late paycheck again North Dakota

[clarko]

i work for a small oil field company that is doing well for itself keeping busy with work. i have been employed here for 9 months and have had troubles early in the year with receiving my paychecks. in one instance i was almost fired after an emotional confrontation on the phone with the office secretary. i of course did the right thing apologized for being out of line and got my job back. from there i contacted the labor board of north Dakota and they made a call to the office reminding them what a scheduled payday was and they reissued a check for me that i received a day later then the other check showed up about a week later and i returned it to the office. from then on it happened once more but i was working regularly and wasn't in great need of the money so i just waited it out. now that i have been working for awhile consistently with no problems i managed my financial situation to depend on the timing of this check and it did not show up on time so i waited a few days contacted my work office where i got the usual run around of you will have to wait to get the money you earned just like everyone els who is enjoying there days off with there paychecks. so i of course stayed level headed this time and called the labor department again and found out that my company implemented a new policy that they don't have to reissue a check until five days have gone by from payday. i don't know about the law but i want to know if they can legally do this. also i have talked to my place of employment many times now trying to work out a way to fix the problem witch is occurring and they wont change the process at all because it will cost them money to package my check in a different envelope or even let me pick up my check from the office or the rig. i believe this is a form of discrimination but i am not sure and would like to find out. it is just hard to believe that a company in the oil field that is full of controversy any way would not treat there employees that are there and doing there job and doing it well i might add because i know my direct boss is fully behind me in this because i am a dependable hard worker. in my opinion i believe that my employer is out to earn money and expand not to hurt them selfs or employees but they are neglecting to take care of a simple issue and i want to know what my rights are and what action i can take because i know everyone has some things they don't like at work and i am the same but i know that i cant sit here and let them neglect to pay me on time like everyone els it shouldn't be me losing interest money in my account no matter how small that is it is sitting in there payroll account and they are getting it not me. if you know of any thing about this or know of someone who could help me take action on this mater please post the info for me. thank you

[Pattymd]

Does the employer not offer direct deposit? If so, sign up. Solves all your problems.

Are you remotely located and are they currently mailing your check to your home? If so, is it being postmarked no later than payday? If so, the employer has met the "scheduled payday" requirement, especially if you have the option to enroll in direct deposit.

[clarko]

i live in a town not more then 30 miles from where they mail the check and i found out that they dont mail the check from the office they have an account do there payroll for them but also about the direct deposit thing they wont do it because there accountant wont let them do it unless all of the employees do it. the thing that i am most angered about is that i work for a company that is at least a million dollar a year company and they wont stop payment on a check and reissue one because its to expensive and to cancle a check i found out it cost 14 dollars(from there bank itself) and also they wont even try to fix the problem by maybe switching the envelopes that they mail them in. what 10 cents for an envilope is to much and obviosly 14 dollars could end the bussines i dont know its time to look for a new job.

[Pattymd]

OK, no direct deposit. My question about the mailing date still stands, however.

[clarko]

i will look if or when i finaly get the original in the mail i got a re issued one on the way is what they have told me

[Pattymd]

OK. As I said before, if they mailed it on payday, they're compliant. It is not unusual for companies to require, 5-7 days for mail delivery before stopping payment on a paycheck, and at least a couple of days to get the stop payment into the bank's systems before reissuing a check.

I must say, though, that requiring all employees to enroll for direct deposit in order to offer it, is short-sighted of this individual. Direct deposit saves money for the employer; the stop payment fee is just one piece of evidence of this.

[clarko]

yep it got here on saturday and yeah both checks again on the same day and the first one shows the post make of the friday before payday agian but it was also crumpled up like it had had a rough ride but no other postmarks at all. this is very confuseing to me where could it go and why do they always come on the same day. confused but paid still looking for other options tho hard working 3rd generation roughneck

[Pattymd]

I used to manage payroll in the oil drilling industry, and I agree that getting checks to remote employees is a difficult task. Maybe a group of employees could address the direct deposit situation with upper management? Use this as a jumping off point?
http://www.electronicpayments.org/in...osit.facts.php