Illinois Employers Will Soon Be Able To Legally Pay Their Employees by Payroll Cards, But Beware Of The Fine Print

In August, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law HB 5622, amending the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA), which now recognizes for the first time payment of wages by payroll card. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2015. While the law provides a new option for Illinois employers, they must be careful to comply with the conditions under which payroll cards may be used.

Under the current Illinois law, employers are required to pay employees via check or direct deposit. The current law is silent as to whether payroll cards, which operate like debit cards, can be used to pay wages. Some businesses prefer using payroll cards because, by simply loading the card electronically, they can save the costs involved in preparing physical checks. Employees, however, have been adverse to payroll cards because of fees that have been deducted from their wages. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office found that these fees were both excessive and unfair.

Under the new law, payroll cards will be a recognized method of wage payments, but only if the following criteria are met:

• The employee must voluntarily agree to the use of a payroll card as the method the employee chooses to receive his or her wages and/or final compensation. It is not voluntary if the employee is given to understand that it is a condition for hire or his or her present working conditions or continuance of his or her employment would be adversely affected by non-acceptance. An employer cannot mandate the use of a payroll card.

• If an employee voluntarily chooses to accept the use of a payroll card for the payment of wages and/or final compensation, the employer must disclose in writing to the employee all fees, penalties, and costs associated with the use of the payroll card. The employee must be able to deposit and/or obtain the full monetary value on the payroll card without discount.

• If the employee chooses the payroll card as a method of payment, the employer is required to provide an itemized statement of all hours worked, rate of pay, and all lawful deductions made from the wages and/or final compensation for each pay period.

• An employee can revoke his or her authorization of the payroll card as a method of payment at any time, and the employer is obligated to provide to the employee another alternative method for the payment of wages and/or final compensation.

• An employer is not permitted to offer employees only the choice between two voluntary methods of payment. Because payment by either payroll card or direct deposit must be voluntary, an employer offering either or both of these payment methods must also provide an additional choice of payment by cash or check, in accordance with the IWPCA.

Despite the clear financial and practical benefits of using payroll cards for wages, employers must strictly comply with the specific requirements under the law which takes effect on January 1, 2015. As a new law, it is likely that the Illinois Department of Labor and Office of Attorney General will be watching closely.