McDonald's Worker Says She Was Required to Receive Pay on Fee-Laden Debit Card

Unbelievable!

A new low in the exploitation of low wage workers.

What's next?

Pay workers in "Company scrip"?

http://news.yahoo.com/mcdonalds-worker-required-receive-pay-fee-laden-debit-190034518.html

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If she was forced to use this method of payment I'd say she has a case.

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"They're entitled to a choice to be paid in cash or check.'

However, this is not true. Employers are not forced to pay employees in cash.

 

What are typical check-cashing fees in the same area?

 

if it's a a violation of the law, it's a violation of the law...that's the end of it. the only way to make money off a bank is to own it. that the company would try to save 50% in processing fees is understandable, but when you look at how little that 50% is in real dollars, it's probably laughable compared to the cost for the workers to get the money.

 

This is becoming more and more common where employers pay low wage workers with pre paid debit cards if they do not have a bank account.

Sometimes there can be a fee per transaction with these cards.

 

at the bank where the account the check is written off, odds are free. at the liquor store, 5-10% would be my guess. the only thing more expensive than being poor is being stupid.

 

my boss does that too if you don't have direct deposit....it lasted for 2 weeks before all 500 of us had direct deposit.

 

Yea, but you shouldn't be required to in order to get paid. Nor should you be required to pay fees to a bank to receive the pay you earned.

 

there's a lot of shouldn'ts in life. in her case (according to her lawyer) the law is on her side. in my case it was a non-issue because i already had direct deposit and those that i worked with learned real fast that it was cheaper to learn how to balance a check book.

 

They shouldn't be accepted though.

 

Since the banks control pretty much everything, I'm not surprised they are pushing these cards. more unearned income for them.

 

There is a good documentary on Netflix called "The Card Game" that gives a lot on insight on how banks use credit and debit cards to make money.

 

duh. they handle other people's money to make money. what did you think banks did?

 

One of my online companies I do astrology readings on does Direct Deposit for no fee I got a TARGET American Express backed reloadable cards there is no fee to add money that way, one ATM withdrawal is free a month and the fees outside of that is $3.00 a shot for ATM's. I just do cash back when I make small purchases and no fees. Poor people need to be smart if you dig around there are options. And I get American Express deals just like any other card holder with merchants and the like to.

 

poor folks dont' get choices. they get what their boss or their state gives them.

 

Poor people tend not to be very smart. That's one of the reasons they are poor in the first place.

It's still bad when the boss uses less than honest tricks.

 

Banks charge for that service.

 

The Blue Bird program from American Express/Walmart is similar. It helps people stay away from traditional banks.

 

My point was there are cards with low costs if you bother to do any research, and since many banks got rid of no fee checking with no balances these are the best option for some people if used correctly.

 

mine doesn't in this market...oddly, they're the d-bags in the OP.

 

I see two possibilities here:

The d-bags are the franchise owners who are likely pocketing a small profit from the use of the debit cards. I've never dealt with payroll or a payroll company where it wasn't very easy to do direct deposit to either a bank account, or one of the more modern alternatives such as the Blue Bird. The company providing the debit cards probably provides a kickback or commission on the sale of them.

The d-bag is the former employee who couldn't get a bank account or an alternative because of some serious credit and chex-system issues. She wants her salary in the form of a check or cash, and the owners don't provide that because it adds significant expense to payroll to cut checks, not to mention the security problems. Even that the large corporation where I worked for a few years as an engineer, they stopped issuing checks. If we did not provide a bank account for direct deposit, then our salaries were delivered on a debit card.

 

i see it as a blend of the two. the boss is saving money, the same percentage as your's did....but not nearly as much in total dollars. 5% means a lot more for $100,000 than it does for $795. the employee may or may not be allowed to have a checking account by the banks, but i don't see her likely for be able to have a minium balance that would let her dodge the fees for having it...she is work at the golden arches, eh.

there's nothing more expensive than being poor.

 

I have never seen a fee of more than $3 unless it was a pretty large ($1000+) check. $1-2 is more common.

 

My friend has no bank account (the Ex From The Depths Of The Abyss obliterated his credit, not to mention a good chunk of his sanity, with a taste for drugs and Bacardi)...his job pays him on an ordinary debit card. IIRC, it's a Visa; it has no fees except for getting cash at an ATM ($2, IIRC). He can pay with it, and do cash-back at a store for no fee.

 

That's why I think the owners of this McDonalds franchise are getting kickbacks and screwing their employees.