Employer withholding paycheck

[notramm]

Can someone please tell me if I have any rights regarding this situation?

My employer is currently holding back my paycheck because we are in a fight. To give some background, this is the second invoice I am having an issue with. I am a part-time employee, not an independent contractor.

I made a mistake at work. I was terribly busy and forgot to send an email to my employer. I received the email on a Monday and did not send it until Thursday. My employer did not loose any money or business because of my mistake.

On Friday I submitted my invoice for the week before. In order to get paid my employer must approve my invoice or the accounts will not issue the check. My employer was so mad that I did not send him the mail, rather then approving my invoice for payment he responded with a nasty comment. I sent him an email apologizing again and asked him to please approve my invoice. He responded to my email but did not approve my invoice.

I sent him an email at the end of the day on Friday stating that I was going to check my email in the am before I left for work on Monday and if he did not approve my invoice I would have to assume that he is no longer interested in employing me.

I just checked my email (Sunday night). He has not approved my invoice. He did send an email, which said he had every intention of paying me but is now mad because I threatened him with quitting. This was not correct. I never said I was going to quit. I said if he is not going to approve my invoice I would have to assume I was being fired.

My employer's assistant has advised me that I am supposed to call him Monday morning before I go to work because he does not know what to do with me.

Can my employer legally hold back paying me on time because he is mad at me? Do I have any rights? Have I done anything wrong? If he does not approve my invoice or I get fired from this will this be considered my fault? Would I still be eligible for unemployment insurance?

 

[cbg]

Since you specify that you are an employee and not an IC, I'm going to assume that by invoice, you mean what the rest of the world calls a time sheet or time card.

Every state has a drop dead date by which an employee must receive their paycheck after the end of the pay period. For instance, in my state most employees must receive their check within 6 days of the end of pay period.

Most, but not all states, have a drop dead date by which an employee must receive their final check after their last day of employment.

As long as a check is released within these timeframes, the employer is technically legal. Even in those states which insist that an employee must be paid on specific pay dates, the state will not get into an uproar if the check is late AS LONG AS it is still within the legal timeframes. So if my employer promises to pay me on the third day after the end of the pay period, if they pay me instead on the fifth day after the end of the pay period, the state may lightly slap them on the wrist but probably won't do much more than that since they are still within legal bounds.

However, an employer is in violation of the law if they hold a paycheck beyond the last day as defined by state law. The only exception is South Dakota, where the employer is given specific permission to hold a check beyond the last day IF the employee has not turned in all company property, which, even if you are in SD, is not the case here. You'll have to tell us what state you are in to determine if your employer is in violation.