Friends who work in retail, take note of this:
A growing number of American workers are confronting a frustrating predicament on payday: to get their wages, they must first pay a fee.If you have a choice, don't ever use this form of payment.
For these largely hourly workers, paper paychecks and even direct deposit have been replaced by prepaid cards issued by their employers. Employees can use these cards, which work like debit cards, at an A.T.M. to withdraw their pay.
But in the overwhelming majority of cases, using the card involves a fee. And those fees can quickly add up: one provider, for example, charges $1.75 to make a withdrawal from most A.T.M.’s, $2.95 for a paper statement and $6 to replace a card. Some users even have to pay $7 inactivity fees for not using their cards.
These fees can take such a big bite out of paychecks that some employees end up making less than the minimum wage once the charges are taken into account, according to interviews with consumer lawyers, employees, and state and federal regulators.
Fun fact, welfare recipients in some states go through the same thing. They get a re-loadable card, and if they want cash they have to go to an ATM and pay a fee. Also, if they do receive a check, but don't have a bank account they have to pay fees at check cashing locations.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm pretty sure Sarah Jaffe broke the story on In These Times, http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/15178/mcdonalds_franchise_sued_over_payroll_debit_cards/