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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 23, 2021 04:09 PM |
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| From: | Representative Ann Flood |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Electronic Payroll |
| In the near future I plan to introduce legislation that will update Pennsylvania law to allow an employer to pay employees exclusively by electronic means through use of direct deposit or a payroll card. Under current law, payroll cards and direct deposit may be offered to employees, but any single employee may request a paper check and the employer is required to provide it. Across the United States, 25 jurisdictions, including politically disparate states such as Massachusetts, Washington, Texas and Alabama allow employers to pay wages exclusively through electronic means. Almost all government benefits are now paid electronically. Technology advancements have improved and expanded wage payments, making paper checks archaic and much less beneficial for workers than electronic alternatives. Currently 93% of American workers are paid via direct deposit and less than 5% continue to receive paper checks. Paper checks are costly and difficult to transact and have no consumer protections. Payroll cards offer strong consumer protections and advantages over paper checks. Employees can get their entire pay in cash without any cost, and have more options to access their money, such as from banks and ATMs, through cash-back at many retailers, through online bill-payment services, or by making purchases over the internet. Payroll cards cannot be over-drafted (resulting in overdraft fees) and afford critical consumer protections, including fraud protections and dispute resolution This legislation would help ensure that Pennsylvania employers can pay their employees timely during emergencies, such as fires, floods, snowstorms, or travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. These and other circumstances frequently make physical delivery of checks and traveling to a bank or check-casher to deposit or cash checks unsafe and, in some cases, impossible. Finally, my legislation will not change any of the current consumer protections or safeguards around the use of payroll cards, including:
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Introduced as HB1762