Workers shouldn't have to pay for wages.

Byline: On the Job Bureau of Labor & Industries by The Register-Guard

Q: The bank our company uses for payroll purposes has instituted a $5 paycheck-cashing fee for individuals who don't have an account with the bank. Is this legal?

A: It's legal for the bank to impose this fee, but it's not legal for an Oregon employer to make employees pay to receive wages.

An Oregon wage law, ORS 652.110, requires employers to pay workers with a negotiable instrument that is "payable without discount in cash at some bank or other established place of business in the county where the same is issued."

It's likely that most of your employees have their own bank accounts and can cash their paychecks at those banks without any charge.

If these employees choose to cash their checks at your bank and pay the $5 fee, you're likely still in compliance with ORS 652.110, since their checks are still "payable without discount" at a local bank - their own.

The problem arises with those of your employees who can't or won't get a checking account. Some individuals object to having a checking account because of privacy concerns. Others prefer not to pay monthly fees and simply cash checks at local establishments. Others can't afford to pay the monthly fees or are denied an account because of credit problems.

To remain in compliance with ORS 652.110, you should arrange to reimburse these employees for the check-cashing fee. In order to avoid this problem, some employers offer to provide such employees a bank account.

Also, the type of employer account you maintain at your bank may have a bearing on the fee requirement. Your bank advised us that it charges the paycheck-cashing fee only on wholesale accounts, so you might choose to set up a non-wholesale account to avoid the fee issue altogether.

Q: If an employee earns a bonus during the bonus period but is fired for performance or attendance reasons (not related to bonus criteria), must the bonus still be paid out at separation?

A: The key is your use of the word "earns" because everything an employee earns under your wage agreement must normally be cashed out at the final paycheck deadline. That generally includes wages, salaries, vacation pay, incentive pay, severance pay (if you promise it), commissions and, yes, bonuses.

However, it's up to your wage agreement to define what it means to "earn" a bonus or commission.

For example, let's say you and your employee have a clear agreement that bonuses will only be calculated and credited at the end of the month. In such a case, you could pay the employee's regular wages at the final paycheck deadline and issue a bonus check at the end of the month - when it's earned under your agreement.

In your example, how have you defined your bonus? Was it, say, a production bonus of $100 for making 15 widgets? Even if so, your bonus agreement could include other criteria.

For example, you could require that the employee also be in good standing in terms of performance or attendance at the time of the bonus calculation to earn the benefit.

Or, your bonus agreement might spell out that employees terminated "for cause" don't earn the final month's bonus.

It doesn't sound as though your bonus agreement included such terms since you say that your employee "earned" the bonus during the bonus period. And an employee in this scenario will likely expect that bonus. If a court concludes that the bonus was due as part of the wage agreement, you might face stiff final paycheck penalties for withholding it. So, cash out those bonuses at termination, at least until you refine your policies and wage agreements.

On The Job is written by attorney Dan Grinfas of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. The column answers questions about employment law. To contact BOLI, call [phone], or write to BOLI, 800 NE Oregon St. #32, Portland, OR 97232.