I'm guessing the checks were drawn on an empty account? Banks will commonly front you the money before the check clears so that you have the money available bef

I'm guessing the checks were drawn on an empty account? Banks will commonly front you the money before the check clears so that you have the money available before the longer process of the check clearing is completed. See also: The common scam where somebody purchases an item from you and sends you a check, but the check is for more than the item cost; they ask you to send them the item plus the extra money the check was for. You deposit the check, pull out the extra, send it along with the item, and a week later the check bounces (or is discovered to be fraudulent), and the bank removes the money from your account, and they obviously don't refund the amount you withdrew to send to the scammer. It doesn't normally happen with payroll checks, but it's not an unknown mechanism. If there's no money in the account that the check is drawn on, the bank won't furnish money out of the goodness of their hearts for the recipient.