Wage Assignment - Sonic Payday

Please let us know what's going on. This is insane. I'm anxious to hear what your attorney has to say regarding all of this mess.

I will.

Wow. I am an HR rep, maybe I can jump in here.
First of all, in all states in the US wage assignments are legal. Unfortunately, it IS indeed up to the company whether to honor them or not. My husband has the same job as I do, but at a different company. His company Does not honor wage assignments unless they are court ordered. Yes..There are court ordered wage assignments, not to be confused with garnishments, but rarely if ever are they on a consumer debt, and I won't get into those here..My company does honor them, however.
Here's where things get tricky and unfair. Ok..If I got a wage assignment on an employee, I AM NOT required to notify the employee. I can simply deduct the monies and give them a smaller check. I would not do that, because it is not ethical in my opinion, but lets be honest..If I was doing payroll and cutting checks for 2000 people, I might not be able to notify the employee of the assignment.
It is always always always your right to revoke the assignment. You know what? In order to revoke one, you don't even have to send a copy to the PDL. It's not important! As long as HR has a signed and DATED letter of defense, a PDL does not need a copy. Period.
I am shocked that this assignment is being broken up. That's unusual. Yes, you can surely attempt to revoke the remainder..But I don't know how your HR dept payroll system is set, you may not be successful. Also, I think an attorney is a huge waste of money, because these things are legal.
Sorry to ramble. If you have any detailed questions, please pm me. I definitely sort this out for you, especially if you can describe the assignment for me.

So fins, heres a question, what about the individual state stipulations that the wage assignment has to meet in order to be valid? For example, a stipulation in my state (one of many) says that the spouse has to also sign it for it to be considered legal.

Really? That's incredible! That's also unusual, I think..We have no stipulations here in Michigan. When I'm back at work tomorrow I can easily find out what's what in Arizona. Basically, here in the midwest, it just has to be written a certain way..I.E all info in first 3 paragraphs, account number or ssn boldly at the top..These are so stupid. You know, it's mainly rent to own places that use them..

Aww man, I need to go rent a TV for superbowl then not return it. shucks!

LOL! I think they can actually come and repo the tv! How embarrasing would that be?

HAHA! Can you imagine, me at the door "Noooo you cant come in!"

could they push their way in??

Nope! I am going to roll a dresser and a steamer trunk beinnd the door so they cant push it open!

fins. What is so unusual is that the law firm is not going to send the money to the company, they are going to hold that amount until such time as the issue is resolved. As we all know, the PDL will fight forever and it may be a cold day in ..... until there is a resolution. My thought is either pay the company or give the money back to the employee......

fins, thanks for jumping in! I knew you'd be the one to help! Can you possibly find anything regarding this particular situation in this state posted? And CAN they "hold" the money???

Wow. This is nuts.
Apparently in the state of Arizona they cannot hold money in limbo like this. Honestly, I don't think we can do that here either, it's a ridiculous concept..why on earth would you? If I was the HR lady here, I would simply revoke the damn thing! I am going to do some searching at work tomorrow, I've never heard of such a thing!! Someone could get into trouble here!
This is a guess..Don't quote me..But I would think your HR person could be subject to a helluva fine for this. You can't just deduct money and keep it! That is unethical! Is there by some chance some sort of cafeteria plan?

That is my point. Our HR does not realize the issue here. We work at the same law firm but she does not understand the wage and hour laws of our state. Go figure. That is why my attorney, who is a wage and hour expert will be up in arms about this. This puts our firm in a very percarious position.

It's obvious HR doesn't understand! I am so sorry..They can't get away with this for long...

ctr, with luck, fins can find something regarding your state. This is just nuts. Of course, we all learn something new on this site. This is a "first" for this type of situation.