Direct Deposit Into Wrong Account

[Staunton]

Dear  Ms. MCAllister, CPP, PHR My checking account in which I had set-up to receive direct deposit from my employer was charged $350.00 in overdraft fees by TCF Bank from 11-23-09 to 12-31-09 thus putting my balance in the red.  I requested of my new store manager to change the routing number and account number to match that of another account I had at Wells Fargo.  He entered the information onto the computer and told me that I would either receive a paper check the next week or my earnings would be deposited into my Wells Fargo account.   When the next pay period came however, the funds were direct deposited into my negative balance TCF account and I was left with no pay for that week. My boss's explaination was that he didn't properly save the changes on the computer and that there was nothing further that he could do. I was reassured by him that the following week's check would surely go into the wells fargo account or I would receive a paper check. I resigned myself to chalking this up as a loss and waiting for next week's check.  The following week I received a paper check for about $240. It stated on the check stub that my direct deposit bank account was Wells Fargo and it listed the last 6 didgits of my account.  I was relieved that I would not lose any more of my earnings to TCF Banks unfair multiple overdraft fees.  The next week, aware that I would only receive a 1 hour check for about $8.00 for a meeting I attended, and having recieved the check stub with the correct Wells Fargo bank account on it the week before, I fully expected that the earnings from the 1 hr meeting would be deposited into the Wells Fargo account. As it happened though, they were deposited into the old TCF account and I didn't notice until the next payday right before that week's check for $210 was set to be deposited into the old TCF account. I called my boss immediately and told him what had happened and what was about to happen and he had his boss who was there at the time change my direct deposit account to the Wells Fargo account again.  By the time he had made the change my whole weeks earnings of $210 had cleared my TCF Bank checking account.  My boss shortly called me back and told me that I could rest assured my next check would go into the proper Wells Fargo account. I replied "Great, but what about this week's check?" To which he stated that the changes once again had not been saved properly on the computer and that there was nothing he or his boss or payroll or the corporate offices could do about that.  I argued "This was not my error, I want my pay!" He stated that he would check into it, but ultimately said that there was nothing that payroll or corporate would do to see that I received my earnings.  

My questions to you are: 1. Can they do this? 2. Is it legal?  and  

3.What can I do to get my earnings back? Sincerely,  Geoffrey E. Wagoner  

[Gusg]

This is a tough one. The company did pay your wages and it did go into your bank account. It went into the wrong account, but it still went into your bank account and not someone else's account so the company is out the money, they paid it out. You on the other hand did not recieve the money because the bank took it for overdraft fees.

I would talk to the company and try to work out something with them. If you cannot you can call the department of labor and talk to them about it. I don't know if they can help you because the money was actually paid out. A mistake was made, but it was not an intentional mistake. It is rather careless to make the same mistake over and over again. It would be interesting to see what the Department of Labor would have to say about this senerio. I would be most interested to know how they would handle this.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but I am not sure what the Department of Labor would decide in this type of situation.

Shirley