Help Wanted: Fee to access paycheck in bank may be illegal

DEAR CARRIE: We usually cash our payroll checks at the bank where our employer has an account. Over the years the company has changed banks several times, and each of them cashed our checks at no charge even if we didn't have an account there. Well, our employer just switched to another bank, and this one charges us $7 per check if we don't open an account. I always thought such a charge was illegal. Am I right? -- Checkmate?DEAR CHECKMATE: The fee sounds illegal.

A state Labor Department opinion letter issued in response to a union's concern on this very topic a few years ago states that employees shouldn't have to pay fees to gain access to their wages.

"The employer must ensure that the employee has the ability to access his or her wages without fees or cost to the employee," the letter states. "Such requirements operate to ensure that the payroll check serves as a cash equivalent for the payment of wages to the employee."

And the letter warns that "if an employer fails to provide payroll checks that are easily negotiable by its employees, the employer may be in violation of these requirements."

The letter suggests steps employers can take to ensure their employees avoid such fees.

"Examples of ways in which employers commonly satisfy this requirement include paying employees through checks issued by locally available banks which will cash them for free, or by making arrangements with a local bank to cash the employer's payroll checks without charge to the employee."

Your company needs to do the latter.

So what should you do to move the process along? You could send an anonymous copy of this column to your supervisor. Hopefully, the company will get the message. If it doesn't and you or your colleagues file complaints, your employer could face a checkup by the state Labor Department.

For more information, call the department at 516-794-8195 or 212-775-3880.

DEAR CARRIE: I work as an independent contractor for a local hospital, where I teach various EMT and CPR classes. Are there any rules governing the paying of contractors in a timely fashion? Typically, my colleagues and I must wait more than 90 days to be paid. -- The Long Wait

DEAR LONG WAIT: If you are truly an independent contractor, state and federal labor laws don't cover you. Most employees in New York State have to be paid at least twice a month, and the state Labor Department enforces that regulation. But because you aren't an employee, your best bet for legal redress would be to sue for breach of contract, if that is the case, through small-claims court or a private attorney.

It may be worth the effort for you to ascertain whether you are an independent contractor. You're not if the company tells you how to do the work and what tools you should use, for example. Some companies erroneously designate workers as independent contractors out of ignorance or to save on such costs as payroll taxes and unemployment insurance.

For more information, call the U.S. Labor Department at 516-338-1890 or 212-264-8185.

For more on state laws about paying employees by check go to http://on.ny.gov/10M5D9b.