I was employed by a federal security company in Utah, and had to do a full background NCIC investigation prior to employment. Now 8 months later I have been told they reviewed my background report and I had too many minor offenses and I am too high of a security risk and was fired. Also I know utah state law states an employer must furnish final paycheck within 24 hours if fired. They insist they are going to wait to pay me until next pay period. Still another week away. What do I do?

My two questions are:
1. Was this wrongful termination?
2. How do I force them to pay me by law?

No. Sometimes background checks can take a while to come through, especially if they have to do out of state checks.
You can't "force" anybody to do anything. I realize that's taking your words more literally than you probably intend, but someone said that to me once, and I realized that the conotation behind "force" was important enough to bear in mind. You can, however, contact your state Department of Labor, wages & hour division. Be patient, they may take a few days to get back to you. meanwhile, you can check out the web site & write a letter for your final paycheck, reminding them of the applicable law. That may be enough in itself to get your money.

Contract is for Government military base, Background had to clear before we could even be allowed on the base.

Still not wrongful termiation in the legal sensce of the word. Utah is an "at will" state and employee can be fired for any reason or no reason at all.

There is nothing you can do other than collect UI

tj1111fishing, I presume the company is Wackenhutt. From my experience with Wackenhutt, you can go to the HR representative and dispute this. If they stand by it you can still petition for a transfer instead of firing. Wackenhutt has an extensive clientele list, and not all of them are as strict on security protocols as government facilities.

Unless, of course, your previous history has crimes involving dishonesty.