Stop the Presses

My friend, if you have to hide money from your wife, then you have a very serious marital issue. The direct deposit paper work strictly is for deposit only and not for withdrawal. Any and all withdrawals will have to have your signed approval. If you are overpaid, then you will be given the option of having the overage deducted from your next pay or an immediate withdrawal from your account (as of right now, the UAW contract does have overage repay stipulations). As far as to pay in cash, why not chickens, beans, 'coon skins or moonshine? The old days of the 'pay window' are long gone. As for the one's who pay $5-$10.00 to cash their check each week, why would you do that? The only one benefiting from that is the one cashing the check. Get a checking or savings account at the credit union, put $5.00 in it and you could cash it there each week for free! But with direct deposit, you wont even have to goto the bank! If you cash your check at the bar, the bartender will miss the checks too! Most who cash their check there end up spending $25.00 - $50.00 while at the barstool! Some of you resiting this technology (which is about 10 years old now) just might save a few bucks. It also keeps the company books clean! I know 'change' is a hard thing to do, if it saves the company money, then so be it. If the company is bankrupt, then you wont have a check to cash!

I've just been informed that Ford will be switching to what is called 'Employee Self Service'. What in the world is that? It is part of the Ford intranet where you can change your personal info (address, phone number) at any computer station within a Ford facility or at home using the same info you use to generate A,X,Z plan pins. Also, now here is the one that is going to get the rumbles, Ford will no longer be issueing paychecks or stubs. Thats right, everyone needs to get a bank account or some type of account where your pay will be direct deposited. Also, you will no longer be handed a stub each week. You will have to log into ESS to get the pay stub. Only your W2's will be handed or mailed to you as required by Federal law. This will save Ford millions in paper-printing and (the bad part) those that work within payroll will see a head count reduction. Why is Ford doing this? Because 70% of companies now do the same thing. It is purely a money saving issue. No longer are there 'lost' checks, washed in the washer or accidently tossed it out excusses. It saves time & money to not have to put a bank hold on the 'lost' check and re-issue a new one. But the bottom line is, ESS will make accounting easier and the books will be clean! Yes, some bean counters are going to be trimmed. If your pay is direct deposited, you cant walk around with 2-3 paychecks in your pocket. The money has been paid to you and off their accounting books. Any and all court ordered needs will still be handled by the NESC or your local labor relations. If you have an issue about direct deposit, just ask anyone that already has it. They will tell you it is 99% flawless and the money is usually there in the account on Thursday mornings. No more stopping at the bank! And yes, the UAW already agreed to this and also, it really isnt a UAW contractural issue, but Ford presented it to the UAW out of a courtesy! Let the moans and groans begin!