HELP WANTED: Time off to cash paycheck? Not today

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.newsday.com/business/yourmoney/ny-bzdraffen165735714jun22,0,7690839.story

CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN | [e-mail]
June 22, 2008

Do you harbor any myths about your rights in the workplace? A lot of employees do. They believe their employer has to give them time off to cash their paycheck, provide a comfortable workplace temperature or never ask them to work special weekend events. Help Wanted has gathered a new crop of questions to take aim at persistent workplace myths.



DEAR CARRIE: We get paid on Fridays. I am told that New York State labor law requires our company to let us go one hour early on payday to cash our check. Is this law still on the books? Obviously it was written before Saturday banking or ATMs.

- Check leave?



DEAR CHECK: You're probably referring to a law that has been off the books since 1994. But employers weren't required to give employees an hour off to cash their checks.


Instead, the regulation, which was once included in Section 192 of state labor laws, required employers to give employees a "reasonable" amount of time to cash their checks, according to the State Labor Department.

For example, if the time to cash a check decreased the employee's lunch hour to less than 30 minutes, the company had to compensate the employee for the lost time.

But technology has made the accommodations obsolete. "Banking," a Labor Department spokeswoman said, "is a totally different animal now."



DEAR CARRIE: Can a company in New York force you to take direct deposits for reimbursement of petty cash or expense funds?

- Misdirected?

FULL article at link.