My work's possibly trying to illegally delay my overtime pay (legal help please)

[black_biff_stadler]

At my work, if you forget to punch in or out you have to log in to their program and fix it yourself. On unusually long shifts it retardedly makes you have to go through HR to get it fixed. I went through HR and fixed it several days ago yet today they approached me as if I hadn't and I included very specific details about how I'd fixed it to jog their memory of when we'd handled the situation together a few days ago in order to make it abundantly clear it was their bad, not mine. Our payroll for the last check we'll receive before Christmas was sent in yesterday and they told me that they "can't" do anything about it if it wasn't fixed by that time.


Long story short:  I forgot to clock out on one long shift, fixed this issue several days before the payroll cutoff, they may have fucked up, they're exhibiting textbook corporate belligerence, I may be fucked out of $100 I need for Christmas shopping until after Christmas has already come and gone.

Are there any legal actions I can take if they try to fuck me?

[rumborak]

I doubt it, sorry. It sounds like this happened on an interaction kind of level (vs computer based), and thus it would be statement vs statement.
Also, if I understand it correctly, you will get the money, just after Christmas, right?

[black_biff_stadler]

Yeah. Fuck my job so fucking hard.

[eric42434224]

You arent going to be able to do Christmas shopping because of this?  Damn dude.  Are things that tight for you right now?
Well, I will send you $100 as an interest free loan, and you can pay me back by Jan 31st.  And no Im not kidding.

[Calvin6s]

https://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/
That's the federal department that handles wage concerns.

You should also have a labor board.

The laws are all in the employee's favor, but you do have to consider the following:
1.  It sounds like you will get your $100 faster through the company than through the govt. process
2.  You have to consider if $100 (that you will get) is worth the possible problems associated with making this a governmental issue.  Your employer can't fire you over it, but if you aren't the perfect employee then don't be surprised if even small things are no longer overlooked.

For $100, I'd highly recommend just waiting the extra 1-2 weeks.  I would appeal to HR on an emotional level.  If it was a smaller company, most bosses want to help.  In a corporation, the HR rep may want to help, but they can't just *make it happen*.

Suggest a $100 advance on this paycheck to be taken out the following paycheck?  That's a relatively simple accounting entry.

Small business rules.

[black_biff_stadler]

You arent going to be able to do Christmas shopping because of this?  Damn dude.  Are things that tight for you right now?
Well, I will send you $100 as an interest free loan, and you can pay me back by Jan 31st.  And no Im not kidding.

Goddamn dude, thanks humongously from the bottom of my heart. I can squeeze by and live off modest food (no beer, just grilled chicken breasts and frozen veggies) for this pay period and make due. My main thing was wanting to surprise my mom with a lavish gift since she literally only used 1/3 of what I'd planned on spending on her for her birthday a couple weeks ago and refused to go for any other gifts. I don't wanna put anyone else out over this if I can still get my mom a perfectly fine gift now and then surprise her with another a few days after Christmas but, again, thanks a million as your gesture was ridiculously generous and unexpected.

[black_biff_stadler]

https://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/
That's the federal department that handles wage concerns.

You should also have a labor board.

The laws are all in the employee's favor, but you do have to consider the following:
1.  It sounds like you will get your $100 faster through the company than through the govt. process
2.  You have to consider if $100 (that you will get) is worth the possible problems associated with making this a governmental issue.  Your employer can't fire you over it, but if you aren't the perfect employee then don't be surprised if even small things are no longer overlooked.

For $100, I'd highly recommend just waiting the extra 1-2 weeks.  I would appeal to HR on an emotional level.  If it was a smaller company, most bosses want to help.  In a corporation, the HR rep may want to help, but they can't just *make it happen*.

Suggest a $100 advance on this paycheck to be taken out the following paycheck?  That's a relatively simple accounting entry.

Small business rules.

Thanks a bunch for the help and info. I'm about to leave for work but I'll look this over when I get off.

[eric42434224]

You arent going to be able to do Christmas shopping because of this?  Damn dude.  Are things that tight for you right now?
Well, I will send you $100 as an interest free loan, and you can pay me back by Jan 31st.  And no Im not kidding.

Goddamn dude, thanks humongously from the bottom of my heart. I can squeeze by and live off modest food (no beer, just grilled chicken breasts and frozen veggies) for this pay period and make due. My main thing was wanting to surprise my mom with a lavish gift since she literally only used 1/3 of what I'd planned on spending on her for her birthday a couple weeks ago and refused to go for any other gifts. I don't wanna put anyone else out over this if I can still get my mom a perfectly fine gift now and then surprise her with another a few days after Christmas but, again, thanks a million as your gesture was ridiculously generous and unexpected.

Youre Welcome.  Just PM me if things change.

[Blazinarps]

LOL don't forget to clock out, they're not responsible to watch out for you.

It's kind of like, a basic adult skill.

[Dark Castle]

LOL don't forget to clock out, they're not responsible to watch out for you.

It's kind of like, a basic adult skill.

It's also a basic adult skill to actually read the entirety of something posted. He went in and had it fixed with HR, and now they're denying he did. Don't be such a fucking wanker.

[Blazinarps]

Yeah I did read it.

If the initial lack of attention to detail didn't happen, it wouldn't be an issue.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Yeah, now all he needs to do is travel back in time and remember to clock out.

[Dark Castle]

Yeah I did read it.

If the initial lack of attention to detail didn't happen, it wouldn't be an issue.

God forbid somebody forgets to do something very small after a long day of work.

[rumborak]

That said (without the dick factor), the initial fault was of course from his side, which in any kind of dispute would attack the cards against him. While employers need to be timely with their regular paychecks, I doubt the requirements are there for corrections.

And yeah, also of course the comment, man, you got a steady job and are operating that close to the margin?

[El Barto]

And yeah, also of course the comment, man, you got a steady job and are operating that close to the margin?

It happens. Trust me.

And while I wouldn't have pointed it out myself, what Blazinarps said has some importance. As I understand it the problem is not that BF's employer dropped the ball. It's that they're not correcting his mistake fast enough. I'm not unsympathetic to BF's situation, but with regards to the facts of the situation the thread topic is pretty dubious. (and yeah, leave it to me to make every single post a logical debate)

[black_biff_stadler]

Alrighty, to clear things up:

1. Yes, I forgot to clock out. It happened after a 17-hour black friday shift. As I do on many closing shifts, I'd grabbed all of my coworkers' work devices to go put them on their chargers in a room nearly 100 feet past the time clock so I could save all of them a needless long walk after the most hellish work day of the year. Anyone who wants to give me shit about that to gratify their own petty semantics and arguing "skills" is more than welcome to as it says more about them than it does about me.

2. I attempted to fix it the same way I was trained to. During our training, they never mentioned any anomalies in that process if the shift exceeded a particular duration.

3. The system wouldn't let me complete the action and gave me a dialog box refering me to HR.

4. I went to HR either 3 or 4 days before what would've been my last day to take action in order to avoid missing this pay period.

5. On the form I submitted to HR, I went out of my way to make it fool-proof by making a special note of the fact that my final punch occurred after midnight and would have a different date from when the shift began.

6. This is the same administrative force that, over the last week, has twice tried to get me to retake a training test that I'd already passed because they somehow couldn't keep their records straight.

7. I actually got it fixed today. Thanks very sincerely to those who were helpful or encouraging.

[BlobVanDam]

Glad you got it sorted floyd. Hope you have a great Christmas.

[black_biff_stadler]

Thanks a bunch, Blobert! 

[Jamesman42]

 

[bosk1]

Unfortunately, stuff like this just happens.  Sucks when you personally are the one it effects, but all in all, it is just a nuisance.  And same with (1) not clocking out and (2) sometimes living close to the margin where not getting part of one paycheck on time can be a major deal.  It's easy to point fingers, but it just happens sometimes.  Just because some of us may be in a position where that wouldn't happen, let's not get into the finger-pointing game.

Anyhow, glad it worked out.  You might think HR, etc. should have their act together more than they do.  But the unfortunate reality in your industry is that the profit margin is so slim that HR and management are typically understaffed and have WAY too much to do, so even stuff that seems basic can fall through the cracks.  Again, just the way it is.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

And from what I've generally seemed to gather from most places is that HR is rarely your friend.  They're the company's friend first and foremost.  Yours, not so much.

[bosk1]

And from what I've generally seemed to gather from most places is that HR is rarely your friend.  They're the company's friend first and foremost.  Yours, not so much.

Well, their primary role is to protect the company from legal claims.  The best way to do that is to try to keep employees happy and make sure that they are treated properly.  So from that standpoint, they are supposed to be your "friend."  But don't make the mistake of thinking they won't act in the company's best interest, because that is their primary function.

[Calvin6s]

First, I have full empathy for somebody making a small mistake (missing a clock out time one night).  Believe it or not, that can be a sign of a good employee.  It can be a sign of being so wrapped up in the important aspects of a the job that they let the personal benefits (pay) get temporarily overlooked.

That being said, I'm betting the main problem in this payroll situation is the outsourcing of payroll.  Many companies do this because it is very difficult to keep everything perfect, especially with constantly changing rules.  For instance, the stimulus introduced some qualifications for new employees.  And of course the ACA has quite a bit going on.  And if you make the slightest mistake (rounding errors of cents even ... and error could just mean a different method), if it recalls a phone call to the Federal/State agency that handles corrections, expect to waste a day on the phone handling it.  Sometimes weeks of form tag.  Outsourcing the payroll outsources most of that burden as well.

The negative effect is you have tighter time restrictions.  You usually pay for a batch of checks.  Single payroll checks are more expensive and time consuming.  That is why I suggested asking for a $100 advance on the current payroll cycle to be deducted the following payroll cycle (when the $100 is part of the gross).  All taxes will be paid, so everybody is happy.

Since this matter has been resolved, I'm just putting it out there for others that might find themselves in that situation in the future.