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Employer withdrew wages owed from checking account?

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veidistafur

Junior Member
I live in North Carolina. Recently I was hired by a recruiting agency for a temp-to-perm position and was scheduled to be paid via direct deposit on a weekly basis. The recruiter informed me of the pay schedule the day before I began working. The recruiter's email stated that I would receive pay into my bank account each Friday morning that followed the previous week of work.

I began work at the company I was recruited to on a Monday. I worked a full week the first week. During my second week of work I was terminated due to a violation of company policy. The next day I received an email from the recruiter saying that the direct deposit for my first week of work would be in my account as scheduled on that Friday. In the same email the recruiter stated that my hours for the second week had not yet been received from the company. And that I would find out later when I would be paid my final wages. Also in the same email the recruiter states that the company was lost as a client due to my infraction.

Friday arrived and when my bank balance did not reflect my wages owed I emailed the recruiter to ask when the funds would arrive. The recruiter replied saying that the company had at first refused to pay the recruiting fee for my work so she could not pay me my wages. She stated that she had contacted her accountant to have my direct deposit stopped. In the same email though she said that now today the company agreed and I would be paid by check the following Monday.

There ended up being 3 more delays before I received my first week's pay. Finally receiving it the next Thursday. The day before my final pay was due. At which time she emailed saying that the final pay would be delayed a full week.

At this point I contacted the NC Department of Labor and opened a case because I had already incurred late fees on my rent and would be facing eviction if my wages were delayed as long as I was informed they would be. :eek:

Long story short I did finally receive all my wages owed. However, after reviewing my banking records in detail. I discovered that indeed my first week's wages had been deposited into my account on time. But withdrawn again in full a very short time after.

So my question is this. Is it legal for an employer to withdraw wages owed from an employee's personal checking account? I was never presented with any forms or paperwork by the recruiter regarding direct deposit. I never signed anything saying that I gave permission for any type of withdraw from my account. :confused:

Is there anything I can do about what I feel is a violation of the employer to employee relationship? :mad::(
 


swalsh411

Senior Member
No it is not legal to not pay an employee on time but that doesn't mean you have an recourse to go after them for some type of punishment. Some states do allow that but to my knowledge not NC. You've received your pay that you were owed.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
If a direct deposit is made in error, say they paid you for the full two weeks and they only owe you for a week and a half, they have a limited time (I think it's 5 days - Antigone can correct me if I am wrong) to reverse the direct deposit. But the kicker is that they are only permitted to reverse the entire amount that went in - they are not allowed to reverse only the overpayment. This is the law.

Of course, they are responsible for then either making another deposit in the correct amount or send you a check for what is owed - they can't simply not pay you. But the reversal (it's not really a withdrawal) is not inherently illegal.
 
The OP must have given some information regarding deposit ... otherwise, how did the stuff get deposited? Need routing #s, account information.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
If the OP had signed up for direct deposit, which is the only way the employer could possibly have reversed (or "withdrawn" as the poster inaccurately states) the deposit, then OF COURSE the poster had provided the account and routing number. That is not the issue.
 

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