it is outright thievery

Employers often paid workers in company "funny money" scrip that was worthless everywhere except in company stores, where the company was free to set its own prices for even the most basic necessities. Forcing a bank-owned debit card on someone sounds not too far removed from that practice - if I'm going to put money on a debit card, it needs to be my choice, not my employer's.

My most recent job was a long-term temp assignment at Allstate. We had an option to receive payment in the form of a debit card, but I chose direct deposit instead. The card would have been issued by Chase, and there was a Chase ATM on the premises. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of sweetheart deal at work.

the more and more they allow rich f***s to park their money offshore and not pay fair wages, the more they come after the poorer and vulnerable for $$ - it's utterly sickening

Chase pitches this program to corporations and also to state unemployment divisions as a cost cutting measure. Chase offers to eliminate the costs of printing checks and the infrastructure involved with printing and distributing checks with these "vampire" cards. This is simply another way for the very wealthy to prey on the very poor. It is disgusting and should be illegal.

Cheers!

illegal in PA.

but there should never be a set-up where an employee is forced to pay a fee to access their own paycheck...

as previously stated, "how can this be legal?"

Best of luck to those involved in the litigation suit.

I am shocked that a company as big as McDonalds is not able to pay in any other way. Good for her for suing them, and I hope she succeeds.

I was reading the beginning of this thinking how the hell do you pay your rent or your utilities with a fucking debit card---but then I see all the fees. For someone working at McDonalds, those fees are so extreme. Think about working for minimum wage or close to it, and having to pay those fees. This is criminal.....it shouldn't be legal and it shouldn't be in a civil trial.

When will we put the reins on these banks and the blood sucking of the poor????

This reminds me of something I saw at my bank Friday....a man with a payroll check written on my bank was wanting to cash the check. They told him that it would cost $5 even though it was that bank's check. He stormed out yelling "that is just wrong". And he was right.

Absolutely agree with her and hopes she wins the lawsuit.

and people should not be forced into such arrangements.

On the other hand, addressing the fact that the unbanked generally cannot get immediate access to their pay and are often charged exhorbitant fees for cashing their paychecks is also a challenge. This scheme at least has more reasonable fees - and immediate access to the paycheck.

A compromise would be to offer it as an option, with no general fees and a limited number of no-fee withdrawals a month. The workers would benefit by getting immediate access to their pay, the banks would benefit by having the money deposited there initially. Who knows, have access to a bank account might actually make life easier by making it easier to move from being unbanked to being banked.

But - as i started out - it should be voluntary.

which the electronic deposit/debit card program does is make the money instantly available. Checks generally can't be converted into cash even if you have an account unless you have an amount in the bank equal to the amount of cash you want back. Otherwise you have to deposit the check and then wait the appropriate number of days (depending on a number of factors related to where the check is drawn - which could be anything from immediately to several days. Same institution or government checks can be drawn faster; out of state checks can be held the longest. Those are federally mandated rules, which apply to everyone, but they hit those who don't have any ability to last a few days beyond payday the hardest.

And I do understand what you're saying and think you made a good point about having the cards as an option (not mandatory) that would not have all these fees attached.
And I still think the addition of more programs such as the one I linked to are needed.
Back in the day, people could cash checks at banks and grocery stores more readily. That has changed and too many of the new ways impose far too high a burden on people already stretching every dollar all they can. And they impose higher costs on those who can least afford it.

They only want $5.00 to $10.00 plus 1% to 3% of the check amount to cash a check.

Now they will have to sell even more overpriced booze, candy, chips, soda, and expired milk to make up the difference.

But you've given me a horrific thought - the McPartment! God help me, I should seek counseling for even dreaming that up.

They want it all. Every last fucking dime, they want it all & they will not quit until they get it. They are worse than vampires.

Or transfer funds anywhere else.

Exploitation of workers, is all this is.

75 cents per online bill pay. it's a BARGAIN!

I use the exact same system for my employees, have been for almost 4 years. (They do have a direct deposit option though)

Here's a copy of the Chase payroll agreement. (formatting is screwed up, but you get the gist)

Your employees have a direct deposit option, so they can get the paycheck deposited right into their bank account. If they opt for the Chase card and all the fees that come with it, that's one thing, but it's still their choice.

not a weekly charge.

Her only option was a Chase card, nothing else. Like I said, thankfully you give your employees an option still to get direct deposit. Her employer apparently doesn't.

So, the only way she could get out of using the card would be to empty the card every pay period, which would make it a weekly or perhaps biweekly charge.

I'm not sure how you could be, but beyond that, you offer the option of a regular paycheck. Pay for a job is an agreement between employer and employee, not a one way street.

or the paycard.

And a lot of people today are "unbanked" for a lot of reasons.

The only option I have is a "regular paycheck." I would love to have the option of EFT to an account of my choosing.

I was referring to my business only.


But you probably knew that.

and I'm not the only one who read it as a general statement.

You are claiming there is not one individual on this planet that gets a paycheck?

As opposed to direct deposit.

Either you have EFT direct deposit to a bank account with all the fees that may be associated with that or the paycard, which if you do it right has no fees.

Unlike you many people don't have traditional bank accounts let alone completely free ones such as yours.

Employers have no right to impose this additional burden of privacy and access restriction to money employees have rightfully earned. Highly unlikely that was part of McDonald's job or compensation description.

I hope McDonald's gets their ass sued, and the lawyers (and defendants) make a boatload of money.

Savings grace is "they do have a direct deposit option though".

But those terms, those fees that you're trying to suck your employees into paying, are fucking outrageous and you know it.

When I was unemployed I could use it virtually anywhere and pay no fee. I think there were some ATM machines I could use for cash withdrawals and pay no fee. I never tried. I could check my balance, online, for free. Though their site had hiccups on a few occasions.

But that was the deal NYS got. They had a heck of a bargaining position with Chase. I have no idea if McDonalds negotiated as well as NYS.

So if they get robbed at gun point and have to hand over their wallets, they not only lose their entire week's pay, they get docked an additional $25. At least if their back accounts were hacked they can cancel their debit cards with their banks and stop the bleeding. You appear perfectly content to let your employees bleed dry. If your employees are "unbanked," you can pay them in cash. What is the problem with that?

I think it is ridiculous that a company would be able to make a unilateral decision to only offer fee laden cards as a pay system. My guess is that McDonalds clamps down on this franchise holder before the legal system is able to.

Uses these cards from Chase. They are not intended to be mandatory, but as an option for people. Let me clear, this McDonalds owner did this for pure greed, as I guarantee he did this to eliminate the coat of printing checks and delivering them. Worse, the cost we charge for these services are pennies, cost a multiple-million dollar franchise like this with lets say 70 employees MAYBE a few hundred bucks A YEAR.

If I could get our payroll done for a few hundred a year, where do i sign?

Payroll isn't a few hundred, the specific services this McDonald's was trying to cut out (printing and delivering the payroll) are extremely tiny.

I know it isn't particular to the debit card issue but when did it become acceptable for a bank to charge someone $5-$10 to cash a check written on their own bank? You get a paycheck for $100 written on First Federal bank and go to a First Federal branch and the teller hands you $95 ($100 minus a cashing fee). This is absurd. The whole idea of a check is that the bank will pay it on demand. Not minus $5.

I think this should be a crime. The very fact that these laws actually exist permitting this are a matter of political/lobying corruption. No way should this be legal, but it is.

It was from a business account too. I also know that it was from exact same branch that the account was opened at. It was a WTF moment for me. They were charging like $10 to cash a BofA check... I could have went to wal-mart and had it cashed for $3. They suggested I take it to my bank and deposit it there to avoid the fees. They obviously missed the point about me needing the cash right then.

.

I'd send a monthly check & they would take $5 out of it. When she finally told me I was so pissed, I found another method of sending her money. Shortly after, I moved to a credit union.


It's not going to change. Until we get money out of our electoral system, until we recognize that money is not speech, we are fucked. Now, how are we going to do that, when most of Congress benefit from the corrupt system that we need them to fix?

Morally vile.

The law requires access to the pay at no cost and Chase payroll debit cards provide that with 3 different options.

Unlimited Point of sale debit purchases are free.
Unlimited Point of sale credit purchases are free.
ONE cash withdrawl per pay period is free.

Employee has the option to physically take the card to their own bank just like thry would a paper check and move every penny from the card to their own account. This can also be done at most banks ATMs or online at the Chase benefits link.

She should have been given her login info on her first workday so either thrre is some BS involved on her end or whomever processed her in at hiring is an idiot who should be fired simply for the inability to clearly communicate.

The truth is this is a very elegant pay system for employees whos wages make traditional banking difficult or impractical. It's also a great solution for businesses that typically have high turnover. Payroll costs for longer term employees on the card system versus direct deposit come out about the same. For staff that does not stay long, as is common in fast food, the cost to set up direct deposit is triple the cost to set up the card. Plus having a payroll plan with multiple options is far more difficult and expensive.

Quite frankly it's a good system.

Has the employee or McDonald's released the employee's personal information to Chase with the employee's consent, or not?
Does Chase use the employee's purchasing record from the card for marketing purposes?
How long does it take for the money to be transferred from the Chase account to their personal account, if it's transferred? Is the employee reimbursed with interest for any delay?
How does an employee go about withdrawing a payment amount (like $76.41, for example) from an ATM in cash?

This is all about selling out employees' personal information for the employer's convenience.

of course it's 75 cents per online bill payment. Basically charging the people who can afford it the least to do things that people who make more and have real bank accounts can do for free... Although, if these asshats allowed for direct deposit, then even these McDonald's workers could have a free checking account that offers online bill pay for no charge.

They should at least also provide for direct deposit, that way they get rid of the additional step of forcing the person to go to the bank to make the transfer. Also, many banks will charge a monthly service fee if they don't get a direct deposit at least once a month.

it is inexcusable that the payroll processors have to go through so much rigamarole to set up direct deposit. I work for a company with only a few employees in my town but 1000s in the US. Most are fairly transient or part time. Direct deposit is such a pain they've limited it to 1 national bank and one internet bank.....but then only if you've been full time for 6 months. Before tbat the only choise is debit card.

Chase processes the payroll a collects no more info than any other processor.

to get potential customers in the Chase doors where they can be subjected to a heavy sales pitch.

you can bet your life that the analysts at Chase devised a system that is outrageously profitable. You can absolutely bet that the most common banking practices by the poor and minimum wage workers was EXACTLY detailed and then a system was built to take advantage of these people. That is what our modern banking system is about these days. Chase has calculated precisely the number of fees that an average user will incur and how many millions they will get from money left on cards. Chase is hardly doing this for nothing. They will make millions off the backs of poor and minimum wage workers. It is built into the system you can be sure of that!

from the bank for delivering a batch of new cardholders for them to fleece.

This sounds so familiar... remember that classic old labor rights song about coal miners, "Sixteen Tons", that was popularized by Tennessee Ernie Ford?

Today its debit cards issued by the employer, but in the pre-union days, workers were often paid in script or vouchers that benefited the employer as they were only valid for paying the rent on company owned housing and the high-priced goods sold at the company run store.


"... I owe my soul to the company store", was more than just an organizing lyric. Without cash, a worker didn’t dare join in any labor movement. The company could easily control their workers by keeping them poor and locked into a perpetuating system of debt bondage that enriched the greedy industrialists of the day.

I expect my bank to give a small interest, and when the account gets full I expect my bank to deal with it, to give me the best return from a safe investment, because I expect my bank to know how to invest my money and take their brokerage fees - not to take my money and fuck me over.

... watch it spread.

It is truly sickening.

The only thing that can combat it is an educational campaign.

The people behind the counter are just the middlemen it seems.

... paying micro-cents on the dollar per share traded, but a McDonald's worker gets charged outrageous fees?

Yep, something is upside down here.

Imagine if the Federal government charged a fifty cents "transaction fee" on every share traded to fund, oh let's say, Social Security and a National Health Service...

It's mind boggling.