Kansas’ Wage Payment Law provides employees who are not being paid on time or the correct amount the right to pursue the wages to which they are entitled. You should be aware of the rights you have as an employee and what responsibilities your employer has towards you.
If you believe that your employer has committed some type of violation concerning your paycheck or payment rights, you may need to take legal action to recover your losses.
Kansas law requires your employer to pay you at least once a month, but your employer can pay you more often than that. This is true for hourly and salaried employees – unlike other state laws, Kansas law makes no difference.
All employees also have the right to know the employer’s payday schedule. Thus, they violate the law if your employer pays you less frequently than is required under Kansas laws or does not keep you informed about their pay frequency. It may be necessary to initiate legal action to determine an appropriate remedy for you.
Whether you quit or were fired, your final paycheck must be given to you by the next scheduled payday.
No law in Kansas entitles employees to paid vacation or sick days. However, if your company policy says they will pay you for unused paid leave, you must be paid for it with that last paycheck. To determine whether you are entitled to such fringe benefits, look at your company’s policies (or your employment contract, if you have one. If you don’t, check your employee handbook). Also, check your contract or handbook to see if it makes a difference whether you were fired or quit.
Your paycheck can have money taken out of it to pay for your debts, but a court order may be needed before the money can be taken. This is known as “wage garnishment,” which allows the employer to put some of the employee’s wages aside and use them to pay the employee’s debt. This is a common arrangement enforced in cases where the person has outstanding debts, such as child support or loans.
Under Kansas law, an automatic garnishment can be placed on your wages for specific debts, including back child support, defaulted student loans, and taxes.
For all other types of debt, such as credit card debt or hospital bills, your creditor has to go to court and ask for a judgment that expressly permits them to garnish your wages. If such a judgment is issued against you, then the court can require that your employer allow money to be taken directly from your check to pay off the debt that you owe. They will usually send the payments directly to the court, though sometimes a third agency may handle the funds. Wage garnishment is often directed and authorized by the court system.
If you have damaged or lost work property, such as a cell phone or personal safety equipment, your employer cannot automatically deduct that cost from your paycheck. To be able to deduct the amount from your paycheck, your employer will have to go to court like any other creditor and show that you caused the damage through your willful disregard of the employer’s interests.
This is true with one exception: if special provisions are specifically stated in your employment contract whereby you gave the employer permission to make automatic deductions from your paycheck to cover this kind of debt. You’ll need to see if you have such wording in your contract and how these affect your rights regarding your paycheck. Working with a lawyer to review your contract can help prevent liability or violations in the future.
If your employer appears to have the right to withhold some money from your paycheck, note that they cannot do so if it would lower your paycheck below the Kansas minimum wage. As of 2023, that amount is $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal standard.
If you return the company property, your employer is required to return the deducted wages to you. If specific provisions in your employment contract mention property damage, you’ll need to determine how they affect you. If you are unsure of how such terms might affect your rights, it is advisable to seek an attorney’s guidance to have the employment contract reviewed.
If your employer refuses to give you your paycheck, you file a complaint with the Kansas Department of Labor. They will do their best to recover your paycheck on your behalf.
You also have the option to file a lawsuit against your employer to recover your unpaid wages. A wage and hour lawsuit may be necessary if your paycheck is partial or incomplete. This is where the court reviews your pay stubs, work logs, and other documents to determine what amounts are missing and what you are entitled to. In most cases, these types of disputes involve the hours you worked, your pay rate, overtime disputes, benefits, and other similar employment issues.
If many workers have had the same problem with their paychecks, a lawsuit may be filed as a class action suit. In a class action suit, a group of people with similar complaints band together and sue the defendant as if they were one plaintiff. If the defendant loses, the defendant will have to make a single large payment to cover all owed to the whole group of people. They will then divide it up amongst the class’s members.
A class action suit can be very helpful if the amount of money you would individually sue for is relatively low – particularly if it is not high enough to be economically practical to file your lawsuit. By uniting your claims with those of your co-workers, you will share all of the costs of bringing a lawsuit with the group members.
Kansas employers cannot discriminate against their employees based on race, sex, age, religion, national background, pregnancy status, or a legally recognized medical condition or disability. For instance, they cannot deny a person their paycheck or reduce their paycheck based on race. They also cannot provide other groups of workers with preferential treatment based on those categories.
In cases where discrimination may have been an issue, it is usually necessary to file first with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC will investigate the matter and prescribe a remedy for the employee. If the EEOC’s actions still do not provide a suitable remedy, it may become necessary to file a private lawsuit to recover damages caused by the discrimination. This can be a complex matter and may require the assistance of a legal professional.
In Kansas, you can request an itemized statement of deductions being made from your wages each pay period, and your employer will be required to provide the statement for each pay period where deductions are made.
Also, your employer can require you to take a medical test or drug test and ask that you pay for it before hiring you.
If you are having problems getting your paycheck, you need to reach out to a Kansas employment lawyer for assistance. An employment lawyer can guide you through the process of filing a complaint with the Kansas Department of Labor or represent you in a lawsuit against your employer, if necessary.
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