How can an employer do its “due diligence” on checks that are returned after the December 15 deadline and yet still get the unpaid funds to the Labor Commissioner by that deadline?

The December 15 deadline is in the statute and cannot be changed. The statute actually directs employers to begin making payments “as soon as reasonably feasible” and to complete those payments “by no later than December 15, 2016.”

With that in mind, there is no need to wait until December 15 before doing due diligence and making payments. Employers should first make their best effort to track down a good address (as discussed in the earlier answers to “due diligence” questions) before sending a payment to a former employee.

Sending the payment to that address by certified mail, return receipt requested, will provide confirmation that it was delivered to the intended person. Then, once the employer has confirmed which employees received their payments, the employer can determine which former employees were not successfully located and redirect their payments to the Unpaid Wage Fund.

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