My friend is a hairstylist and her last two paychecks have bounced. She works in Florida. Is this legal?

Ron Akia

No, this is not legal in any state. Any check issued, payroll or otherwise, should legally clear. She does have actions that she can follow.

Her first recourse should be to address the subject with her employer and see if she can be paid in cash for the two bounced checks. If not, then she would need to seek assistance. I would like to stress here though that she should not leave the bounced checks with her employer unless she is paid in cash to replace them.

I'm not certain of which route to follow in Florida but I'd first check with that state's Labor Dept. and see if this falls within their jurisdiction. I think it may. If not, they should be able to advise her somewhat on appropriate actions.

Should she have no luck there I think my next step would be to that state's Attorney General. That office should be able to rectify the matter to her satisfaction as bouncing checks and not making good on them is a criminal matter.

Someone else mentioned the possibility of going to small claims court. This would give your friend a judgement (if successful) but collecting on that judgement is another matter. It's often not easily done.

She could also file criminal charges in the matter although this would only serve to punish her employer and most likely would not help her obtain her money.

Angie

She should contact your state's Attorney General's office to complain. She should quit and file a claim in Small Claims Court for her back pay.

chuckles951

Whether she quits or not, she is still owed the pay. Yes, she has to report the matter to the government and then it would be best if she looks for another job. Few companies recover once they start to bounce pay checks.

try2help

Absolutely illegal, and her employer can get arrested.

Florida is a state that is very strict on bad checks. For instance many states will not arrest someone for a bad check considering that if you took a check from someone (small to medium amounts, like at the supermarket) you have advanced credit to that person, so the person accepting the check has to sue to collect. Florida very strict, and you can get arrested for bouncing a check on a supermarket, convenience store etc.

Also in regard to pay checks, there may be Federal statutes. Bouncing a pay check is a crime in all fifty states, unless the person is an independent contractor, responsible for paying their own fica, and income tax. If they are an employee the federal government is expecting taxes to be witheld, and fica, (soc. sec, medicare), and when the govt. does not get paid=criminal offense. Try playing around with florida.gov, dept of labor, and of course the easiest way is a trip to the county sheriff's office. Again, Florida is a state you don't want to be bouncing checks to in the public sector, i.e. not utility companies etc. They use theft of service statutes in some instances.

Judy

Uh, it's never legal to bounce a check, paycheck or not. She can take the checks to the police and file a criminal complaint

sawyercon2

It is not legal. She can sue, but the lawyer fees will be more than what she was entitled to. She is pretty much out of the money.

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