Once a check has cleared, can the "payee" put a stop on it?

Hm, my advice would be to actually deposit it to the teller. Once the check is signed and dated and you worked those hours the company cannot legally put a check stop.

There is no way that a bank can “partially clear” a check. What they may be doing (and falsely calling it “clearing”) is advancing you that first $100 based on the assumption that it is a bona fide payroll check from a reputable issuer. But checks “clear” when they are paid. That’s what clearing houses are: they’re neutral places for those issuing checks and those cashing checks to virtually “meet” and have funds actually move in payment as the check is cancelled.

So the answer to your question is “no”. The check “clears” by having the funds transferred.

The issuer of the check is the payor, and the recipient is the payee. A business shouldn’t stop payment on a payroll check that you earned. If you think they’re that shadey to try, I would wait until you are sure all the funds are cleared. Does the employer use the same bank as you?

What your bank has done is give you the funds available according to their funds availablity policy and not because they got the money yet from the other bank. See when you deposit the check you never know when the check has officially cleared the other bank. The only way you know if a check has cleared is by calling the bank the check was drawn on and confirming the check cleared with them. You need the information on the check in order to do this, meaning the account number on the bottom of the check and the check number on the check.
Good Luck!

Now since you get paid after you have worked your hours why do you think they will stop payment on your paycheck since they actually need to pay you for what you work regardless of if you quit or not?

They cannot reclaim the check once it has been processed by the bank. Your employer would not do that anyway since you are not paid in advance,, you have alredy put in the work for that money.

The electronic funds transfer from one bank to another can actually be reversed if the hard copy of the check is determined to be false. It’s the basis of some craigslist frauds: the sender sends a “check” for more than the transaction (“to cover costs”), then asks you to send the product plus a money order for the “excess”. Then the check is determined to be fraudulent.

However, wages cannot be revoked without running afoul of state and federal wage laws.

I bet you are paying a (relatively) big fee for the $100 advance.

@josie Why would there be a fee? I put a check for $4,000 in my account last week, and my bank said the “funds available” went up by $300 immediately. There would have been no fee if I had tapped into that $300 for some cash.

I agree with @zenvelo – I consistently deposit $2,000 checks in Bank of America (usually at the ATM). It immediately makes $300 of it available, and the other $1,700 is available the next day. There is no fee for this.

When you deposit a check drawn on another bank your bank doesn’t get the money until they clear the check through the system. It can take from one to three days, depending on which part of the federal reserve system the check was written. For example, a check drawn on a CA bank would take longer to clear in NY then a check drawn on a Boston bank. Your bank is letting you draw on unavailable funds for the first $100.00

The payee can’t stop the check. But they can refuse to cash it.

Every bank has a funds availablity policy which has to be with in or better than the Reg CC guidlines and if they make it available to you there is no fees to us the money, however if yo draw on the unavailable funds then you would see a unavailable funds fee which works similar to an overdraft because you used money that was not available for you to use.