Washington Court of Appeals?City ?May ?Have ?Payroll ?System ?that ?Delays?Payment for Some Wages Earned Less than?14?? ?Days?? ?Before?? ?Current?? ?Semi-Monthly?Paycheck Until Next Pay Period
In this class action, Kent police officers challenged the City?s payroll system for overtime and irregular pay. ?The City paid normal wages to the employees in the next paycheck with a maximum delay of 5 days. ?Overtime and other irregular pay earned 14 days or less before the employee?s next pay check was not paid until the following pay period.?? The employees claimed the City?s practices violated WAC 128-035. The Superior Court granted summary judgment to the employees,? ?but? ?Division? ?1? ?reversed.? ?The regulation appears to allow only the deferral to the following pay period of wages earned 7 days or less? before? the? employee?s? next? paycheck. Division 1 read the authorization for an employer to defer wages up to 7 days before the next paycheck as something other than a prohibition on deferring wages earned more than 7 days before the next pay check. ?The court read the limitation as applying to only monthly rather than semi- monthly pay systems. ?Clark v. Kent, No. 57359-4 (1/16/07; Cox, Ellington, Grosse).