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Have you tried depositing the checks thru your bank's ATM? And, if they gave you a check for the differences, to me, it sounds like they have remedied the problems.
If you can go four weeks without a paycheck, I'm guessing you have some other form of support, maybe live with parents, have a good-sized savings account, ect. Because most adults can't go a month without paychecks without some big problems. You need to act like one of those people...go in and tell the boss, "I still haven't been able to cash my first two checks because my name is spelled wrong on them. I need this money in the next couple of days if I am going to keep a roof over my head, be able to buy groceries, gas to get to work, etc." Get a firm date when the new check will be issued. Tell the boss you can't afford to wait a week or two. Any business that can afford to employ you can cut you a check for the wages they owe you from a month ago, or they can get the payroll company to issue the check faster. The more you're willing to wait without insisting they correct the problem quickly, the more they realize you won't stand up for yourself.
Maybe my bank is just stingy, but they wouldn't take the misspelled checks.
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Go back to your bank, and this time, should they refuse to accept them ask a bank officer to call H/R at your corp on the spot. Have the officer present you with a letter stating the checks cannot be cashed by you, as is. If your company fails to void the checks and reissue them (yes, a corp is legally required to present an employee with a check correctly made out), take the officer's letter to your state DOL.
I don't see how you can't just go directly to payroll and they just get a new check printed out for you. Maybe not that red hot second, but if you return the bad checks they can void them and get new ones to you.
The OP stated in her first post that her employer is using "a new payroll company." That indicates to me they outsource the payroll function and there is no in-house organization she can visit. It's within the realm of possibility that this subcontractor has an arrangement with her employer to cut checks ONLY every two weeks and they to-date have developed no procedure to reimburse for checks that are in error.
I recently worked for a company in Arizona whose payroll department was in the parent company in New Mexico. They made out my checks at the wrong payrate for the first FOUR MONTHS I worked there. No one in NM would return my calls. My immediate supervisor tried to get the discrepancy corrected from the first month on, but it took that long to have a single error changed that was input into the system the first time they paid me.
I did cash the checks they gave me, and eventually they did make up the monetary discrepancy, which was significant. But I had to have three different managers, including the GM of my company, intercede in my behalf before the payroll department would acknowledge that they had made an error and they owed me back pay. And to this day I'm not sure they ever straightened out the deductions properly.
I feel for the OP. She has issues with her company, their subcontractor, AND her bank. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes.
You walk into your bosses' office and politely, but firmly, demand he/she rectify the situation by re-issuing new checks that are corrected within a few days. If he says he can't help you, ask who can fix the problem. Even if your payroll function is outsourced, there's still someone in HR or payroll that coordinates all of this stuff with the vendor.
This is an extremely reasonable request and should be dealt with immediately. I could see a manager deferring your pay if it was an hour or two missing ("just wait for the next pay period"), but three pay cycles? No way.
If he doesn't help, either go to HR directly or contact your state labor board. (HR is usually pretty useless. But this is definitely an instance in which they could help.) If no one at your company helps, contact your state labor board by phone.
Report those idiots to the department of labor and look for a new job. If you get an offer, give this job notice. Two months of work with only one quarter of your pay for what you put in there? They aren't loyal to you, so why be loyal to them? It's a lot easier to find work while working.
What a sorry ass excuse for a company ! They should be ashamed of themselves. The very first thing a company should do is take care of their employees, and the "We'll take care of it next pay" is inexcusable. They are taking advantage of you because of your youth.
You have worked and deserve to be paid exactly what your rate is for the hours worked. I hope you are keeping copies of your time card or at least writing down exactly the hours you start and leave every day. Ask for a meeting with your boss and HR and get it settled immediately. They are jerking you around, and they would not let this happen if it was their own paycheck.
What they are doing is unethical AND illegal. There are places you can go for help, like your local wage and hour people at the State level. But first you need to do some accurate accounting to see exactly how much you are still owed........you seem very confused about that aspect.
You walk into your bosses' office and politely, but firmly, demand he/she rectify the situation by re-issuing new checks that are corrected within a few days. If he says he can't help you, ask who can fix the problem. Even if your payroll function is outsourced, there's still someone in HR or payroll that coordinates all of this stuff with the vendor.
Not every company has a payroll or HR department. If they are using a payroll company it's likely that everything that has to do with handling payroll is handled by them - what they are hired to do. I used to work for a small company that also used a payroll company to cut the checks and the only one at my company that had any dealings with them was the owner. Just like the OP I had problems with my check from this company and like the OP I had to wait two weeks to get a new check because they only cut checks every two weeks. There was no way around that no matter how much I pleaded and tried to reason with my boss and them.
OP, your employer is required to pay you the agreed upon amount on time with a check you can cash. Your recourse if they don't is to file a "wage claim" either with your state's Department of Labor (some states have a different name for this department) or, if your state doesn't handle wage claims, with the federal Department of Labor. However, all the DOL can and will do for you is help you recoup the money you're owed and it takes time. So if your employer is going to rectify the situation, even if it takes time, it would probably serve you best to go that route. If the problem continues or isn't fixed then filing a wage claim may give your employer enough incentive to get off their asses and fix the problem. Sadly there is no other way that you can get them to pay you sooner.
As mentioned cashing the checks with the wrong pay rate won't mean that you accept the amount. You have very few rights as an employee but one right you do have is to get paid in full for all hours worked. But, just to be on the safe side, I would write a memo on the check before you cash it indicating that the pay rate is wrong so that there is no dispute over what you have agreed to.
Also, I'd take the old checks back to the bank and try to cash them again. You may run into a more reasonable teller.
I just started a new job and have not been paid yet. The owner hides and dont answer the phone, some of the ladies are now 2 paychecks waiting........is there something we can do
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They should be ashamed of themselves. The very first thing a company should do is take care of their employees, and the "We'll take care of it next pay" is inexcusable. They are taking advantage of you because of your youth.
