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Your last sentence about an entire year's salary suggests that you may not understand the original commenter's point. I'll try to explain it. In the United Sta

Your last sentence about an entire year's salary suggests that you may not understand the original commenter's point. I'll try to explain it. In the United States, employers generally issue paychecks for work performed in the preceding period of 1-2 weeks. So most employees are advancing their labor to their employers, on the promise that they will be eventually paid for that work, at the end of that pay period. The conceptual alternative has nothing to do with annual salary... It would look more like employers issuing daily paychecks, at the end of each workday. Or, employers would keep the pay period system, but pay employees an additional amount to compensate for the loan of their daily labor for the time until the next payday. Do you get it, now?

teddyh 5y ago
You’re avoiding the first and main part of my point, though. It’s not your money until they pay you – therefore, you can’t count the interest as yours until then. If you want to be paid daily – sure, why not? Why not by the hour, or by the minute, even? But most people don’t want to be paid daily, and the “loss” of the miniscule interest is more than worth the hassle it would be for all involved to be paid so frequently in so small amounts. And if it’s not your money yet, it’s not your interest, either.
- drdec 5y ago
  I question the notion that most employees do not want to be paid daily. If I am being paid via direct deposit, there is no inconvenience for me to be paid daily. And certainly cash workers, aka day laborers, demand to be paid daily.
  - teddyh 5y ago
    Won’t all the fees associated with transfer and withdrawal eat a substantial amount of your salary the more often you are paid?
    - drdec 5y ago
      There are no fees with direct deposit, at least from the employee's standpoint. In fact, receiving funds via direct deposit is something that usually causes the bank to waive account fees in the US.
- PascLeRasc 5y ago
  I don't understand why you keep claiming that someone else holding your money makes it theirs. Can you expand on this?
  - teddyh 5y ago
    I don’t understand why you talk as if money which you haven’t yet been paid is somehow yours before you get it.
    - drdec 5y ago
      Once you have worked for a day, your employer owes you money. It is not an uncommon or foreign concept to charge interest on a debt that one is owed. That said, it would be unusual to apply that to wages. And many debts have grade periods during which interest is waived.
      - teddyh 5y ago
        > Once you have worked for a day, your employer owes you money. I see what you mean, but do they really? If I leave work one day (say, in the middle of the week) and don’t come back, does my employer owe me pay until the day I left? Some people have that situation, but for most people, the situation is more complicated; they can’t just leave without giving advance notice, etc. Included in this complexity is the fact that the employer does not owe the employee anything until the pay is actually due, as specified in the contract.
        drdec 5y ago
        > I see what you mean, but do they really? Yes, they really do. E.g. if the company was dissolving went into bankruptcy proceedings the employees would have a claim. > If I leave work one day (say, in the middle of the week) and don’t come back, does my employer owe me pay until the day I left? In my jurisdiction we have at-will employment and it works both ways - either party can terminate the arrangement at any time. In practice, employees usually give notice so as not to poison relationships. On what basis would an employer not owe an employee for work performed? > the employer does not owe the employee anything until the pay is actually due, as specified in the contract. You have confused owing a debt and a payment schedule for the debt. When you take a mortgage on a house you owe the bank money (probably a lot of money). The fact that a payment schedule exists doesn't change the the status of the status of the debt nor does it prevent the bank from paying interest. Second, you are assuming there is contract - in my experience most workers are not operating under a contract. Of course, I'm speaking for my jurisdiction (in the US).
- SkittyDog 5y ago
  Your first part was just semantic games, it wasnt any kind of meaningful argument... "It's not your money yet..." versus "Loaning your employer your labor until payday". Looks like some other folks have already poked holes in that, anyway... I was honestly concerned that you were just ignorant, based on your original comment.
  - teddyh 5y ago
    The notion of “my money” versus “the employer’s money” is more than mere semantics. (You did explain why the notion of getting a year’s worth of interest was based on faulty assumptions, which is why I abandoned it. But that was never my main point.)

teddyh 5y ago

You’re avoiding the first and main part of my point, though. It’s not your money until they pay you – therefore, you can’t count the interest as yours until then. If you want to be paid daily – sure, why not? Why not by the hour, or by the minute, even? But most people don’t want to be paid daily, and the “loss” of the miniscule interest is more than worth the hassle it would be for all involved to be paid so frequently in so small amounts. And if it’s not your money yet, it’s not your interest, either.

drdec 5y ago
I question the notion that most employees do not want to be paid daily. If I am being paid via direct deposit, there is no inconvenience for me to be paid daily. And certainly cash workers, aka day laborers, demand to be paid daily.
- teddyh 5y ago
  Won’t all the fees associated with transfer and withdrawal eat a substantial amount of your salary the more often you are paid?
  - drdec 5y ago
    There are no fees with direct deposit, at least from the employee's standpoint. In fact, receiving funds via direct deposit is something that usually causes the bank to waive account fees in the US.
PascLeRasc 5y ago
I don't understand why you keep claiming that someone else holding your money makes it theirs. Can you expand on this?
- teddyh 5y ago
  I don’t understand why you talk as if money which you haven’t yet been paid is somehow yours before you get it.
  - drdec 5y ago
    Once you have worked for a day, your employer owes you money. It is not an uncommon or foreign concept to charge interest on a debt that one is owed. That said, it would be unusual to apply that to wages. And many debts have grade periods during which interest is waived.
    - teddyh 5y ago
      > Once you have worked for a day, your employer owes you money. I see what you mean, but do they really? If I leave work one day (say, in the middle of the week) and don’t come back, does my employer owe me pay until the day I left? Some people have that situation, but for most people, the situation is more complicated; they can’t just leave without giving advance notice, etc. Included in this complexity is the fact that the employer does not owe the employee anything until the pay is actually due, as specified in the contract.
      - drdec 5y ago
        > I see what you mean, but do they really? Yes, they really do. E.g. if the company was dissolving went into bankruptcy proceedings the employees would have a claim. > If I leave work one day (say, in the middle of the week) and don’t come back, does my employer owe me pay until the day I left? In my jurisdiction we have at-will employment and it works both ways - either party can terminate the arrangement at any time. In practice, employees usually give notice so as not to poison relationships. On what basis would an employer not owe an employee for work performed? > the employer does not owe the employee anything until the pay is actually due, as specified in the contract. You have confused owing a debt and a payment schedule for the debt. When you take a mortgage on a house you owe the bank money (probably a lot of money). The fact that a payment schedule exists doesn't change the the status of the status of the debt nor does it prevent the bank from paying interest. Second, you are assuming there is contract - in my experience most workers are not operating under a contract. Of course, I'm speaking for my jurisdiction (in the US).
SkittyDog 5y ago
Your first part was just semantic games, it wasnt any kind of meaningful argument... "It's not your money yet..." versus "Loaning your employer your labor until payday". Looks like some other folks have already poked holes in that, anyway... I was honestly concerned that you were just ignorant, based on your original comment.
- teddyh 5y ago
  The notion of “my money” versus “the employer’s money” is more than mere semantics. (You did explain why the notion of getting a year’s worth of interest was based on faulty assumptions, which is why I abandoned it. But that was never my main point.)