Having trouble getting my final paycheck reissued, help!

My last check was mailed to me ripped. I couldn’t cash it at the bank because it was ripped.

Do I called H.R to have it teissued. That was over a week ago. I called them again today to check the status of things & I found out tyat it hasn’t actually been reissued yet.

It’s in the process of being reissued. There’s all these policies & procedures they need to go through.

I got a case number & was told that no information will be available until Thursday maybe. I was told I’d get an email explaining things today & so far I haven’t received anything. I feel like I’m being lied to.

I quit my job on 12/3 or 12/4 & it’s 12/19 today.

I have a bad feeling that they aren’t going to reissue another check. I complained about a few coworkers, a supervisor & not bring trained properly & they might be retailating against me for that.

I live in Ca. What are my options if they refuse to reissue the check?

They aren’t going to refuse. But it will take time. You could talk to a former boss and they can call on your behalf. Things like reissuing a check take time. You could call HR again but you just have to be patient. No they aren’t going to retaliate. It doesn’t work that way

In California they are supposed to pay you very soon after you quit.

"An employee without a written employment contract for a definite period of time who quits without giving 72 hours prior notice must be paid all of his or her wages, including accrued vacation, within 72 hours of quitting. An employee who quits without giving 72-hours prior notice may request that his or her final wage payment be mailed to a designated address. The date of mailing will be considered the date of payment for purposes of the requirement to provide payment within 72 hours of the notice of quitting. Labor Code Section 202"

Not complying with this law can get the employer in trouble.

"An employer who willfully fails to pay any wages due a terminated employee (discharge or quit) in the prescribed time frame may be assessed a waiting time penalty. The waiting time penalty is an amount equal to the employee's daily rate of pay for each day the wages remain unpaid, up to a maximum of thirty (30) calendar days. Mamika v. Barca (1998) 68 Cal.App4th 487 "

Paydays, pay periods, and the final wages

This is how you file a wage claim in California: Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE)

In your case, they complied with the law but the check was ripped. I think they are entitled to assure that their normal P&P regarding reissuing checks be followed, but I am not sure. Since you have nothing to lose, you can email them, remind them about the final wages law in California, and threaten them with a wage claim.

It hasn’t been long enough to state that “you have trouble getting a check” and I’d not be threatening anyone with anything. It takes at least a couple of weeks (10 working days) to check if your original check wasn’t actually cashed and then they do have to follow their procedures.

Just out of curiosity. I’ve never in my life had checks ripped. You opened an envelope and it was ripped?

Oh that’s really bad - I would just keep on at them until they sort it, polite but insisting.

Really surprised they still issue paper cheques- over here everything is direct bank transfer now and even payslips are digital.

Same here, everyone does direct deposit, but if it’s seasonal and short lived employment or some extra pay people might not do direct transfers/deposit. At my work we get paper check when we are reimbursed for something.

Hopefully they’ll issue the check soon!

Thanks. My friend who works in HR said the same thing. I told them this & they said they never heard of this law

They are taking their time for sure. I might need to file that claim. Thanks for providing all that info.

How do I get the penalty wages? How much would I get btw? I was neing paid $16 an hour & only getting 16-18 hours a week.

It came ripped in the mail. I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t cash it at the bank.

I would’ve opted for direct deposit but I didn’t since my husband kept threatening to take my nane off the joint checking account.

Again, I opted to get a check since my husband kept threatening to take my name off the joint checking account.

You need to open your own checking account next time you get a job. Regarding how much money you will get in penalty wages, did you read the first link I posted in its entirety?

It is astonishing that the HR has never heard of the final wages law. It is well known.

If you want to avoid threatening, you can simply file the claim right now and if you receive the check, cancel thr claim. Or you can even continue with the claim and see if you get penalty wages because the payment was delayed. At issue here is when the payment is considered delivered: when the ripped check arrived or when the good check arrives. You can in good faith maintain that the date should be only when the good check arrives and hence you are entitled to penalty wages. It is worth pursuing.

I think you can do better than work for $16/hr which is barely above minimum wage.
New Labor Laws in California. in California, starting on Jan 1, 2023, minimum wage statewide is $15.50/hr and some cities have higher minimum wages.

Here is the list of cities in California that have higher minimum wages: Inventory of US City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances - UC Berkeley Labor Center

If you can travel to Sunnyvale, you will get $18.55/hr. Closer to you, in Santa Clara it is $17.75/hr.

Check out https://www.in-n-out.com/employment/restaurant/home: they have a higher starting wage.

I also strongly recommend getting your own account as soon as you get an income, it’s important for your own independence and possibly even safety.

Get your own account!

It’s at least 10 working days if not more. They have to make sure you didn’t cash original check etc There will most likely be no penalty. You are stressing yourself over nothing. Why did you quit and are you looking for a new job

Most traditional banks will charge you a monthly maintenance fee each month you do not receive a direct deposit into your checking account. Usually it is $10/month.So it is costly to maintain a checking account if you do not have regular direct deposits.

Some online banks do not charge fees. SoFi bank doesn't. They are currently running a promotion, $300 for opening a checking account subject to some conditions. I have not checked the conditions but suspect you will need to have direct deposits of at least a certain amount in the first few months after you open an account. So you may not qualify for it now.

You can open a checking account online by uploading copies of you driver's license.

SoFI bank: [url=https://www.sofi.com/]

Chime - Banking with No Monthly Fees. Fee-Free Overdraft. Build Credit. also fee-free banking

They finally reissued the check a few days ago. Hopefully it won’t get lost or end up ripped again..

I quit because it was to stressful. I was not properly trained on the register. Even though U was moved to the floor, they would’ve expected me to still ring people up probably.

There were to many hostile toxic people there too. One supervisor yelled at me. I got weird judgmental looks from 3 women for no reason at all & then there was that lady who made the big momma comment.

It wasn’t worth the low pay. I haven’t looked for a new job yet as I think it’s better that I wait to get over this cough I have. I’m almost better now.

I just have a runny & stuffy nose still.

Yes, I read what you sent. The check was reissued a few days ago, finally!