Gale Healthcare Paid Employee Wages Via Payroll Cards Subject to Fees, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Gale Healthcare Solutions has illegally forced employees to receive their wages via payroll cards that have left them “swimming in unlawful fees.”

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The 15-page lawsuit says that the nationwide staffing company’s payroll practices violate the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act in that Gale requires workers to receive wages through Money Network payroll cards without offering a cost-free alternative payment method.

In addition, the suit alleges that Gale Healthcare has breached state law by imposing on employees various payroll card fees, such as loading fees, transfer charges and ATM withdrawal fees. The company has also failed to disclose the terms and conditions of its payroll card program and inform workers that payment through this method is voluntary, the case claims.

Through a mobile app, Gale Healthcare connects its nurses, clinicians and other healthcare workers with medical facilities in need of short- and long-term staff, the complaint relays. When the company hires an employee, it creates a Money Network account for them and provides the worker with a reloadable payroll card through which the defendant deposits all wages for a shift within 24 hours of the shift’s completion, the filing shares.

“Payroll cards function in the same manner as a debit card: a financial institution holds the deposited money in an individual account, and the payroll card provides access to the money much like a debit card,” the lawsuit explains.

Unlike conventional payment methods such as paper checks or direct deposit, the suit states, payroll cards often cost employees additional fees, including charges for ATM withdrawals, transfers or balance inquiries.

“Indeed, the biggest criticism of payroll cards is that they pass along the associated costs of payroll processing to employees—who are typically hourly, low-wage earning workers—through the various fees associated with the cards,” the case contends.

Gale Healthcare, in violation of state law, deducts a $2 loading fee from an employee’s pay each time it loads their wages onto the payroll card, the filing alleges. Additionally, any fund transfers from a worker’s payroll card to their personal bank account comes with a $2 service fee, and ATM or bank withdrawal fees vary from $1.50 to $5.00, the lawsuit describes.

Per the suit, Illinois law stipulates that employers such as Gale Healthcare are prohibited from mandating that employees receive payment through payroll cards and must provide workers in the payroll card program with an alternative, cost-free payment method. The case adds that state law also precludes an employer from imposing on employees fees related to the use of payroll cards.

The plaintiff, an Illinois resident and registered nurse, worked with Gale Healthcare between 2019 and 2021, the complaint says. The woman claims that she was required by the company to receive her wages through a Money Network payroll card, and was never notified of the payroll card program’s terms and conditions or that participation was voluntary.

In addition to the “exorbitant” ATM fees the plaintiff routinely paid to withdraw her earnings from her payroll card, the woman estimates that she incurred over $1,800 in charges as a result of Gale Healthcare’s purported $2 loading fee deductions, the filing alleges.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone employed by Gale Healthcare Solutions, LLC in Illinois at any time since June 16, 2013.

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