Making Employees Wait for Pay Because of Failure to Follow Policy
felicia_matthews
41 Posts
We are a large California health-care provider with a continual problem with employees failing to complete the required paperwork for timekeeping. Thank goodness I am not responsible for payroll, but this is an overall HR issue. We have employees who fail to submit the required paperwork in time for payroll processing. Paperwork including sick time requests, time clock correction sheets, etc. The employees come up short on their paychecks and then demand a manual check be issued mid-cycle. We are beginning to appropriately counsel and discipline for failure to follow timekeeping policies, but what we really want to do is make them wait to be paid until the next paydate. I have posed the question to the state DLSE to receive their guidance, but have rec'vd conflicting answers. We have many "complaint-ready" employees who are very quick to file w/the state, so I need firm answers. Any case law with which you are familiar?
Comments
I found the following excerpt from the Calfornia wage laws which I got from BNA -- "In case of wage dispute, undisputed amount must be timely paid. Employee acceptance does not constitute release of claim. (L § 206, as last amended by Ch. 312, L. 1975)" This appears to say that you may be able to argue that you have a dispute regarding the need to pay wages if you have inadequate records. This may be an argument that you could use to fight the "if you know that they are there you pay them" principle.
Not sure if this helps any, but it's what I found.
As far as knowing if a person is at work or not, it might work in small organizations, but when you get 100's of employees, it's not possible to know who is where and...it's not HR or Payroll's responsibility to track people down to pay them. That's the purpose of a time clock.
Again, I would address as disciplinary if I was a supervisor and had to keep making exceptions to an employee's time because of their irresponsibility. Otherwise, they would have to wait until next pay period if they miss payroll deadline.
Gillian: I disagree and feel that the wording you quoted does not at all address the issue of hours that are unknown to the employer because the requisite reporting by the ee is dilinquent. The labor code surely (?) doesn't say "Hours worked, whether known or unknown to the employer....". On the other hand, the wording suggests to me that the question regarding the 'on demand manual check' is dispensed with by allowing/requiring the employer to pay on or by the next subsequent pay date.