Q: Is it legal for a company to hire you and pay you cash until your 90 day probation is up and then put you on payroll?
A: While an employer could legally compensate you in cash, it is much more likely an indication of multiple labor law violations. Your employer should be providing you with paystubs for each pay period detailing your compensation, including hours worked and hourly rates as well as all tax deductions.
Neil Pedersen agrees with this answer
1 user found this answer helpful
A:
Technically it is not unlawful for an employer to pay employees with cash as long as the standard deductions are still taken out of the pay and paid to the various government entities, and as long as you get an accurate wage statement at the time you are paid. However, in my experience, that does not happen when an employer pays cash.
Paying cash is a common way for an employer to avoid paying for workers compensation insurance for new employees, and to avoid paying an employer's matching contributions to various government programs, which means you are not receiving the benefits you should be getting. Additionally, when it comes time to report and pay your taxes you will have no money taken from your checks to pay for those taxes, and you will likely not receive an accurate reporting of income to use with your taxes.
Be careful. An employer who is willing to avoid its obligations to pay you properly now may well thumb its nose at other Labor Code and other protective laws later.
Good luck to you.
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