When an employee or contractor says their pay didn't arrive, work through these checks in order. The last section covers how to get them paid.
Check whether the worker was set to off-platform payment
"Off-platform" (previously called "Manual") means Freedom does not send the money. Freedom calculates the worker's pay and taxes, and you pay their take-home amount yourself. It can be set in two places: as the worker's payment preference on their profile, and as the pay method on each payroll. The pay method on the payroll is the one that decides whether Freedom sent the money, so check the payroll first.
Check the payroll
In the sidebar, open Pay, then select History.
Find the payroll for that payday and select "View payroll".
In the steps at the top of the payroll, select "Employee earnings" for an employee or "Contractor payments" for a contractor. A payroll created from "Pay contractors" has no steps. On that payroll, read the "Pay method" column in the "Contractor payments" table.
Find the worker's row and read their pay method: "Direct deposit" or "Off-platform".
If the payroll shows "Off-platform" for the worker, Freedom did not send their pay and you need to pay them yourself. If it shows "Direct deposit", Freedom sent a payment. Next, check their take-home pay and look for the payment on the Payments page.
Set up direct deposit for future payrolls
An employee whose payment preference is "Off-platform" is not added to your regular payrolls automatically, so you have to add them to each payroll yourself. To have Freedom pay this worker from now on:
Ask the worker to sign in to Freedom, open Payment Settings from the sidebar, and add their bank account.
Go to People from the sidebar and select the worker. In the Compensation section, the Payment Method Preference row reads "Direct deposit" or "Off-platform".
If it reads "Off-platform", click "Edit" next to Payment Method Preference, choose "Direct Deposit", click "Save Changes", then click "Yes, Save Changes".
Check whether the worker's take-home pay was $0
If a worker's taxes and deductions add up to as much as they earned that pay period, their take-home pay is $0 and there is nothing to deposit. This is common on a small paycheck, such as a few hours of work or a bonus, when benefit contributions or other deductions stay the same size.
In the sidebar, open Pay, then select History.
Find the payroll for that payday and select "View payroll".
Open "Employee payments" and read the worker's row. Compare the "Gross", "Taxes", and "Deductions" columns with the "Net pay" column.
If "Net pay" is $0.00, the payroll paid the worker correctly and no deposit was sent.
Note: Freedom never lets take-home pay drop below $0. When a paycheck can't cover every deduction, Freedom reduces or skips deductions. Before you approve the payroll, "Employee payments" lists each reduced or skipped deduction under that employee's row.
Find the payment on the Payments page
In the sidebar, open Pay, then select Payments.
Stay on the "All payments" tab. The "Failed payments" tab lists money Freedom couldn't collect from your company bank account, not payments to workers.
Open the "Type" filter and choose "Net pay". Net pay is a worker's take-home pay, so this hides tax payments.
Type the worker's name in the search box labeled "Search counterparty". The counterparty is the person or organization a payment went to.
Read the Status column on the worker's row. "Processing" means the payment is on its way. "Paid" means Freedom sent it to their bank, and the bank can still reject it for a few business days. "Failed" means their bank sent it back. Open the three-dot menu at the right end of the row and choose "View attempts history" to see the bank's reason.
Note: The "Search counterparty" box searches only the page of payments you are viewing. If the worker doesn't appear, select "Next" below the table and search again. If no payment to the worker appears on any page, they may not have been included in that payroll, they may have been set to off-platform payment, or their take-home pay may have been $0.
See why a payment failed
In the sidebar, open Pay, then select Payments and find the worker's payment.
Open the three-dot menu at the right end of the payment's row and choose "View attempts history".
Read the Details column. It gives the bank's reason, such as "Account closed", "Invalid account number", "Account frozen", or "Invalid account holder".
The attempts history also shows a "Trace number". Give it to the worker so their bank can look up the payment. Then ask the worker to sign in to Freedom, open Payment Settings from the sidebar, and correct their bank details.
If the payment shows "Paid" but the worker has no money
Freedom sends direct deposits through ACH, the bank network that carries most payroll in the US. ACH is not instant. Banks pass payments to each other in batches, and the worker's bank then decides whether to accept the deposit. Freedom marks a payment "Paid" when it has sent the money, not when the worker's bank has accepted it.
If the worker's bank can't deliver the deposit, for example because the account was closed or the account number is wrong, it sends the money back. That notice also travels in batches and can take a few business days to reach Freedom. Until it arrives, the payment keeps showing "Paid" on the Payments page. When it arrives, the status changes to "Failed", and the bank's reason appears when you open the three-dot menu on the payment's row and choose "View attempts history".
If payday was within the last few business days, ask the worker to confirm the account is open and the numbers are right, then check the Payments page again. If the payment still shows "Paid" a week after payday and the worker still hasn't received the money, open the three-dot menu on the payment's row, choose "Copy payment ID", and send the ID to [email protected].
Check if they have any onboarding blockers
Onboarding blockers stop a worker from being paid. A payroll can't include a worker until their blockers are cleared.
Go to People from the sidebar and select the worker.
Read the banner above the tabs on their profile. Its title shows how serious the unfinished steps are.
If it reads "[Name] can't be included in any payroll yet": payrolls can't include this worker until these steps are complete, so the worker was not paid.
If it reads "Finish setting up [Name]": these steps don't keep the worker off payroll, but they can delay the payment.
Pay close attention to anything about the worker's bank account, such as "Payment method not selected", "Bank account not added", or "Bank account not verified". Without a working bank account on file, Freedom can't send the worker a direct deposit.
The banner also separates the steps under "You can fix" from the steps under "Only [Name] can fix". Finish yours. For the rest, click "Send setup link" to email the worker a link, or ask the worker to sign in to Freedom, where their home page lists the steps they have left. See Finish a worker's onboarding.
Ask the worker to check their bank details
Freedom can't confirm that a worker's bank account is correct until it sends the first deposit. A typing mistake in a routing or account number won't show up until their first payday.
Ask the worker to sign in and open Payment Settings from the sidebar.
Have them compare the routing and account numbers with their bank's records and correct anything that is wrong.
Correcting the bank details fixes future payrolls. If a payment to the old details already failed, you still need to replace that payment.
Get the worker paid
How you get the worker paid depends on why the pay didn't arrive.
If the worker was set to off-platform payment
Pay the worker yourself, for example with a paper check or a wire from your bank to theirs. Arrange this with the worker directly. Freedom plays no part in an off-platform payment and can't send or track it. To see how much to pay, open the payroll from History and read the worker's "Net pay" under "Employee payments". See Pay a worker off-platform.
If a direct deposit failed or went to a closed account
Replace the original payment with a new one. First make sure the worker has corrected their bank details in Payment Settings, then follow these steps in order.
Ask our team to void the worker's original pay. Open Correct a payroll, choose the payroll, choose "Something else needs correcting", and say which worker's pay didn't arrive. Our team voids that worker's pay on the original payroll and reverses the payment if it still shows "Paid".
Create a new payroll for the same pay. Go to Pay from the sidebar and click "Create off-cycle payroll". Under "Off-cycle options", turn on "Apply benefit deductions and contributions" and "Apply post-tax deductions" if the original payroll applied them, so the new pay matches the original. Add only this worker and enter the same earnings as on the original payroll.
To pay the worker sooner, select "Wire transfer" under "Funding option" on the "Payroll details" step. With a wire, payday can be any business day, starting today. You send the wire from your own bank, and the worker is paid once it arrives.
Note: Many states set deadlines for paying workers. If the earliest payday you can choose is still far off, check your state and local wage rules.