Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Payroll re-issue checks

Is it legal to charge an employee the fees associated with re-issuing a paycheck


Asked on 5/14/07, 7:36 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Merry Kogut Key Peninsula Law

Re: Payroll re-issue checks

Well, whose fault was it that it needed to be re-issued? If it's the employee's, I don't see anything wrong with it.

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Answered on 5/14/07, 7:40 pm
Susan Beecher Susan L. Beecher, Atty at Law

Re: Payroll re-issue checks

If the check is being reissued because of the fault of the employer (first check made out incorrectly, though employee reported all information correctly, or first check lost while in employer's possession, to cite two examples), then assessing the fees would amount to an illegal reduction in the employee's pay.

If the check is being reissued because of the fault of the employee (for example, employee lost the original paycheck, or failed to report hours until after the established deadline), it is still probably not strictly correct to charge the employee, because employers normally cannot ask employees to absorb losses that result from said employees' mistakes. (The employer's recourse where the employee's actions result in losses is to terminate the employee.)

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Answered on 5/14/07, 8:02 pm


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