Minnesota Paycheck Laws

Minnesota’s laws are directly related to paychecks and your employer. If your employer delays issuing you your paycheck or takes out money that they are not permitted to deduct, then they are breaking the law. As an employee, you can receive your earned wages on your payday. You may need to file for legal action if your paycheck rights have been violated or broken.

When Must Paychecks Be Sent Out Under Minnesota Law?

Under Minnesota law, most employers are required to pay employees at least once every 31 days. This law applies equally to both salaried employees and hourly employees. Of course, your employer can choose to pay you more often than that as well.

Employees engaged in transitory work, such as construction or clearing land, are entitled to be paid every 15 days.

Under Minnesota Law, What Happens to My Paycheck If I Am Fired or If I Quit?

If you are fired, you are entitled to receive your final paycheck within 24 hours. If you quit, you will not receive your last paycheck until the next scheduled payday. If you quit and the payday is less than 5 days after your last day of work, you can be paid either the next payday or 20 days after you quit, whichever comes first.

Under Minnesota law, it is completely up to two factors to know whether you will be paid for any saved-up paid vacation or sick days: (1) the terms of your employment contract if you have one, (2) your company’s standard policies, if you do not have a contract. If you have a contract, you should carefully look it over to see what it says concerning what you are entitled to upon quitting or being fired. If you do not have a contract, look at your employee handbook.

Can My Paycheck Be Garnished Under Minnesota Employment Law?

Wage garnishment is a special arrangement that allows an employer or creditor to access some of an employee’s wages and collect them to pay debt.

An automatic garnishment can be placed on your wages for specific debts, including back child support, defaulted student loans, and back taxes.

For other debts, such as credit card debt or hospital bills, the creditor must sue you in court before wage garnishment can occur. Only after they get a judgment against you, giving them the right to deduct the debt from your wages, can a creditor garnish your wages for that debt. The employer will take the deductions from your paycheck and may send the amounts directly to court; in some cases, they can send the money to a third party, whose role it will be to manage the funds and distribute them to the needed parties.

Your employer itself can also garnish your wages. However, your employer cannot deduct any money from your wages for work-related expenses unless you get written authorization from you to make such a deduction. Imagine that you damaged or lost your employer’s property. Your employer can deduct that cost from your paycheck if you agree.

If you have not, your employer must go through the court process first. Before your income can be garnished, your employer has to sue you for negligence and win a court judgment against you. After they obtain the judgment, your employer will have the authority from the court to have your paycheck garnished until the debt is paid off.

Can I Recover a Withheld Paycheck from an Employer in Minnesota?

Your employer cannot deny you a paycheck that you have earned. If you are owed an overdue paycheck, you can file a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry, Labor Standards Unit. The department will investigate your claim and may suggest a remedy for your losses. It may be necessary to provide documentation of your circumstances, such as pay stubs or work logs.

Also, if your employer denies you a portion of your paycheck or is incomplete or partial, it may be necessary to file a wage and hour lawsuit. This is especially an issue if the violation has occurred multiple times or repeatedly. In most instances, these disputes involve the employee’s hours, wage rates (such as minimum wage violations), tip collections, benefits, and other paycheck aspects. Filing such a suit will allow the courts to review your circumstances to determine what type of legal remedy best suits you.

If many workers have had the same problem with their pay, the 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 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 over is not high – particularly, it is not high enough to be economically practical to file your own personal lawsuit. By uniting your claims with those of your co-workers, the members of the group share all of the costs of bringing a lawsuit, and the amount of damages they can be collectively paid can be very high.

Should I Know Anything Else About Minnesota’s Paycheck Law?

Employers can deduct up to $50 from your paycheck without your consent to cover uniforms, equipment, supplies, or travel expenses. However, they must reimburse you the $50 in your final paycheck.

In addition, it is illegal for Minnesota employers to discriminate against employees based on their race, age, sex, national origin, religion, pregnancy status, or medical condition or disability. For instance, employers cannot deny workers their paychecks simply because they are a certain age or race. They also cannot provide better treatment, wages, or benefits to other groups of workers based on their membership in these special 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.

Where Can I Find the Right Lawyer for Issues with My Paycheck in Minnesota?

If you need help enforcing your paycheck rights in Minnesota, you should consider hiring a Minnesota employment lawyer. An employment lawyer can fight on your behalf for the paycheck amounts you are owed. When you bring them your problem, an experienced local attorney can help you determine your next steps.

Your attorney will advise you regarding what documentation you should collect as evidence and can help you file a complaint with the necessary agencies. Further, should you need to take private legal action against your employer, your attorney can initiate a civil lawsuit and represent you in court as needed.