actual pay date; 98% of our employees do direct deposit), can we legally consider this an exception and deduct the 2 days since the emp actually didn't work it? There is a La court case that says "written or other policies requiring the forfeiture of such accrued rights are not enforceable". But the Controller thinks that we can do it. Have any of you had pay periods such as this and had to make adjustments after the fact for time off? How did you handle terminations? It seems to me it would cause more problems than it would fix, certainly more time for payroll. Thanks for any insight.

davids

You need to check with your state's wage and hour agency to see if recouping an overpayment is considered a legal deduction. In my state, recouping a wage overpayment has not historically been viewed as an unlawful deduction; although there was one court case that said differently.