Cashing an OSU paycheck will soon no longer be a regular option for university employees. Instead of receiving paper pay stubs, faculty, staff and student workers will receive their pay information online and over a telephone interactive voice response system.
Employees will automatically have their money directly deposited into their bank accounts, and those who do not have a bank account will receive a payroll card with their paycheck amount credited to the card.
By eliminating or reducing paper paychecks and pay statements, OSU will deal less with lost checks, stopped payments, as well as, mailing and printing costs.
While the electronic pay system may be accommodating to the university, it may not be for the people who are getting paid. Online banking is offered by most banks, but people elect to use such a service. They can still do in-person transactions and receive tangible documents just as easily. Automatically switching to an Internet/telephone-based payroll system may be more useful and quick than paper checks but could be a hassle for those who don’t have access to the Web or simply want physical proof at the end of the pay period. The employee’s who choose to receive a paycheck versus direct deposit do so for a reason.
The alternate is a payroll card. Employees can access their money at ATMs or engage in cash back debit transactions at point-of sale locations such as grocery stores and drug stores. At ATMs people can only take out limited amounts of money at a time, some as little as $200 per transaction. Getting the full cash amount of a paycheck could be quite a detailed process. The safety issues of carrying large amounts of cash can’t be ignored either. Debit cards, just like checks, are easily lost and stolen. It is harder to cash a check than stop someone from using a stolen debit card at a grocery store.
Although Human Resources promises those who don’t want to use a payroll card can have their checks mailed to their home, there is no guarantee it will arrive on payday. Some people just want to pick their pay check up at the end of a day and receive the reward for all their hard work.
For a number of people, switching to electronic payments and direct deposit won’t be a problem. Nevertheless, employees deserve to be paid in the way most easiest to them. If they want to pick up their paycheck at the end of the month, then that option should equally be available.
