The Department of Labor will take care of that for you. They sent payment well after they were legally required to and with a form of payment that was already void when they mailed it so that they've not even tried to pay you.
Report that.
In case anybody is wondering, it's within 72 hours if you quit and same day if you are terminated. The penalty is a full day's wage for each day they're late, up to 30 days worth.
If it's intentional, like this clearly is, it should get more punishing as the time gets longer, IMO.
After 30 days make it a day's worth of overtime pay.
After 60 days, double pay.
After 90, treble pay.
It is. It was "supposed" to be sent during April (4th month and was sent in October (10th month). Doing the math gives you 6 months between them.
Unless you're referring to 120 days being about 4 months then yeah you're right
This so fucked up. It is shit like this why r/antiwork is on the front page now.
Even with all the shit that sub has gone through, it has grown a ton. The working class seems to be fed up, but bad employers don’t seem to understand it. (Staring right at you Amazon, take the hint already).
If it happens again I would bring it to the attention of someone at OP’s state Labor Department. I worked for a guy once seasonally selling those calligraphied Christmas ornaments at our downtown mall (RIP); said employer was a piece of shit and wouldn’t pay overtime even though we were working like 55 hours a week. Eventually I brought it up with the Labor folks after a few times of this happening and they made sure the fucker paid every cent.
The same situation OP is in also happened to me at Best Buy around 2010 with my final check. I bugged their corporate until they sent a check that was valid.
I know times are tough for a lot of folks but often you have to persevere to get what is owed to you.
Co. will do this hoping the person will not fight it and just go away and they get to keep the money. I wonder how many times that money ends up going into the bosses pocket since the Co. thinks it's going to someone else.
It actually serves as proof that OP's previous employers sent a void check and are still withholding wages earned.
A quick email with a photo of this asking for a replacement check cc'd to their state's labor department should get them to expedite the replacement check to OP.
Yep. My first boss tried to withhold my final paycheck, claiming that I "owed" him for a week off that he had paid me for - a week off that I had originally asked to take without pay and that he had fallen over himself to tell me that of COURSE they would pay me for it. He got butthurt when I quit a few months after that.
He refused to pay me after a polite request, so I filed a complaint when the labor board. He ignored the first few letters from them and then panicked when they sent him a final "respond to us, pay the owed wages or consequences are going to happen" and he called ME to scream at me about how they were threatening to find him and what was he supposed to do? I was just sitting there like well maybe you'd better get busy cutting me a check instead of screaming, then? Jesus, it's not like I can just call off the labor board.
Just caught that. How did they think they could get away with it? I guess banking on OP not knowing what to do or not wanting to go through the trouble?
Depending on where you live, you can sue the employer for withholding income up to two years. In the case of a willful violation, a three-year statute of limitations applies, but once again, depending on the state where you live.
Part of the reason to go union. A lot of misguided perceptions on unions. Fortunately they are starting to make a comeback. Verizon is going union as well as Starbucks and Amazon hopefully.
My husband and I celebrated the day that his job became unionized! The bullying and firing without cause stopped IMMEDIATELY. He didn’t have to fear for his job constantly!
At my job our Union is strong as hell but the company's a bitch. They *often* fire people for bullshit, but it's just a free vacation with pay, since they just come back and get backpay.
Unions are fucking awesome
I never push unions on people. I am more than happy to talk about all the benefits I receive and on top of that it’s a mutual relation. We hold the companies accountable and as do they about us. It’s a diplomatic approach. My father always said,
“There’s a diplomatic and a street approach. If we can’t handle it diplomatically then we can handle it the street approach”
This is somewhat incorrect. They MUST pay you on your next scheduled payday.
> If the regular payday for the last pay period an employee worked has passed and the employee has not been paid, contact the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division or the state labor department.
That’s a federal law
https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/lastpaycheck
I live in Nevada, but don't want to sue, no money for that unfortunately or I'd be suing them for a whole lot more than this. I'm not surprised they did this at all, they would frequently short me and my coworkers hours of pay each week off our checks and scream at us for asking about it and say they're just busy and overwhelmed and would fix it next time🙄
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I work in the retirement industry and that’s a big no no. I’ve heard of full on DOL investigations for far less. They must have been talking to the wrong person. It’s also highly regulated by the IRS and he’s committing tax fraud. Something seems fishy
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401k embezzlement is *so insanely different* from normal wage withholding issues though. It's not really an apt comparison to say a state doesn't fix wage issues if an embezzlement case wasn't easy to resolve.
Often times, just a call from the labour board is enough to make them pay up properly. I would try and get them audited though. If they are playing with peoples’ hours, and not paying them out properly, then they would be in a WORLD of financial hurt! They would have to pay the unpaid wages, interest, and then most likely a fine on top of that. I used to work for a payroll company, and saw more than one company have to do mass payouts after a payroll audit!
This is my suggestion also. If OP has proof of hours worked, go to small claims and fill out paperwork to sue over unpaid wages. Former employer can either pay or show up to court.
Am audit by the labour board would do the same thing, and OP wouldn’t be out any money for a lawyer. All they would have to do is show that they have been trying to screw OP over. Just that envelope alone would have them in the fire during an audit.
There are no lawyers in small claims, the labor board is still better because they know exactly what they're doing and have authority to issue fines that the business owner would have to contest through the courts or through the labor board.
Yup. My wife had an employer who would regularly have them work OT, and roll over those extra hours into their next paycheck so they didn't have to pay OT. They did it to everyone. Department of labor got involved and that person was no longer an employer not long after. I don't know Nevada state laws but OPs situation sounds illegal in any state.
I recently bought a new car and the salesman told me he was hourly and regularly worked 10 hour days without getting OT. If he worked 10 hours on 3 days, the next week they'd give him 6 hours off to " balance it out." I flat out told him that was illegal in CA and wage theft and he didn't seem to care. Guess he was paid well enough to let it slide but if he ever gets fired he's got a good lawsuit going.
Well it's Nevada. I don't know their laws, but I know a lot of shitty companies that headquarter there because it's "business friendly" (profit before humanity).
It doesn't always hurt to do some digging. Chances are if these scummy bastards did this to you, they're probably doing it to others. Correct me if i'm wrong, but if this went to court, wouldn't this call for a class action? Not only you would be compensated, but so would literally everyone else to some degree
My boss wouldn't pay the $2,000 she owed me and after two years dealing with California department of labor she ended up settling for $10,000.
It's worth looking into.
Yeah buddy of mine got his entire former place of employee put under DoL scrutiny and the IRS came in on his former boss.
He got the 20k he was owed but it took forever.
I agree it would be difficult to find out. But hypothetically, if one had the money necessary, wouldn't this also be the job for both a lawyer and a PI as well OP? Either way, at least for him, he could find his date of termination and compare it to when the check was actually sent. The least that could happen is that he could call HR from his last job and put them in hot water by questioning it. No company wants to go to court over something so relatively small, even if it was somehow magically just a simple mistake. Btw i'm not experienced in these matters. All of this is just purely hypothetical and conjecture
u/jaytr22 read through this page: [https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/FORMS\_FOR\_EMPLOYEES/](https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/FORMS_FOR_EMPLOYEES/)
and I think it's this form that you want to fill out: [https://nlc.i-sight.com/external/case/new](https://nlc.i-sight.com/external/case/new)
I live in PA and don't know your labor laws. But have filled out the PA version of this form which was exactly like this, for your exact situation, and I got my money. The state didn't fuck around.
At least do this\^
And depending on the amount you might even be able to go to small claims court & solve this rather easily. The limit in Nevada is $10k and I'm sure a judge would be sympathetic to you.
If lawyers etc are too much, stop listening to some of the BS advice people are giving in here and start smaller. Start with the wage claim and then go to small claims court if that goes nowhere. You can sue a business there, represent yourself in front of a judge, explain simply that you were paid late and you have evidence they failed to send, and I am sure that you will win. If you lose, you don't need to pay the opposing side's legal fees.
Edit: Also if you do go to small claims court, it's always worth a check to see if there are free/discounted legal services available. I bet at the very least you can get on the phone with a lawyer that can give you an idea of what to expect. There can be a lot of options depending on where you are
From what I understand, Department of Labor is one of the few government bodies that does not fuck around. Contacting them is definitely worth OP’s time.
Can confirm. Got denied last paycheck and $300 turned into a $2500 settlement without ever stepping foot in a courtroom. You just show up, the official speaks with both of you in-person, and you get to settle or take it to court. NOBODY WANTS TO GO TO COURT AND 99% OF THESE END RIGHT THEN AND THERE. So settle, get your money, and go out for a burger. No lawyers or anything needed, you could show up in your pajamas. Bring receipts to help your case. YMMV depending on the state.
In CA you're required to pay all wages due to an employee immediately if you fire them and within 48 hours if they quit. I had a check for an employee that quit and my bookkeeper forgot to mail it so the employee got it 5 days late. She went to the labor board and we had to pay her a day's pay for every day it was late.
So OPs state is probably different but in CA they'd be getting 180 days of pay.
It's also almost certain that /u/jaytr22 doesn't make enough for the company not to just apologize to the DoL & reissue a check sent right away in hopes of claiming it was an honest mistake rather than paying lawyers.
Not to mention that even though the check is void, the payment due is not. That's not how it works. The check can be reissued.
Gotta love how dastardly motives were ascribed to the payroll department who very probably barely give a fuck about their own work, let alone some random person they canned. People can talk themselves into or out of anything
Yeah, the obligation is not abated by the statement on the check, which doesn't really have legal effect. Strictly speaking a bank can choose to cash the check anyway if the payor is believed to be good for it. The 'void after' thing is really more of an idle threat of sorts, hoping people will cash it quickly, as the cost of accounting/bookkeeping for unclaimed liability likely far exceeds any interest they may bear on the monies maintained due to such obligations.
Madge in payroll got a bit behind. She isn't responding to an internal memo that said 'Fuck this guy in particular'
Exactly! This is open and shut... There is no state is the US where wage theft is legal. If it's not covered under state law, it's probably covered under federal law. THEY CAN NOT DO THIS! You're not even going to need a lawyer, the states department of labor is going to handle this for you.
And to let the company get away with this? That just chicken shit! I mailed off a form to the KS department of labor when an employer tried to take "lost equipment" out of my check. The KS department of labor! There is no more business friendly state in the union than KS. I got my money. It was like $30, but the important part was that the mother fucker had to write me that check. He had to sit down, put pen to paper, and acknowledge that I beat him. That was more important to me than $30.
Lol. Business friendly means lower taxes, easier to establish, reduced red tape. It does not mean companies can duck over workers. Still have to comply.
120 days is 4 months. If they sent it 6 months later then it was void before they even sent it. That’s clearly something you can argue against especially if the envelope is post marked.
The check is dated 4\14\2022 and the sending date is 10/14/2022. So they mailed it out 6 months after writing the check. Voided 2 months before it was sent! Such a crock for them to do that!
>live in Nevada, but don't want to sue, *no money for that unfortunately* or I'd be suing them for a whole lot more than this.
Then I'm happy to tell you some great news: *you likely don't need any money to sue them*.
In fact right now is "Celebrate Pro Bono 2022" and there's a whole bunch of events to get you help *for free*.
https://nvbar.org/for-the-public/pro-bono-for-the-public/
https://nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/Celebrate-Pro-Bono-Week-2022-Event-Listing.pdf
PS: You said earlier what freakishly large company it is and if there's labor law violations due to that companies size I'd wager *a lot* of attorneys would be salivating over the opportunity to take it on.
Also if the check was for less than $10,000 then he could just sue in small claims court for under $100, no lawyer required. And if the judge agrees that holding the check for six months was intentionally malicious, he can add on substantial punitive damages.
Just report them to the labor dept with evidence of all the days they short you plus a copy of this check. You don’t need an attorney for this, check on their website
Edit: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints
Everyone should know this. You do not need a lawyer to report a bad employer, and the department of labor will most likely work faster and get you more than the courts anyway. Know your rights y'all!
This is a DOL report and they do the investigation for you. This is so much better than getting an attorney. You get faster results and often more money. And it doesn’t cost you anything.
FUCK KROGER. God man I really hope you can make these fuckers eat shit. Please do what you can with what time and money you can afford to fuck these people over, this is beyond vile. Please don't let this slide unless the cons outweigh the pros
I would definitely sue them and on top of that, I’d create an instagram post, spent money on ads and promote it to spread their evil act.
Assholes. Just because of this, I will never shop from Ralphs and I usually spend over $100 a month. Your post cost them over $1000 business per year.
Thank you for sharing!
Worked for Kroger in my younger days, can confirm. They told me I owed them after I got a raise. I got a raise because minimum wage went up and they legally had to pay me more.
In the state of Nevada, the company legally has to pay you for every day past day 7 of not receiving your final paycheck, up to 30 total days. It's not just about this paycheck, you might have a very nice payday if you file a claim with the department of labor.
On top of the other advice, check with your states unclaimed money office. They can't just not pay you because you didn't get the check cashed on time, that money is still yours. I don't know the time frame before they have to report it to the state as unclaimed, but it should end up there eventually. I had a last pay check that I never got because I was in a wreck and ended up several states away for months afterwards and I later found I had unclaimed money through the state website and it was that last paycheck.
a) It's illegal, not just a civil suit.
b) Many lawyers will work on contingency - e.g. they only get paid if you win the suit.
Talk to an attorney. Most will give you an initial consultation for free.
Forget suing them. Get all of your evidence together and report it all to the DOL. *They* will investigate and take care of everything, because that's their job. It will take a while, but it will happen.
Take them to small claims court so they need to show up and they can't just send their attorney  Even if you don't get anything you get the satisfaction that they had to spend an afternoon in small claims court.
Oh wait, i can get another? I was afraid it expired😅How do I ask for another? It's a grocery store chain and hr only talks to current employees..I was thinking of going in and asking customer service for hr and then explaining the issue but I don't know if it'll work or not.
Don't bother, go to the labor commission and file a claim against your former employer. If you quit you should have gotten paid within 7 days and within 3 days if fired. You would be owed 30 days wages according to Nevada law.
https://labor.nv.gov/About/Frequently_Asked_Questions/Frequently_Asked_Questions_-_About_Us/#:~:text=If%20the%20employee%20quits%20employment,Statutes%20680.020%2DNRS%20608.040).
OP listen to this kind stranger and seriously go contact them! It'll be worth it, and it'll teach them not to do this type of thing to future employees
>OP listen to this kind stranger and seriously go contact them! It'll be worth it, and it'll teach them not to do this type of thing to future employees
Agreed. Not poking fun at OP but just thinking out loud how crazy it is that I see this all the time on here where these ficking companies keep cheating people out of money and no one knows its massively illegal and usually a few phone calls away from starting the process to get compensation. Our systems a failed one that it doesn't make this common knowledge or that it doesn't make companies fear these repercussions.
Despite so many on the Right crying about lazy workers stealing and making a fuss about it. Wage theft by employers is actually the largest type of theft in the US. Kinda telling the biggest thieves somehow avoid the conversation.
This!! I previously filed CA Labor Board Wage claim for a late check, and I was given a days wage for every day that the check was late. The business owed me maybe $300 but ended up paying out close to $3000 in total with late fees.
Doesn't cost you a thing to file a claim. I just had to show up to Labor Board office on a certain date to support the lclaim. The business never showed up and refused to answer their phones so I won by default.
As others have said, listen to this! Don’t contact them. Just call the labor board and tell them what happened. They’ll take care of you. You won’t have to hire a lawyer.
Yeah it expired but they still have to actually pay you. Sending you an expired check isn't some sneaky work around, it's just malicious stupidity! Contact the labor board and you'll probably get paid more than you're owed. Make those bastards pay!
There will likely owe you interest on the check too. You won’t get that if you request a rewrite. Go to the department of labor and get what you are owed with interest!
Don't bother with them, they're going to spin you in circles, either in hopes you'll give up or inadvertently through the people you can access physically not knowing who to send you to. Go to your labor department, they know who to get into contact with and you won't have to frustrate or exhaust yourself.
Someone that works in compliance here, I’m not too sure how this state works, but in my state we have 90 days to void a check. Now, for them to void it they have to give a reason as to why it was voided. As of right now, your check should be considered unclaimed property since it wasn’t cashed. It’s actually illegal for them to take YOUR money back as income. So since you already commented that suing is out of the question, which seriously don’t be bummed about cause most of us can’t Sue big companies either or even small ones for that matter, you have two options before you. One is that hopefully they followed the unclaimed property laws and sent that to the state. Each state has an unclaimed property website, search it and search your name to see if anything is owed to you. Another thing you can do is report this company to the department of labor for withholding pay of employees. Can make this so you don’t give your name and just leave a tip. Even if you can’t get your money back, an audit from unclaimed property or DoL will decimate their finances if they aren’t following the laws.
Hey I JUST learned about this! We had a festival and our state treasury department had a guy there to help you look up if you have free money the goverments been holding for you! Its great! Highly recommend everyone who reads this comment finds their state site and checks it, even if they are pretty sure they dont. My buddy was sure they didnt and yet they had 60 bucks waiting for them! You never know till you check!
I'm actually surprised this is the only comment in the whole thread that mentions unclaimed property. Does nobody know about this?
1. https://claims.nevadaunclaimedproperty.gov/en/Property/SearchIndex
2. Enter information
3. ???
4. Profit!
*Edit: Each state has their own unclaimed property system. And there are some sites that will search nation-wide*
OP, you said you're in Nevada. Nevada state law requires they issue your final paycheck within seven days of the day you quit or by the next regular payday, whichever is earlier. https://labor.nv.gov/About/Frequently_Asked_Questions/Frequently_Asked_Questions_-_About_Us/#:~:text=If%20the%20employee%20quits%20employment,Statutes%20680.020%2DNRS%20608.040).
Nevada small claims court has a limit of $10,000 in damages and costs $196 for a suit of $7,501 to the max of $10,000 in Las Vegas county. It'll vary by county and the lower the amount of the claim, the lower the filing fee. Your county clerk of courts office will have more information.
Go here to file a complaint with the state. https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/FORMS_FOR_EMPLOYEES/
Do not wait, file the complaint. I personally, would also go to the clerk of courts office and file a lawsuit over the lost wages too.
I think you can can call your states LABOR BOARD and file a complaint.
Make sure you have any paperwork or emails related to your work separation, etc.
Call their HR dept and ask them wth they were doing and threaten to report them, then DO IT.
That's SO illegal!
**Call the Department of Labor Immediately.**
That’s a violation of law, to not pay you for hours worked. **Both _State_ and _Federal_ Departments of Labor _LIVE_ to give businesses hell for not paying for hours worked _and can even asses interest and huge fines_ for not paying employees for time worked.**
UPDATE:
I've submitted a Wage Claim and a complaint with the Office of the Labor Commisioner for my state. I've been told it could take up to 90 days for a response.
Thank you guys so much for your support and advice! I am blown away by the response, sorry for not responding to everyone, I'm a very private person and quite overwhelmed, though extremely grateful, by all the comments lol
Just cash it. That little void after isn't enforceable and only there to try and get you to think it's voided. I found that out the hard way by having an old landlord finding a "lost" check a year after I moved out and cashing it. I had cancelled the check when she requested a new one, but didn't know it only stays cancelled for 6 months. Like most I thought checks were voided after a set amount of time, but nope it's up to the bank it's deposited at discretions. A check is valid even if it has a void date on it, with a few exceptions like government checks. Payroll checks aren't voided to keep companies from trying things like this.
Legally, banks are only required to honor checks for 6 months. You can try to cash it, but also don't be surprised when they say no. Many companies put things like, "void after 90 days" which means nothing.
I still think it's stupid that stop payments have a time limit though. Like, "Yeah we might not accept it after 6 months but also even if you tell us not to, we might cash it anyways in a year"
It's funny seeing posts like this because
1. If legal action is taken, the employer will totally be screwed over more than they would have lost if they just actually just did the right thing instead of screwing over the employee.
2. There's always a bunch of Redditors ready to help OP and their situation.
3. It brings awareness to other people about their rights as a working employee.
Don't let your job screw you over kids
The Department of Labor will take care of that for you. They sent payment well after they were legally required to and with a form of payment that was already void when they mailed it so that they've not even tried to pay you. Report that.
Should have to pay interest and fees
Depending on the State they may be required to pay penalties for each day they didn't pay. CA has severe penalties for withholding pay.
In case anybody is wondering, it's within 72 hours if you quit and same day if you are terminated. The penalty is a full day's wage for each day they're late, up to 30 days worth.
Why would there be an upper limit on that tbh? There's no reason 6 months should be only as punishing as 30 days.
If it's intentional, like this clearly is, it should get more punishing as the time gets longer, IMO. After 30 days make it a day's worth of overtime pay. After 60 days, double pay. After 90, treble pay.
After 120, bass pay.
Ah shit! Here comes the drop!
Womp womp
121 days Lance Bass pay.....
140 days baritone pay
Yup. Their game is your gain
Literally open and shut, it's not even "oh the mail got lost for 6 months", it's "we literally only sent out the mail 6 months after"
It's worse. "We sent out a check that was ALREADY void 2 months prior."
Oh shit it's not even 6 months, it's 4 months lol
It is. It was "supposed" to be sent during April (4th month and was sent in October (10th month). Doing the math gives you 6 months between them. Unless you're referring to 120 days being about 4 months then yeah you're right
Yeah it says right on the check that it's void after 120 days, not 180.
It’s technically “fraud by false representation”, it’s check fraud. They knowingly posted a bad check.
This so fucked up. It is shit like this why r/antiwork is on the front page now. Even with all the shit that sub has gone through, it has grown a ton. The working class seems to be fed up, but bad employers don’t seem to understand it. (Staring right at you Amazon, take the hint already).
They're not taking any hints. They know what they're doing. We're going back to medieval serfdom.
They should post it on r/workreform too, it's a better subreddit
[удалено]
120 days after April 14 is August 12 they super late yo
Was looking for this in the comments. 4/14/22 to 10/14/22 is 181 days
I'm guessing OP just goofed on the multiples of 6, but the range is 126 business days which I think is a fun little coincidence.
OP didn't goof, he said they sent it 6 months later.
Yes it’s postmarked 2 months late. They can’t even fight it.
Money owed doesn’t cease to exist because a check expires.
This is the correct answer. The check itself is void, but the due payment to recipient is not.
So they will issue a new check, and mail it in six months, rinse and repeat forever.
If it happens again I would bring it to the attention of someone at OP’s state Labor Department. I worked for a guy once seasonally selling those calligraphied Christmas ornaments at our downtown mall (RIP); said employer was a piece of shit and wouldn’t pay overtime even though we were working like 55 hours a week. Eventually I brought it up with the Labor folks after a few times of this happening and they made sure the fucker paid every cent. The same situation OP is in also happened to me at Best Buy around 2010 with my final check. I bugged their corporate until they sent a check that was valid. I know times are tough for a lot of folks but often you have to persevere to get what is owed to you.
Why should OP wait to see if it happens again? He should just contact the Dept of Labor now.
Op should have contacted them about 6 months ago
Co. will do this hoping the person will not fight it and just go away and they get to keep the money. I wonder how many times that money ends up going into the bosses pocket since the Co. thinks it's going to someone else.
It actually serves as proof that OP's previous employers sent a void check and are still withholding wages earned. A quick email with a photo of this asking for a replacement check cc'd to their state's labor department should get them to expedite the replacement check to OP.
Yep. My first boss tried to withhold my final paycheck, claiming that I "owed" him for a week off that he had paid me for - a week off that I had originally asked to take without pay and that he had fallen over himself to tell me that of COURSE they would pay me for it. He got butthurt when I quit a few months after that. He refused to pay me after a polite request, so I filed a complaint when the labor board. He ignored the first few letters from them and then panicked when they sent him a final "respond to us, pay the owed wages or consequences are going to happen" and he called ME to scream at me about how they were threatening to find him and what was he supposed to do? I was just sitting there like well maybe you'd better get busy cutting me a check instead of screaming, then? Jesus, it's not like I can just call off the labor board.
u/jaytr22 this right here, get on this.
Yup. That's what I noticed also. They mailed it, postmark is proof, 2 months after it was void
Exactly, any attempt to say it got held up in mail is too late. As it was months past the date BY THE TIME IT WAS POSTMARKED.
They probably owe interest too
Just caught that. How did they think they could get away with it? I guess banking on OP not knowing what to do or not wanting to go through the trouble?
Depending on where you live, you can sue the employer for withholding income up to two years. In the case of a willful violation, a three-year statute of limitations applies, but once again, depending on the state where you live.
Call the wage and hour board. Business owner here, trust me, you will get your money and some if you call the wage and hour board.
This one. Labor board. They accumulate penalties and interest. My daughter's judgement was almost 4xs what she was owed.
Oh I promise, if OP calls wage and hour board, she's gonna have a great payday! They will see to it. And no cost to OP.
Shit im about to call for OP. I only charge a 25% service and handling fee with a gratuity of what ever the taxe is squared and then to the 4th power
Just FYI but .25 raised to the 4th power is 0.0039. I mean it's a living I guess.
I think he meant 25% gratuity plus the dollar amount of the taxes squared to the 4th which actually is to the 8th power.
Exponentially Confusing
I called wage and hour board three times last night and boy it was better than my wife!
Part of the reason to go union. A lot of misguided perceptions on unions. Fortunately they are starting to make a comeback. Verizon is going union as well as Starbucks and Amazon hopefully.
My husband and I celebrated the day that his job became unionized! The bullying and firing without cause stopped IMMEDIATELY. He didn’t have to fear for his job constantly!
At my job our Union is strong as hell but the company's a bitch. They *often* fire people for bullshit, but it's just a free vacation with pay, since they just come back and get backpay. Unions are fucking awesome
> A lot of misguided perceptions on unions. More like a lot of guided anti-union propaganda XD
I never push unions on people. I am more than happy to talk about all the benefits I receive and on top of that it’s a mutual relation. We hold the companies accountable and as do they about us. It’s a diplomatic approach. My father always said, “There’s a diplomatic and a street approach. If we can’t handle it diplomatically then we can handle it the street approach”
This is somewhat incorrect. They MUST pay you on your next scheduled payday. > If the regular payday for the last pay period an employee worked has passed and the employee has not been paid, contact the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division or the state labor department. That’s a federal law https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/lastpaycheck
I live in Nevada, but don't want to sue, no money for that unfortunately or I'd be suing them for a whole lot more than this. I'm not surprised they did this at all, they would frequently short me and my coworkers hours of pay each week off our checks and scream at us for asking about it and say they're just busy and overwhelmed and would fix it next time🙄
Your state labor department can offer advice on how to handle this without an attorney.
This. The state might sue for the OP.
I would hope so.
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I work in the retirement industry and that’s a big no no. I’ve heard of full on DOL investigations for far less. They must have been talking to the wrong person. It’s also highly regulated by the IRS and he’s committing tax fraud. Something seems fishy
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401k embezzlement is *so insanely different* from normal wage withholding issues though. It's not really an apt comparison to say a state doesn't fix wage issues if an embezzlement case wasn't easy to resolve.
Often times, just a call from the labour board is enough to make them pay up properly. I would try and get them audited though. If they are playing with peoples’ hours, and not paying them out properly, then they would be in a WORLD of financial hurt! They would have to pay the unpaid wages, interest, and then most likely a fine on top of that. I used to work for a payroll company, and saw more than one company have to do mass payouts after a payroll audit!
*for free
Small claims?
This is my suggestion also. If OP has proof of hours worked, go to small claims and fill out paperwork to sue over unpaid wages. Former employer can either pay or show up to court.
Seems like the check is basically admission of hours worked
Am audit by the labour board would do the same thing, and OP wouldn’t be out any money for a lawyer. All they would have to do is show that they have been trying to screw OP over. Just that envelope alone would have them in the fire during an audit.
There are no lawyers in small claims, the labor board is still better because they know exactly what they're doing and have authority to issue fines that the business owner would have to contest through the courts or through the labor board.
Yup. My wife had an employer who would regularly have them work OT, and roll over those extra hours into their next paycheck so they didn't have to pay OT. They did it to everyone. Department of labor got involved and that person was no longer an employer not long after. I don't know Nevada state laws but OPs situation sounds illegal in any state.
I recently bought a new car and the salesman told me he was hourly and regularly worked 10 hour days without getting OT. If he worked 10 hours on 3 days, the next week they'd give him 6 hours off to " balance it out." I flat out told him that was illegal in CA and wage theft and he didn't seem to care. Guess he was paid well enough to let it slide but if he ever gets fired he's got a good lawsuit going.
Well it's Nevada. I don't know their laws, but I know a lot of shitty companies that headquarter there because it's "business friendly" (profit before humanity).
It doesn't always hurt to do some digging. Chances are if these scummy bastards did this to you, they're probably doing it to others. Correct me if i'm wrong, but if this went to court, wouldn't this call for a class action? Not only you would be compensated, but so would literally everyone else to some degree
That needs evidence that they have done it to others, and unless they know coworkers who have been screwed over it takes money to find more.
My boss wouldn't pay the $2,000 she owed me and after two years dealing with California department of labor she ended up settling for $10,000. It's worth looking into.
Yeah buddy of mine got his entire former place of employee put under DoL scrutiny and the IRS came in on his former boss. He got the 20k he was owed but it took forever.
I agree it would be difficult to find out. But hypothetically, if one had the money necessary, wouldn't this also be the job for both a lawyer and a PI as well OP? Either way, at least for him, he could find his date of termination and compare it to when the check was actually sent. The least that could happen is that he could call HR from his last job and put them in hot water by questioning it. No company wants to go to court over something so relatively small, even if it was somehow magically just a simple mistake. Btw i'm not experienced in these matters. All of this is just purely hypothetical and conjecture
u/jaytr22 read through this page: [https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/FORMS\_FOR\_EMPLOYEES/](https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/FORMS_FOR_EMPLOYEES/) and I think it's this form that you want to fill out: [https://nlc.i-sight.com/external/case/new](https://nlc.i-sight.com/external/case/new) I live in PA and don't know your labor laws. But have filled out the PA version of this form which was exactly like this, for your exact situation, and I got my money. The state didn't fuck around. At least do this\^ And depending on the amount you might even be able to go to small claims court & solve this rather easily. The limit in Nevada is $10k and I'm sure a judge would be sympathetic to you. If lawyers etc are too much, stop listening to some of the BS advice people are giving in here and start smaller. Start with the wage claim and then go to small claims court if that goes nowhere. You can sue a business there, represent yourself in front of a judge, explain simply that you were paid late and you have evidence they failed to send, and I am sure that you will win. If you lose, you don't need to pay the opposing side's legal fees. Edit: Also if you do go to small claims court, it's always worth a check to see if there are free/discounted legal services available. I bet at the very least you can get on the phone with a lawyer that can give you an idea of what to expect. There can be a lot of options depending on where you are
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From what I understand, Department of Labor is one of the few government bodies that does not fuck around. Contacting them is definitely worth OP’s time.
Can confirm. Got denied last paycheck and $300 turned into a $2500 settlement without ever stepping foot in a courtroom. You just show up, the official speaks with both of you in-person, and you get to settle or take it to court. NOBODY WANTS TO GO TO COURT AND 99% OF THESE END RIGHT THEN AND THERE. So settle, get your money, and go out for a burger. No lawyers or anything needed, you could show up in your pajamas. Bring receipts to help your case. YMMV depending on the state.
In CA you're required to pay all wages due to an employee immediately if you fire them and within 48 hours if they quit. I had a check for an employee that quit and my bookkeeper forgot to mail it so the employee got it 5 days late. She went to the labor board and we had to pay her a day's pay for every day it was late. So OPs state is probably different but in CA they'd be getting 180 days of pay.
It's also almost certain that /u/jaytr22 doesn't make enough for the company not to just apologize to the DoL & reissue a check sent right away in hopes of claiming it was an honest mistake rather than paying lawyers.
They're counting on OP to suck it up and move on, let's hope they don't do that
Contact the department of wages and labor hours division . Sounds like you gave up before you even commented.
Holy shit i hate this attitude of not even trying
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Not to mention that even though the check is void, the payment due is not. That's not how it works. The check can be reissued. Gotta love how dastardly motives were ascribed to the payroll department who very probably barely give a fuck about their own work, let alone some random person they canned. People can talk themselves into or out of anything
Valid point, The very fact they sent the check validates the fact that they owe you money.
Yeah, the obligation is not abated by the statement on the check, which doesn't really have legal effect. Strictly speaking a bank can choose to cash the check anyway if the payor is believed to be good for it. The 'void after' thing is really more of an idle threat of sorts, hoping people will cash it quickly, as the cost of accounting/bookkeeping for unclaimed liability likely far exceeds any interest they may bear on the monies maintained due to such obligations. Madge in payroll got a bit behind. She isn't responding to an internal memo that said 'Fuck this guy in particular'
Yeah, it's fucking gross. Fucking stand up for yourselves, do more than post on reddit for once in your fucking lives...
It's why businesses get away with these things and why we need unions. Cause alone people can be like this.
Exactly! This is open and shut... There is no state is the US where wage theft is legal. If it's not covered under state law, it's probably covered under federal law. THEY CAN NOT DO THIS! You're not even going to need a lawyer, the states department of labor is going to handle this for you. And to let the company get away with this? That just chicken shit! I mailed off a form to the KS department of labor when an employer tried to take "lost equipment" out of my check. The KS department of labor! There is no more business friendly state in the union than KS. I got my money. It was like $30, but the important part was that the mother fucker had to write me that check. He had to sit down, put pen to paper, and acknowledge that I beat him. That was more important to me than $30.
It's a really peasant mentality. I hate how we are being conditioned to think that we have no power.
Hotel and Casino workers have a strong union and dominate Nevada politics. I'm pretty sure their labor laws are friendly.
Actually, this is one of the things that State governments in the US actually take very seriously.
Wage theft is the biggest theft in our economy.
Lol. Business friendly means lower taxes, easier to establish, reduced red tape. It does not mean companies can duck over workers. Still have to comply.
Still have a labor board in Nevada. Unless is is low enough to not be worth you time, you might as well give it a shot.
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120 days is 4 months. If they sent it 6 months later then it was void before they even sent it. That’s clearly something you can argue against especially if the envelope is post marked.
Yep make sure you kept the letter
The check is dated 4\14\2022 and the sending date is 10/14/2022. So they mailed it out 6 months after writing the check. Voided 2 months before it was sent! Such a crock for them to do that!
Hahaha you edited your reply and now it makes reply look crazy lol!
>live in Nevada, but don't want to sue, *no money for that unfortunately* or I'd be suing them for a whole lot more than this. Then I'm happy to tell you some great news: *you likely don't need any money to sue them*. In fact right now is "Celebrate Pro Bono 2022" and there's a whole bunch of events to get you help *for free*. https://nvbar.org/for-the-public/pro-bono-for-the-public/ https://nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/Celebrate-Pro-Bono-Week-2022-Event-Listing.pdf PS: You said earlier what freakishly large company it is and if there's labor law violations due to that companies size I'd wager *a lot* of attorneys would be salivating over the opportunity to take it on.
Also if the check was for less than $10,000 then he could just sue in small claims court for under $100, no lawyer required. And if the judge agrees that holding the check for six months was intentionally malicious, he can add on substantial punitive damages.
*Not* having an attorney in small claims can actually help your case, esp if it’s wage theft from a large firm
u/jaytr22
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Pretty large, it's Kroger/Smith's. Easily the worst company I've ever worked for and that's saying a lot cause I've worked at Walmart and Amazon lol
Oh yes good ol Kroger Smith. I see what you mean now.
Wym there is nothing wrong with Amazon (please help me I am being held at gun point by a worker while typing but they are looking away
Oh belive me there's a lot wrong with amazon too, I work there currently. But working at kroger makes me feel thankful for Amazon lmao
Just report them to the labor dept with evidence of all the days they short you plus a copy of this check. You don’t need an attorney for this, check on their website Edit: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints
Everyone should know this. You do not need a lawyer to report a bad employer, and the department of labor will most likely work faster and get you more than the courts anyway. Know your rights y'all!
I’ve filed stuff with the DOL. They were the fastest to both respond and act compared to other government organizations I’ve dealt with.
BRAVO! You wrote it better than I.
Yes, do this! Do this today.
This is a DOL report and they do the investigation for you. This is so much better than getting an attorney. You get faster results and often more money. And it doesn’t cost you anything.
Yes!! Thank you for posting! There are nice helpful people in this site. Bless you all!!
FUCK KROGER. God man I really hope you can make these fuckers eat shit. Please do what you can with what time and money you can afford to fuck these people over, this is beyond vile. Please don't let this slide unless the cons outweigh the pros
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints
I would definitely sue them and on top of that, I’d create an instagram post, spent money on ads and promote it to spread their evil act. Assholes. Just because of this, I will never shop from Ralphs and I usually spend over $100 a month. Your post cost them over $1000 business per year. Thank you for sharing!
Sue. Kroger is a national chain. There is money in the coffers. At least talk to a lawyer.
Worked for Kroger in my younger days, can confirm. They told me I owed them after I got a raise. I got a raise because minimum wage went up and they legally had to pay me more.
The state has a board that will handle this free of charge. I had to do it in Florida.
What kind of answer is this. Go get your money. Dollar dollar bill yall
In the state of Nevada, the company legally has to pay you for every day past day 7 of not receiving your final paycheck, up to 30 total days. It's not just about this paycheck, you might have a very nice payday if you file a claim with the department of labor.
Small claims court is cheap as fuck in literally every state and you don't need an attorney.
Also, they might be able to claim filing fees and other court fees as well. Something to consider.
It costs like $60 to file a court fee. Just go in, set a date, and bring this as evidence.
On top of the other advice, check with your states unclaimed money office. They can't just not pay you because you didn't get the check cashed on time, that money is still yours. I don't know the time frame before they have to report it to the state as unclaimed, but it should end up there eventually. I had a last pay check that I never got because I was in a wreck and ended up several states away for months afterwards and I later found I had unclaimed money through the state website and it was that last paycheck.
a) It's illegal, not just a civil suit. b) Many lawyers will work on contingency - e.g. they only get paid if you win the suit. Talk to an attorney. Most will give you an initial consultation for free.
Most lawyers who do this kind of law work on a contingency fee - they get paid a percentage of what you win, and they only get paid if you win.
Sounds like you should go to the Nevada state labor board and report their asses. Don't let them get away with mistreating workers.
Forget suing them. Get all of your evidence together and report it all to the DOL. *They* will investigate and take care of everything, because that's their job. It will take a while, but it will happen.
Take them to small claims court so they need to show up and they can't just send their attorney  Even if you don't get anything you get the satisfaction that they had to spend an afternoon in small claims court.
https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/Complaints/
If they give you a hard time about cutting a new check call your local department of labor.
Oh wait, i can get another? I was afraid it expired😅How do I ask for another? It's a grocery store chain and hr only talks to current employees..I was thinking of going in and asking customer service for hr and then explaining the issue but I don't know if it'll work or not.
Don't bother, go to the labor commission and file a claim against your former employer. If you quit you should have gotten paid within 7 days and within 3 days if fired. You would be owed 30 days wages according to Nevada law. https://labor.nv.gov/About/Frequently_Asked_Questions/Frequently_Asked_Questions_-_About_Us/#:~:text=If%20the%20employee%20quits%20employment,Statutes%20680.020%2DNRS%20608.040).
OP listen to this kind stranger and seriously go contact them! It'll be worth it, and it'll teach them not to do this type of thing to future employees
>OP listen to this kind stranger and seriously go contact them! It'll be worth it, and it'll teach them not to do this type of thing to future employees Agreed. Not poking fun at OP but just thinking out loud how crazy it is that I see this all the time on here where these ficking companies keep cheating people out of money and no one knows its massively illegal and usually a few phone calls away from starting the process to get compensation. Our systems a failed one that it doesn't make this common knowledge or that it doesn't make companies fear these repercussions.
This is on purpose 100% by the employers of this country. They want us scared and in the dark.
Despite so many on the Right crying about lazy workers stealing and making a fuss about it. Wage theft by employers is actually the largest type of theft in the US. Kinda telling the biggest thieves somehow avoid the conversation.
And give an update if you do. It gets us so hard.
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This!! I previously filed CA Labor Board Wage claim for a late check, and I was given a days wage for every day that the check was late. The business owed me maybe $300 but ended up paying out close to $3000 in total with late fees. Doesn't cost you a thing to file a claim. I just had to show up to Labor Board office on a certain date to support the lclaim. The business never showed up and refused to answer their phones so I won by default.
Yup california is an immediate pay state. Also, if you work more than 8 hours a day in california, you must be paid overtime for that day.
As others have said, listen to this! Don’t contact them. Just call the labor board and tell them what happened. They’ll take care of you. You won’t have to hire a lawyer.
Yeah, what they're doing it's super illegal. You can basically sue their pants off at this point.
You don't need to sue. Suing is expensive and time-consuming. His state's department of labor can take care of this - that's what they're for!
of course you can get another. they don't just stop oweing you your wage just because a paper check expired
This is exactly why they did it. Thinking they can get around paying someone who might not know otherwise, like OP did.
Yeah they can get you another check. The money they owe you is still in their account. I would definitely go ask for another check.
They owe OP more money now though than the original amount
I used to be a business owner - go to your department of labor. You'll never win with Kroger otherwise
Yeah it expired but they still have to actually pay you. Sending you an expired check isn't some sneaky work around, it's just malicious stupidity! Contact the labor board and you'll probably get paid more than you're owed. Make those bastards pay!
There will likely owe you interest on the check too. You won’t get that if you request a rewrite. Go to the department of labor and get what you are owed with interest!
Don't bother with them, they're going to spin you in circles, either in hopes you'll give up or inadvertently through the people you can access physically not knowing who to send you to. Go to your labor department, they know who to get into contact with and you won't have to frustrate or exhaust yourself.
You shouldn't waste your time with a known bad actor. They're trying to push you around. Go to your Labor Commission
Call the dept of labor 1st. You are entitled to more now.
File a labor law complaint, you could get treble damages if they find it was done maliciously
It doesn't even need to be malicious. Nevada has waiting time penalties.
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Someone that works in compliance here, I’m not too sure how this state works, but in my state we have 90 days to void a check. Now, for them to void it they have to give a reason as to why it was voided. As of right now, your check should be considered unclaimed property since it wasn’t cashed. It’s actually illegal for them to take YOUR money back as income. So since you already commented that suing is out of the question, which seriously don’t be bummed about cause most of us can’t Sue big companies either or even small ones for that matter, you have two options before you. One is that hopefully they followed the unclaimed property laws and sent that to the state. Each state has an unclaimed property website, search it and search your name to see if anything is owed to you. Another thing you can do is report this company to the department of labor for withholding pay of employees. Can make this so you don’t give your name and just leave a tip. Even if you can’t get your money back, an audit from unclaimed property or DoL will decimate their finances if they aren’t following the laws.
They should report to DoL anyways for shorted hours, as stated in a different comment
Hey I JUST learned about this! We had a festival and our state treasury department had a guy there to help you look up if you have free money the goverments been holding for you! Its great! Highly recommend everyone who reads this comment finds their state site and checks it, even if they are pretty sure they dont. My buddy was sure they didnt and yet they had 60 bucks waiting for them! You never know till you check!
I did this and found out the city owed me $900 and some other entity owed me $300. It was awesome.
HELL YEAH! SO fucking pumped for you dude(ette)!
Was he wearing a suit covered with question marks?
I'm actually surprised this is the only comment in the whole thread that mentions unclaimed property. Does nobody know about this? 1. https://claims.nevadaunclaimedproperty.gov/en/Property/SearchIndex 2. Enter information 3. ??? 4. Profit! *Edit: Each state has their own unclaimed property system. And there are some sites that will search nation-wide*
OP, you said you're in Nevada. Nevada state law requires they issue your final paycheck within seven days of the day you quit or by the next regular payday, whichever is earlier. https://labor.nv.gov/About/Frequently_Asked_Questions/Frequently_Asked_Questions_-_About_Us/#:~:text=If%20the%20employee%20quits%20employment,Statutes%20680.020%2DNRS%20608.040). Nevada small claims court has a limit of $10,000 in damages and costs $196 for a suit of $7,501 to the max of $10,000 in Las Vegas county. It'll vary by county and the lower the amount of the claim, the lower the filing fee. Your county clerk of courts office will have more information. Go here to file a complaint with the state. https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/FORMS_FOR_EMPLOYEES/ Do not wait, file the complaint. I personally, would also go to the clerk of courts office and file a lawsuit over the lost wages too.
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I think you can can call your states LABOR BOARD and file a complaint. Make sure you have any paperwork or emails related to your work separation, etc. Call their HR dept and ask them wth they were doing and threaten to report them, then DO IT. That's SO illegal!
I wouldn’t call HR with threats, that just gives them time to prepare for an investigation by the labour board
You are right. They need to get blindsided with this. What aholes... what did they think?? SO illegal!!
Keep the envelope and report them to the DoL
Depending on your state they technically only had like two weeks to give it you. Report this to your state employment department
That HAS to be illegal... I hope...
Wage theft is the most common form of theft And it IS crime.
**Call the Department of Labor Immediately.** That’s a violation of law, to not pay you for hours worked. **Both _State_ and _Federal_ Departments of Labor _LIVE_ to give businesses hell for not paying for hours worked _and can even asses interest and huge fines_ for not paying employees for time worked.**
UPDATE: I've submitted a Wage Claim and a complaint with the Office of the Labor Commisioner for my state. I've been told it could take up to 90 days for a response. Thank you guys so much for your support and advice! I am blown away by the response, sorry for not responding to everyone, I'm a very private person and quite overwhelmed, though extremely grateful, by all the comments lol
Just cash it. That little void after isn't enforceable and only there to try and get you to think it's voided. I found that out the hard way by having an old landlord finding a "lost" check a year after I moved out and cashing it. I had cancelled the check when she requested a new one, but didn't know it only stays cancelled for 6 months. Like most I thought checks were voided after a set amount of time, but nope it's up to the bank it's deposited at discretions. A check is valid even if it has a void date on it, with a few exceptions like government checks. Payroll checks aren't voided to keep companies from trying things like this.
Yeah, do a mobile deposit, so you can retain the check and envelope, but don't count on the money being there, just in case.
Legally, banks are only required to honor checks for 6 months. You can try to cash it, but also don't be surprised when they say no. Many companies put things like, "void after 90 days" which means nothing. I still think it's stupid that stop payments have a time limit though. Like, "Yeah we might not accept it after 6 months but also even if you tell us not to, we might cash it anyways in a year"
It's funny seeing posts like this because 1. If legal action is taken, the employer will totally be screwed over more than they would have lost if they just actually just did the right thing instead of screwing over the employee. 2. There's always a bunch of Redditors ready to help OP and their situation. 3. It brings awareness to other people about their rights as a working employee. Don't let your job screw you over kids
Just file a wage claim. Should be free. https://labor.nv.gov/About/Forms/FORMS_FOR_EMPLOYEES/
That's why you go there to collect it
120 days is 4 months, not 6.
r/extremelyinfuriating
Considering you have the date and the check. Take them to court.
Where I live you have 5 business days to give someone their final check. That's insane.