Human Resource Blog

employee quits

I had an employee who quit, at the time i had to come back to my business to check out my books. She did not send me the doposits and other things shw was supposed to, i also founf out she called my payroll company and wanted to make sure her check was still going to direct deposit. I changed it to issue a live check to her instead. Is that ok?

Not necessarily — it will depend upon which state you are in. A few states like California require that the employees last check never be direct deposited — the employee must always be issued a payroll check. Other states require that the employer continue to direct deposit the check, and still others do not directly address the issue.

It sounds like you are concerned that this employee may have misappropriated funds. If that is so, you are well within your rights to call in the police and charge her with theft or embezzlement. However, in most states, you must still pay her under state and federal minimum wage laws.

We suggest that you act as quickly as possible to discover whether there are funds missing or not. If there are, you may give the employee a choice between paying the money back or you contacting the police. However, either way, you must pay the employee the wages that you owe her.