Some of you have been warned by management that if your time sheet is late you will have to wait until the next pay period for your check. Don’t worry, they can’t do that.
It would be illegal to withhold someone’s pay for that long and the Guild would consider it to be a very serious violation of our members’ rights. We have asked the company to stop making this threat.
The warning last came in an email from HR Director Colleen Ippolito that was circulated on Sept. 4. It read:
“After December 4th, late timesheets (unless an extremely extenuating circumstance) will NOT be processed until the following pay-period cycle.”
Since we are paid every two weeks, one week after the close of the pay period, an employee who missed a paycheck would have to wait a month to get what he or she has already earned. This delay could cause them to miss a mortgage or car payment. Their credit rating could be damaged. That is too much of a penalty for a minor paperwork oversight.
Maine law is very clear that an employer does not have the right to do this.
Read Maine Stat. 26:621-A. The section headed “Minimum frequency and full payment” says: “At regular intervals not to exceed 16 days, every employer must pay in full all wages earned by each employee. Each payment must include all wages earned to within 8 days of the payment date.”
You can't make people wait a month to get paid and threatening to do so just adds stress to an already stressful situation.
By all means, fill out your time sheets. Late time sheets create unnecessary work for others and we all should all be considerate of our colleagues. We recognize that the company is within its rights to require us to fill out time sheets, and there can be consequences for people who don’t.
But making someone go a month without a paycheck cannot be one of them.
Please let us know if you are having any problems with your paycheck or if your manager is still threatening to withhold your pay for a late time sheet.