What do you think about this proposal?

[kcjenkins]

"Arkansas employers who don’t give a former employee his last paycheck by the next payday would face a possible lawsuit and be liable for paying twice the amount of the unpaid wages, under proposed legislation discussed by a legislative committee Thursday."

I see this as a stupid idea myself . While I frankly doubt there is any real problem here, we have a very tough Labor Dept here, and they are well known for almost always favoring the employee in disputes. And in my experience, when there is a delay it is almost always due to disputes over unpaid employee advances or loans, or return of uniforms provided, etc. Often the only chance the employer ever has to get repaid, etc is through deducting it from the final paycheck.

I'm wondering if others see this the way I do?

[BulldogTom]

In CA, if you fire an employee, you have to pay them immediately (and that is not the next day, it is before they leave the building). If an employee quits, you have to pay them within 3 days. No withholding on the final check unless you have a signed agreement to take the money.

Example - Employer loans employee $1000. Employee agrees to pay $50 on each of next 20 checks. Employee quits. Employer is only allowed to take $50 on the last check as that is all the agreement stipulates. If the amount outstanding is unpaid, you have to go through collection process to get it.

Y'all in Arkansas are just too easy on your employers and to harsh on your employees. Welcome to the Kalifornia Republic way of doing liberal government.

Tom

Hollister, CA

[rfassett]

I think favoring the employee is just the way of the land anymore. The employer is scum and is owed and deserves nothing. I tell my clients, "if you want to advance employees do it in such a manner that you don't ever expect to get re-paid. If you do get repaid, that is a bonus. And if you want to punish the ex-employee, you will need to find some way to do it other than withholding his pay."

I think Arkansas is just late coming to the party, KC.

[kcjenkins]

In AR, workers who are fired by a corporation must be paid their last paycheck within seven days of being fired, if demanded. In all other cases, payment must be made at the regularly scheduled payday. So for a sole propitiator or partnership or LLC not taxed as a Corp, it's currently the next payday. It's also current law that you can not deduct from a paycheck any amount that would reduce pay below minimum wage, even if the employee had agreed to the deduction..

The idea that bugs me the most, though, is the idea that the amount should be doubled, in cases where there is a dispute that delays a paycheck. I do agree that employers have no rights, under current law, to withhold pay over such disputes, but this still seems like over-reaction to me.

[JRS]

>>I do agree that employers have no rights<<

"If you’ve got a business. you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Which is probably why employers have no rights.

[jainen]

>>for a sole propitiator<<

The only one I know of is the guy who told that parable I was talking about.