201. (a) If an employer discharges an employee, the wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately.
202. (a) If an employee not having a written contract for a definite period quits his or her employment, his or her wages shall become due and payable not later than 72 hours thereafter, unless the employee has given 72 hours previous notice of his or her intention to quit, in which case the employee is entitled to his or her wages at the time of quitting. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an employee who quits without providing a 72-hour notice shall be entitled to receive payment by mail if he or she so requests and designates a mailing address. The date of the mailing shall constitute the date of payment for purposes of the requirement to provide payment within 72 hours of the notice of quitting.
203. (a) If an employer willfully fails to pay, without abatement or reduction, in accordance with Sections 201, 201.3, 201.5, 202, and 205.5, any wages of an employee who is discharged or who quits, the wages of the employee shall continue as a penalty from the due date thereof at the same rate until paid or until an action therefor is commenced; but the wages shall not continue for more than 30 days. An employee who secretes or absents himself or herself to avoid payment to him or her, or who refuses to receive the payment when fully tendered to him or her, including any penalty then accrued under this section, is not entitled to any benefit under this section for the time during which he or she so avoids payment.
203.1. If an employer pays an employee in the regular course of employment or in accordance with Section 201, 201.3, 201.5, 201.7, or 202 any wages or fringe benefits, or both, by check, draft or voucher, which check, draft or voucher is subsequently refused payment because the employer or maker has no account with the bank, institution, or person on which the instrument is drawn, or has insufficient funds in the account upon which the instrument is drawn at the time of its presentation, so long as the same is presented within 30 days of receipt by the employee of the check, draft or voucher, those wages or fringe benefits, or both, shall continue as a penalty from the due date thereof at the same rate until paid or until an action therefor is commenced.
Anyway, their bank should cash it, regardless of the post-dating. And if they refuse, the company is subject to pay you your regular wages each day until they do.
Pre-dating is illegal, but post dating is not and this obviously was not an oversight but rather a calculated fuck off. But they're still bastards and need a swift kick in the nards.
I'm a little surprised that Wells Fargo wouldn't cash it -- most checking account agreements (ESPECIALLY corporate accounts) require an agreement that they will NOT post-date checks. (Perhaps it's an issue of cashing it vs. accepting it for deposit.)
Man, I fucked everything up by not closing my tag.
Well, sounds like they're within the 72-hour period, so you have to wait. But banks are not required to honor post dated checks, so I would have created a stink at Wells Fargo until they did.
3113: (a) An instrument may be antedated or postdated. The date stated determines the time of payment if the instrument is payable at a fixed period after date. Except as provided in subdivision (c) of Section 4401, an instrument payable on demand is not payable before the date of the instrument.
(b) If an instrument is undated, its date is the date of its issue or, in the case of an unissued instrument, the date it first comes into possession of a holder.
California UCC 4401:
4401. (a) A bank may charge against the account of a customer an item that is properly payable from that account even though the charge creates an overdraft. An item is properly payable if it is authorized by the customer and is in accordance with any agreement between the customer and bank. (b) A customer is not liable for the amount of an overdraft if the customer neither signed the item nor benefited from the proceeds of the item. (c) A bank may charge against the account of a customer a check that is otherwise properly payable from the account, even though payment was made before the date of the check, unless the customer has given notice to the bank of the postdating describing the check with reasonable certainty. The notice is effective for the period stated in subdivision (b) of Section 4403 for stop-payment orders, and shall be received at such time and in such manner as to afford the bank a reasonable opportunity to act on it before the bank takes any action with respect to the check described in Section 4303. If a bank charges against the account of a customer a check before the date stated in the notice of postdating, the bank is liable for damages for the loss resulting from its act. The loss may include damages for dishonor of subsequent items under Section 4402. (d) A bank that in good faith makes payment to a holder may charge the indicated account of its customer according to either: (1) The original terms of the altered item. (2) The terms of the completed item, even though the bank knows the item has been completed unless the bank has notice that the completion was improper.
IANAL, but my reading of these statutes indicates that Wells Fargo CAN cash the check and the company couldn't refuse to pay it, even though the check were postdated, unless the company let them know that they had issued such a postdated check (which they probably didn't.) Oddly, if Wells has a clause in its agreement with the firm that postdated checks are not allowable, the check would seem to not be "properly payable" and Wells CANNOT pay it (even though it's the company who's breaking the agreement by postdating the check.)
I would hazard a guess that this is the situation that you ran into; tellers are likely told "don't cash postdated checks" without knowing why they can't (or, sometimes, they can, if the agreement with that customer allows -- but the bank values its clients with accounts over check-cashers without accounts, and figures it is doing its accountholders a service by denying payment on the postdated check.)
If you gave 72 hours notice, I would agree with Soulcamp and Slowpoke wholeheartedly; you may get an extra 3 days of pay (and put a black mark on the company's record), which is not a bad combination. If you quit on the spot, however, I'd just let it go.
Final comment: if you got fired on the 31st, they owe you wages for sure (as Soulcamp pointed out in 201(a)). The 72-hour thing holds only if you quit, not if they dismiss you.
That's pretty rotten.
Lame.
I believe that's illegal.
Does that mean it had a date from the future on it?
@soulcamp I believe you're right, as far as I know.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=00001-01000&file=200-243
201. (a) If an employer discharges an employee, the wages earned
and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately.
202. (a) If an employee not having a written contract for a
definite period quits his or her employment, his or her wages shall
become due and payable not later than 72 hours thereafter, unless the
employee has given 72 hours previous notice of his or her intention
to quit, in which case the employee is entitled to his or her wages
at the time of quitting. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
an employee who quits without providing a 72-hour notice shall be
entitled to receive payment by mail if he or she so requests and
designates a mailing address. The date of the mailing shall
constitute the date of payment for purposes of the requirement to
provide payment within 72 hours of the notice of quitting.
203. (a) If an employer willfully fails to pay, without abatement
or reduction, in accordance with Sections 201, 201.3, 201.5, 202, and 205.5, any wages of an employee who is discharged or who quits, the wages of the employee shall continue as a penalty from the due date thereof at the same rate until paid or until an action therefor is commenced; but the wages shall not continue for more than 30 days. An employee who secretes or absents himself or herself to avoid payment to him or her, or who refuses to receive the payment when fully tendered to him or her, including any penalty then accrued under this section, is not entitled to any benefit under this section for the time during which he or she so avoids payment.
203.1. If an employer pays an employee in the regular course of employment or in accordance with Section 201, 201.3, 201.5, 201.7, or 202 any wages or fringe benefits, or both, by check, draft or voucher, which check, draft or voucher is subsequently refused payment because the employer or maker has no account with the bank, institution, or person on which the instrument is drawn, or has insufficient funds in the account upon which the instrument is drawn at the time of its presentation, so long as the same is presented within 30 days of receipt by the employee of the check, draft or voucher, those wages or fringe benefits, or both, shall continue as a penalty from the due date thereof at the same rate until paid or until an action therefor is commenced.
Anyway, their bank should cash it, regardless of the post-dating. And if they refuse, the company is subject to pay you your regular wages each day until they do.
Hmm. I quit Tuesday evening. Sadly, I think since I was dated tomorrow, they're still within the 72 hours. Boo!
And ha! Wells Fargo refused to cash it actually.
Pre-dating is illegal, but post dating is not and this obviously was not an oversight but rather a calculated fuck off. But they're still bastards and need a swift kick in the nards.
Take soulcamp's advice and at least file a claim:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToFileWageClaim.htm
At worst, you waste 10 minutes. At best, you get a little extra $$
I'm a little surprised that Wells Fargo wouldn't cash it -- most checking account agreements (ESPECIALLY corporate accounts) require an agreement that they will NOT post-date checks. (Perhaps it's an issue of cashing it vs. accepting it for deposit.)
Man, I fucked everything up by not closing my tag.
Well, sounds like they're within the 72-hour period, so you have to wait. But banks are not required to honor post dated checks, so I would have created a stink at Wells Fargo until they did.
California UCC 3113 and 4401 seem relevant here.
3113:
(a) An instrument may be antedated or postdated. The date stated determines the time of payment if the instrument is payable at a fixed period after date. Except as provided in subdivision (c) of Section 4401, an instrument payable on demand is not payable before the date of the instrument.
(b) If an instrument is undated, its date is the date of its issue
or, in the case of an unissued instrument, the date it first comes
into possession of a holder.
California UCC 4401:
4401. (a) A bank may charge against the account of a customer an item that is properly payable from that account even though the
charge creates an overdraft. An item is properly payable if it is
authorized by the customer and is in accordance with any agreement between the customer and bank.
(b) A customer is not liable for the amount of an overdraft if the
customer neither signed the item nor benefited from the proceeds of the item.
(c) A bank may charge against the account of a customer a check that is otherwise properly payable from the account, even though payment was made before the date of the check, unless the customer has given notice to the bank of the postdating describing the check with reasonable certainty. The notice is effective for the period stated in subdivision (b) of Section 4403 for stop-payment orders, and shall be received at such time and in such manner as to afford the bank a reasonable opportunity to act on it before the bank takes any action with respect to the check described in Section 4303. If a bank charges against the account of a customer a check before the date stated in the notice of postdating, the bank is liable for damages for the loss resulting from its act. The loss may include damages for dishonor of subsequent items under Section 4402.
(d) A bank that in good faith makes payment to a holder may charge the indicated account of its customer according to either:
(1) The original terms of the altered item.
(2) The terms of the completed item, even though the bank knows the item has been completed unless the bank has notice that the completion was improper.
IANAL, but my reading of these statutes indicates that Wells Fargo CAN cash the check and the company couldn't refuse to pay it, even though the check were postdated, unless the company let them know that they had issued such a postdated check (which they probably didn't.) Oddly, if Wells has a clause in its agreement with the firm that postdated checks are not allowable, the check would seem to not be "properly payable" and Wells CANNOT pay it (even though it's the company who's breaking the agreement by postdating the check.)
I would hazard a guess that this is the situation that you ran into; tellers are likely told "don't cash postdated checks" without knowing why they can't (or, sometimes, they can, if the agreement with that customer allows -- but the bank values its clients with accounts over check-cashers without accounts, and figures it is doing its accountholders a service by denying payment on the postdated check.)
If you gave 72 hours notice, I would agree with Soulcamp and Slowpoke wholeheartedly; you may get an extra 3 days of pay (and put a black mark on the company's record), which is not a bad combination. If you quit on the spot, however, I'd just let it go.
Final comment: if you got fired on the 31st, they owe you wages for sure (as Soulcamp pointed out in 201(a)). The 72-hour thing holds only if you quit, not if they dismiss you.