I work as nurse for a privately owned clinic and paydays are every two weeks on Friday as set forth in the handbook I was required to sign when I started.
Well, this past Friday I had a class run long (my class was an hour away) and I wasn't able to make it in time to pick up my paycheck before the clinic closed. I work Saturdays and figured I'd run to the bank at lunch. The check wasn't there and my boss said she'd call her husband to see where it was (he's "office manager".) Three times I asked again during the day and was put off. By the end of the work day, she's walking out like nothing's out of the norm and I said "Excuse me, but I need to be paid."
She says: "Oh, well the check is at the accountants office where it would have been brought from yesterday if you'd been here and there's nothing you can do with a check until monday anyway, the banks are closed so you can wait until Monday. Just give us a call when you need it. Have a good weekend"
To say the least, I was flabbergast because I have never had anything like that happen to me before. My first instinct was to get very irate and refuse to leave until someone got me my compensation. When I went after her out the door and told her that that wasn't work for me, she said that if I participated in auto deposit I wouldn't be caught in this situation and wanted to know where I would get a check cashed anyway before monday. When I explained that my bank was open until 12 on Sundays, she said I'd still have to wait because the check was locked in the accountant's office and that maybe I should sign up for auto deposit on monday.
I don't like that she was making me feel irresponsible and unreasonable for expecting to be paid for my hard work when everyone else (including a nurse who also doesn't participate in auto deposit) got their pay. Auto deposit isn't required and I was told I could do either I preferred. I prefer paper check because sometimes pay stubs aren't given to the participants or there money might not show up on time or correctly and it just seems less of a hassle to me to just go by the bank.
Am I blowing the situation out of proportion? I manage my money well enough that it doesn't just totally mess up my personal cash flow, however I did have to delay some bills for a couple of days. My feeling is that I performed the work expected of me (and very well I might add) when it was expected to be done and in exchange I am to be compensated at the time that was agreed upon when I began my employment. I am not required to explain why I need my money or why I utilize check form still and the fact that I was being placed into such a position is disrespectful and offensive. Further, it shows me that the people I work for just don't care if their employees are paid. I have been considering resigning on Monday citing this incident as the reason. But my wife tells me that is silly if I'm getting paid on monday anyway. Even if it is silly to leave my job, I feel like at the very least I need to make it clear that this is unacceptable to me and won't be tolerated again.
There are several positives to the job that could benefit my career in the long run and I enjoy the work and clinic setting, but interfering with someone's livelihood and cash flows for however small amount of time is a grievous action to me. Plus, I grew up with a father who quit a job every time he felt "disrespected" or grew disgusted. I mean, requesting that he work late (depending on his mood) could be considered a reason to leave a job, so I don't really have a good role model to base my actions off of.
How do I handle this situation in a manner that is appropriate? Is something that needs to be tolerated at all? I worry that if I just let it go that it will open up a can of worms. I'm already disturbed by the fact that there's something about me or something I've done or do that makes my boss feel as if it is okay to be this way towards me and that I would understand.
