employers cheating their workers hours

[lounge26]

I work for a company in San Francisco that pays twice a month, on the 5th and on the 20th. I work 32 hours every week, and whenever i get paid I get 64 hours total, no more no less. if they pay twice a month that means we will
receive 24 paycheck, meaning 48 weeks of pay in a year, but there is 52
weeks in a year...what happened to the other 4 weeks? I checked my old pay
stub and found that some of the pay period should be more than 64 hours,
but every check was 64 hours... I have talked to my other co workers that works full time, and gets 80 hours every check, but I checked the dates we have worked and some pay period should be more than 80 hours, this is because of the 15 day period they are using.

 

[SuzieWahoozie]

And what does your employer state is the reason for the discrepancy and their particular payroll practice?

Paying twice a month - regardless if the dates - is not the same as paying every other week, so you are correct that merely paying you two weeks' pay twice a month won't cut it. What your employer needs to do is take the hours worked and divide that by 24 (the number of checks per year) and pay those hours each payday.

In your case that means they would take 32 hours (hours per week) x 52 weeks = 1664 hours per year divided by 24 pay periods per year = 69.33 hours per pay period. You are not being paid correctly if your pay period is truly semi-monthly and not biweekly.

Full time people (40 hours per week) should be getting 86.67 per payday.

I'd address it with management first (nicely, in a VERY professional manner)and ask them to explain the payroll practice and how the figures are determined. There may be something you're missing.

If you are satisfied your pay is truly twice a month and management cannot give you a good reason as to why you are not being paid on that basis, you can contact your state DOL to file a claim.

Hope this helps!