New Payroll Pay Cards vent

[Nancy]

difficult child has been working for a retailer of girls apparell at our local mall. She works very few hours because of the economy. In January she received what looked like a VISA card in the mail and we shredded it....no way did I want her to have access to a credit card. Her next paycheck came and indicated her pay was put into this account we never heard of and it turns out to be this VISA par card.

That was three weeks ago. She has still not received a replacement for the card we shredded and the company promised to have an e check sent to the store so she could access money in the meantime and it has yet to get there. I called the card company today and they said her employer never requested a replacement card. Furthermore if she was to access her money through an ATM they charge $1.90 per transaction.

This is crazy. Now today she gets another pay and that pay too will go on this card that she can't access. I would love to see a class action lawsuit against employers who refuse to give checks out to their employees. Most of the employees are young girls and they don't have bank accounts and they want their money on payday. They NEED their money on payday.

It looks like now when you go for a job interview you have to ask how you will be getting paid.

Nancy

 

[Critter Lover]

AAA Auto Club South is going to that way of pay too for all people who do not have direct deposit. What these companies are doing is cutting their expenses for paying a company like ADP for processing checks to their employees. I think you are going to see more of this since all companies are trying to cut expenses where ever they can. Wonder if your daughter has the option of setting up direct deposit instead?

 

[Nancy]

These pay cards are linked into the employers bank account so the employer gets to keep the employees money and earn interst on it and then the card company charges the employee to take their money out and limits the number of cash advances they can take and the amounts.

I would love to see a class action lawsuit.

Nancy

 

[Critter Lover]

The company I work for does not earn interest on business checking. They took that away from businesses years ago in the state of Florida. Do not know how it is for the company that your daughter works for. I would still ask the company if they do direct deposits instead.

 

[susiestar]

That doesn't sound legal. You might call the state atty general to see if it is. If it IS legal as the only option for her to get her pay, then she should take her entire amt out on payday from the bank. If they have a limit (like max $200 per day) and she earns more than that, then she needs to fight it.

does she have a bank acct? Is she up to pushing corporate to do direct deposit?

I just don't understand how it can be LEGAL for the employer to hang onto the $$ until the employee spends it. Sure, it would provide big benefits for the employer, but it would hurt the employee SO MUCH!

I would sit down with her to do a joint call into corporate HR about this. Also, if she has an employee handbook, ask to see it and read the section on pay options.

 

[DaisyFace]

New York State is using Visa cards for benefits. And If your ex is paying child support through automatic deductions--that goes on to a card also. Unfortunately, the cards are issued through a bank that does NOT have branches all across the state. So if you do not have access to that bank's ATMs because you don't live in the part of the state, you are pretty much SOL...and either have to use the card for spending...or you must pay the exhorbitant fees associated with using an out-of-network ATM.

It totally bites!!

However--many banks are offering online accounts these days. If the bank issuing the Visa card offers online accounts...she should be able to open an account to access the money. Might be worth looking into...

--DaisyF

 

[Nancy]

I already called the employer human relations dept several times for her. They are very unresponsive. I called the pay card center and they are sending a new card but in the meantime she has no access to her pay. Yes she can have direct deposit but she has a student checking account and no checks so we couldn't give them a check to set it up that way. They never told her that without direct deposit she would get this visa pay card. She was getting a paper check until all of a sudden it stopped. We finally got a check to give them with her account number on it and supposedly the store faxed it to payroll but it will be at least 6-8 weeks until that is done if they even sent it.

LOL she only has $90, she makes minimum wage and works only a few hours a week.

I still think this isn't fair and employees should have access to their money on payday with no fees attached.

Nancy

 

[donna723]

It was in todays paper how some places are using these cards to pay unemployment benefits to people who have lost their jobs! So they end up paying fees for using the cards out of their benefits!

 

[hearts and roses]

Like Daisyface, I had that unfortunate experience of receiving a VISA card for my child support 'check'. I sent it back certified registered receipt with a letter telling them I preferred a live check. Shortly thereafter, I opted out of the state handing altogether.

It is wrong for so many people to be doing this. Definitely check with your state's attorney general's office. If yours is anything like our AG here in CT, he will be on it like white on rice...something smells fishy here and because a majority of the employees are young students, the company's try to get away with this stuff. If a company like the one I work for tried to do this, there would be a riot, you could count on it.

Best of luck and let us know how things pan out. What BS.

 

[svengandhi]

I am in NY and received a Chase bank Visa card for my unemployment benefits. I went to a Chase branch and did not pay to access my money on the account.

I have never heard of being paid that way and would definitely opt for direct deposit. I believe you can put daughter into a savings account as well.

On the positive side, your difficult child has a job. My oldest boy dropped out of college and is doing nothing. I wish he had a job a few hours a week.

 

[Nancy]

I hope we have finally got it straightened out. They are sending her a new Visa pay card and I persuaded them to waive the $15 fee. We called payroll and they received her request for direct deposit so her next pay will go directly into her student checking account. Yesterday she went into work and they gave her a check for her last two weeks, $62. She went right to the bank and deposited it and withdrew money to fill up her car with gas.

Although I still believe this is very unfair to people and is just a money maker for the card company, my difficult child found out how difficult it is to live with no money coming in.

Nancy

 

[Lothlorien]

They should have definitely notified her of the change and she should have been given the option to say no. I've never heard of this before and I find it really bizarre.

 

[KTMom91]

I've never heard of this...guess I've been out of the retail loop too long. And some states are doing this with your child support? I'd be all over that one...CA just recently started direct deposit, otherwise I'd be waiting three weeks for them to cut a check.

This is SO not fair.

 

[Nancy]

You know I'm so sick of hearing "we're going green" as the justification for all this. It's cost them more money to straighten this out then it would ever cost them to issue her a paper check for the next two years.

Nancy

 

[mrscatinthehat]

I just got done delivering phone books in our area and that is how we got paid. With one of those cards. Not only do they charge for withdrawls they charge if you check your balance at the atm or a customer service person helps you. With those things you have to read the fine print. And in my case it wasn't even a visa type it was just a debit card. So it was even more of a challenge. I have received my child support this way for several years now. Not always a user friendly world. Especially if systems go down. Glad you got it figured out with her.

beth