McDonalds sued for debit card pay plan

[The Duchess of Zeon]

We don't even have paid sick leave, for that matter. You can have up to 12 weeks of unpaid sick leave guaranteed to you under law, but only if you've worked for more than one year at that job. If you get seriously ill in your first year on the job, you can be fired, and you can forget about being paid while away from work for illness.

[Dominus Atheos]

You people have shitty banks. My bank (US Bank) has a $25 opening deposit, no fees at their own ATMs/$2.50 at other ATMs and getting the $7~ monthly fee waived is done by keeping an average account balance of $1,500 or $500 total direct deposit. Also free "bill pay" which means they will mail a personal check to anyone you want automatically each month.

Source, "Easy Checking" account, page 3.

[Broomstick]

It can if the workplace requires skilled labor and is already unionized, with membership that doesn't object to funding the union and staying in it.

Yeah, well, McDonald's is UNskilled labor and not unionized so that's kind of worthless, isn't it?

You people have shitty banks. My bank (US Bank) has a $25 opening deposit, no fees at their own ATMs/$2.50 at other ATMs and getting the $7~ monthly fee waived is done by keeping an average account balance of $1,500 or $500 total direct deposit. Also free "bill pay" which means they will mail a personal check to anyone you want automatically each month.

All the other features aside, there is no way someone working for minimum wage in the US will be able to keep an average account balance of $500/month, much less a larger sum.

[fgalkin]

You people have shitty banks. My bank (US Bank) has a $25 opening deposit, no fees at their own ATMs/$2.50 at other ATMs and getting the $7~ monthly fee waived is done by keeping an average account balance of $1,500 or $500 total direct deposit. Also free "bill pay" which means they will mail a personal check to anyone you want automatically each month.

Source, "Easy Checking" account, page 3.

I'm sorry, how is this supposed to be better? You still get charged a $20 for incoming wires, still get charged an ATM fee, and no way someone working minimum wage will get the $1,500 min balance to avoid the fee (which my account also has).

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Well as long as we're listing this sort of thing:

My credit union requires you start a savings account with a minimum balance of $5.00.
As long as you maintain $5.00 in that savings account permanently, it comes with a free checking account.
The Checking account and the Savings account each provide 6.13% interest on the first $500.00 deposited.
After that interest is at 0.05% on all other money deposited.
There are no maintenance fees whatsoever, and they will arrange deposits and drafts to avoid charging you an overdraft fee (which is about $30.00. I have been financially hard for a while and hit it more than once). The fees don't cascade--i.e., non-payment of the overdraft can't lead to another overdraft, and if you manage a deposit on the same day or at any time before what would have been an overdraft clears, they'll arrange the balance sheet to avoid an overdraft fee even though the draft (debit) came in first.
You automatically get a Gold Mastercard Debit Card that has full fraud protection associated with a Gold card standard -- again with no extra fee. All ATMs in the credit union network are free.
You have a 10 free transfer limit between checking and savings per month. ATM-based and online-based deposits are all free and unlimited, as are all ATM cash withdrawals from the credit union network. The card is free and has no fees both when used with PIN and when used with signature for direct cash payments. Fees are only present at foreign network ATMs --and those are the fee THAT ATM charges. The Credit Union does not add any additional fees of its own.

Eligible to all Washington State residents!

[Simon_Jester]

As Duchess's post suggests, there's a huge differential between what's available in "deep blue" states, "red" states, and... call them "purple" states. If nothing else, the Democrats' reliance on organized labor as a core constituency guarantees that in states where they have a reliable majority, the state labor laws will look more like they do in Europe. Banking infrastructure may still be a problem (as fgalkin discussed), but the legal system isn't systematically screwing workers over to anything like the same extent.

Of course, that same reality makes it even more common for the Republicans to go for the jugular when dealing with organized labor, as in Wisconsin. And the big corporate employers like Walmart and McDonald's have nationwide policies of avoiding, diffusing, and preventing unionization even in blue states. Because once it starts there, they know perfectly well it's going to spread.

In right to work states, striking has absolutely no power. Your employer can fire you at any time for any reason, and there are plenty of people to replace you with.

This isn't zero power- just close. After all, it's exactly where strikes stood back before the labor movement got any traction in the first place...

[shakes head in disgust]

But then, 19th century America had a stronger tradition of community action than 21st century America. People didn't move around so much, tended to live closer to more of their own friends and family, and had a collective tradition stretching back to the 18th century when this was even more the case. It's probably easier to organize an effective strike when your employees all live in company housing within a few miles of the plant. In that respect, the suburbanization and social atomization of America has been a godsend for employers.

[Dominus Atheos]

You people have shitty banks. My bank (US Bank) has a $25 opening deposit, no fees at their own ATMs/$2.50 at other ATMs and getting the $7~ monthly fee waived is done by keeping an average account balance of $1,500 or $500 total direct deposit. Also free "bill pay" which means they will mail a personal check to anyone you want automatically each month.

Source, "Easy Checking" account, page 3.

I'm sorry, how is this supposed to be better? You still get charged a $20 for incoming wires, still get charged an ATM fee, and no way someone working minimum wage will get the $1,500 min balance to avoid the fee (which my account also has).

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

I'm not saying my bank is great, but I do consider it "average". Duchess was talking about a $50 fee to wire money, Broomstick was talking about a $100 opening balance.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

...To do a bank-to-bank direct money transfer to another continent of more than ten thousand dollars subject to US government drug traffic surveillance restrictions, DA. I also don't get charged for incoming wires.

[Highlord Laan]

Firstly, thanks for the replies. It certainly given me a better understanding of the situation. However if some banks

a) require a minimum deposit of $25 USD to set up an account, and
b) banking hours are not conduicive to setting up an account as they clash with working hours..

1. How difficult is it to save $25 (or a bit more than that) for the minimum deposit. Presumably there are no fees involved once you have the minimum deposit unless its overdrawn etc. How much is a payday for someone on $15 K a year after tax?

2. Can't someone either get a relative to set up the account (joint account maybe), or set up the account in your holidays? Don't tell me America doesn't give its workers holidays.

Banks are closed on federal holidays, without fail.

Banks are closed whenever they're needed, without fail. It's pathetic, and there's no reason for it.

[fgalkin]

You people have shitty banks. My bank (US Bank) has a $25 opening deposit, no fees at their own ATMs/$2.50 at other ATMs and getting the $7~ monthly fee waived is done by keeping an average account balance of $1,500 or $500 total direct deposit. Also free "bill pay" which means they will mail a personal check to anyone you want automatically each month.

Source, "Easy Checking" account, page 3.

I'm sorry, how is this supposed to be better? You still get charged a $20 for incoming wires, still get charged an ATM fee, and no way someone working minimum wage will get the $1,500 min balance to avoid the fee (which my account also has).

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

I'm not saying my bank is great, but I do consider it "average". Duchess was talking about a $50 fee to wire money, Broomstick was talking about a $100 opening balance.

You also have a $50 fee to wire money. Just sayin'.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Broomstick]

I'm not saying my bank is great, but I do consider it "average". Duchess was talking about a $50 fee to wire money, Broomstick was talking about a $100 opening balance.

A poor person in the US is far more likely to be able to scrape together a $100 opening balance than to maintain an average daily balance of $1000-1,500.

My current bank account required a $100 opening balance (15 years ago) but has no minimum daily balance requirement. Monthly fees are $3.00/month. There are additional fees if I bounce a check, but that is usually an avoidable expense. You can find minimal cost bank accounts, but usually you have to go to smaller, more local/regional banks. They often do not have certain convenience features, like Chase's letting you take a photo of a check and depositing it over the internet, but hey, most things are a trade-off.

[Dominus Atheos]

Let me try this one more time. It looked like non-Americans were getting the wrong idea about how hard it is and how much it costs to open a bank in the US. I just wanted to set the record straight for the non-Americans.

[fgalkin]

Let me try this one more time. It looked like non-Americans were getting the wrong idea about how hard it is and how much it costs to open a bank in the US. I just wanted to set the record straight for the non-Americans.

...by showing that your "non-shitty" bank is just as bad as anything else mentioned in this thread?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Starglider]

In the UK we are legally entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid annual leave. (28 days for a full time worker, pro ratad for part time workers). The only exception is if you are self employed.

To clarify eight of these are normally public holidays (Christmas / Easter / bank holidays), leaving four weeks of freely chosen paid vacation. Most companies slowly increase that with more time in service. Several banks also do 'paid volunteering days', where you get extra paid leave if you spend it working for one of their approved charities.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Let me try this one more time. It looked like non-Americans were getting the wrong idea about how hard it is and how much it costs to open a bank in the US. I just wanted to set the record straight for the non-Americans.

I think they were getting the right idea and you're just wrong. Your bank is actually pretty shitty and trying to imply that an international bank-to-bank direct deposit fee for a very large sum (what I had originally said) was in any way a standard "wire fee" was borderline dishonest. Credit Unions offer good terms because they're not-for-profit, but your bank is shitty.