Employer Sending Your Wages to Someone Else Without Consent

Attorney Answer

Your employer cannot hand your paycheck to your father because your father asked. Under Idaho law an employer may divert part of your wages only if a law requires it or you gave written authorization — and an agreement between your father and your boss that you did not know about is neither.

Idaho Code § 45-609 is the controlling provision, and its terms are short: "No employer may withhold or divert any portion of an employee's wages unless: (a) The employer is required or empowered to do so by state or federal law; or (b) The employer has a written authorization from the employee for deductions for a lawful purpose." The employer must also give you a statement identifying all deductions for each pay period in which deductions are made, and willfully failing to do so is a misdemeanor.

Notice what subsection (a) covers and does not. It means things like a garnishment, an income-withholding order for child support, or a tax levy — a legal instrument that compels the employer. A private handshake with a third party, even a parent, is not a law that requires or empowers anything. And subsection (b) requires your written authorization, given by you, for a lawful purpose. You did not give one.

Idaho Code § 45-608 supplies the baseline your employer is departing from: wages must be paid to the employee at least once each calendar month on regular paydays designated in advance, in U.S. currency or by check, or by direct deposit with your authorization, with no more than fifteen days between the end of a pay period and its payday. The director may impose civil penalties of up to $500 per pay period on employers who show a consistent pattern of untimely payment.

The fact that the money is being used to pay for a building at your father's house does not change any of this. Whatever arrangement your father and your boss have about the cost of that project is between them. Your wages are yours.

What you can do

1. Write down what you are owed: dates worked, hours, your rate, and each payday you were not paid. This record is the foundation of any claim. 2. Ask your employer in writing — text or email, so there is a record — for a copy of any authorization it claims you signed, and for the deduction statements Idaho Code § 45-609 requires for each affected pay period. Keep it factual and unemotional. 3. State in that same message, in one sentence, that you have not authorized payment of your wages to anyone else and that you are asking to be paid directly. 4. Check whether the money is even going through payroll — look at your pay stubs, W-2, and whether taxes are being withheld. An employer paying someone else instead of you often has payroll and tax problems layered on top of the wage problem. 5. If it is not fixed immediately, file a wage claim with the Idaho Department of Labor. It is free, you do not need a lawyer to start it, and it puts the employer on formal notice. 6. Talk to an employment attorney about Idaho's wage statutes and the penalties available, especially if the amount is significant or you are also being retaliated against. 7. If you are under 18, say so to whoever helps you. That fact can change parts of the analysis and should not be left out.

⏱ Time limits apply. Idaho wage claims must be brought within a set period measured from when the wages came due, and the period is shorter than most people expect — waiting can shrink or eliminate what you can recover even where the employer clearly violated Idaho Code § 45-609. The exact deadline depends on your dates and on what you are claiming, so confirm it with the Idaho Department of Labor or an employment attorney now rather than after you have tried to work it out informally.