{"id":1757,"date":"2022-06-15T15:46:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T14:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2024-09-03T21:24:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T20:24:50","slug":"history-paper-paycheck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-paper-paycheck\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise and fall of the paper paycheck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<header class=\"entry-header bg-adp-tan block--article-header alignfull block--article-header\" >\n\n  \n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large entry--image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"817\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/e3e3f53e-1024x817.jpeg\" alt=\"Image description: Vintage image of two people standing before a printing press; one points a film camera at the machine. End of alt text. \" class=\"wp-image-1907\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/e3e3f53e-1024x817.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/e3e3f53e-300x239.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/e3e3f53e-768x612.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/e3e3f53e-1536x1225.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/e3e3f53e.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Charles Babbage Institute Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group entry--title-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"entry--social-share\">\n  <ul>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-paper-paycheck\/&#038;t=The rise and fall of the paper paycheck\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/facebook.svg\" alt=\"Facebook logo - click to share this article on Facebook\"><\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=The rise and fall of the paper paycheck&#038;url=https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-paper-paycheck\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/twitter.svg\" alt=\"Twitter logo - click to share this article on Twitter\"><\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/sharing\/share-offsite\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frethinkq.adp.com%2Fhistory-paper-paycheck%2F\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/linkedin.svg\" alt=\"LinkedIn logo - click to share this article on Facebook\"><\/a><\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n            <a class=\"entry--tag tag-style\" href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/looking-back\/\">Looking Back<\/a>\n\n        \n  <h1 class=\"entry-title\">The rise and fall of the paper paycheck<\/h1>\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-summary-style\">The story of the paycheck is one of unrealized potential. Learn how this payroll innovation went out of fashion as quickly as it came.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n  <div class=\"entry--meta content-width\">\n           <p class=\"authors\">By\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/dr-bernardo-batiz-lazo\/\">Dr. Bernardo B\u00e1tiz Lazo<\/a>\n\n             \n         \n     <\/p>\n    \n  \n  <p>15 June 2022  <span class=\"desktop-only\">\u2014<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/issue-5-out-of-office\/\">Issue 5: Out of Office<\/a> \n  <\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\n<\/header><!-- .entry-header -->\n\t<div class=\"entry-content content-width\">\n\n\n\n<p>Though we still speak of paychecks to this day, very few people actually touch paper checks anymore. The ADP Research Institute in 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adp.com\/-\/media\/ri\/pdf\/evolution-of-pay-brochure-final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found<\/a> that more than 80% of workers globally are paid via direct deposit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How people get paid worldwide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation\/9409361\"><script src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/resources\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Paper paychecks, especially in the United States,&nbsp;were an innovation in <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/digitizing-payroll-cashless-society\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">digitization<\/a> that helped fuel the economic boom after World War II. But how did the printed paycheck take off so rapidly, only to fall out of fashion again within a few decades?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The origins of the check<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Middle Ages, early forms of money emerged as documents began to supplement the use of precious metals, pearls and gems in international trade in Europe and the Middle East. These promissory notes known as \u201cbills of exchange\u201d gave rise to personal checks shortly before the Industrial Revolution. Legislation enacted in the 1830s in England stated that the bank, not the customer, was liable for cashing a check with a false signature. This was an important step to give paper checks more credibility.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A number of banking reforms made the check a popular means of payment. By the mid-19th century, most commercial and industrial transactions in England were settled by checks rather than bullion, bills of exchange or notes. The popularity of the paper check was also evident in the U.S. and in France, where some thought that personal checks could be a solution for \u201cthe big problem of small change,\u201d thus representing the first proposition for a cashless economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At this time, workers received wage packets, or envelopes with notes and coins. In the mid-1860s in England and the late 1870s in the U.S., the term \u201cpaycheck\u201d was adopted to refer to a printed order to a bank to pay a stated sum from the employer\u2019s account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between 1900 and 1920, wage packets in the U.S. and Germany began to include a pay slip alongside the actual cash. This led to the emergence of the \u201cpay envelope,\u201d or a brown flat container stuffed with cash and a pay slip in the U.S. and U.K., or a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/de.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Entgeltabrechnung#Trivia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pay stripe<\/a>\u201d in Germany, a printed receipt.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, Austria began to develop a pioneering system for direct-to-account payment through postal giro systems. During the 1920s, an increasing number of people in Europe \u2014 mainly managers and white-collar employees who received a fixed wage or salary \u2014 were paid by direct transfer to bank accounts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Processing and clearing paper checks required a lot of work, especially as U.S. banks were operating mostly only locally until the 1980s. Supplanting a system of local clearinghouses, the Federal Reserve standardized the United States\u2019 check collection system in 1913, reducing the amount of time it took checks to clear. The expansion of branch banking in the U.S. after World War I led to increased use of checks.&nbsp;But in response to the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover imposed a 2-cent tax on each check with the Revenue Act of 1932. Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.econlib.org\/archives\/2013\/03\/the_hoovermello.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scholars<\/a> believe this revenue-creating attempt actually helped make the economic situation in the United States worse, and it led to a widespread return to wages paid in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"809\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lookingback-1024x809.jpeg\" alt=\"Image description: Vintage image of a person in a suit collecting checks from a printing machine. End of alt text. \" class=\"wp-image-1908\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lookingback-1024x809.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lookingback-300x237.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lookingback-768x607.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lookingback-1536x1214.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lookingback.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Computerized check sorters, like this one in Michigan in the 1960s, dramatically sped up processing times. Charles Babbage Institute Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The automated paycheck<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In years that followed World War II, banks on both sides of the Atlantic began to automate, with the payroll function leading the way. Computers could be used to calculate wages and to print the associated payslips distributed to employees on pay day \u2014 but these wages were then paid in cash.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In countries including Mexico and the U.K., the law prohibited employers from paying salaries with anything other than cash, because some companies had abused their power via non-cash payments, such as in vouchers good only at the <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/artifact-coal-company-scrip-miners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">company store<\/a>. Before wages could be paid via check or direct deposit, the laws had to be amended.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default\">But in the United States, paychecks gained traction as more middle-class Americans opened bank accounts. In 1951, the collaboration between Bank of America and the Stanford Research Institute in California led to the development of Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR), a technique for making printed bank routing information machine-readable. The genius of the system was that the characters could be read by humans and also by machines using magnetic or optical sensors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/077cfe8c.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/077cfe8c-1024x438.jpeg\" alt=\"Image description: Bank of America payroll advertisement from 1962. End of alt text.\" class=\"wp-image-1905\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/077cfe8c-1024x438.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/077cfe8c-300x128.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/077cfe8c-768x329.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/077cfe8c-1536x658.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/077cfe8c.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bank of America payroll advertisements from 1962. Courtesy of the Bank of America Archives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/05bdba61.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/05bdba61-1024x506.jpeg\" alt=\"Image description: Bank of America payroll advertisement from 1962. End of alt text. \" class=\"wp-image-1906\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/05bdba61-1024x506.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/05bdba61-300x148.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/05bdba61-768x379.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/05bdba61-1536x758.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/05bdba61.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The American Bankers Association officially adopted the E-13B MICR font as the standard for negotiable documents in 1956, and the U.K., Canada and Australia followed suit. In France, Groupe Bull developed the rival MICR font CMC-7 in 1957, which became the standard in Europe and Argentina. Though MICR was developed to speed up handling of paper checks, it was soon adopted for other applications such as sales vouchers for credit cards and airline reservation tickets, and is still used today.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default\">The introduction of MICR was essential for automating the clearing of paper, and it cemented the use of checks in the increasingly affluent and consumer-driven American society. An experienced bookkeeper could process 245 checks per hour at the time; Bank of America\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Electronic_Recording_Machine,_Accounting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ERMA<\/a> system eventually could read 10 checks per second \u2014 36,000 per hour.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"829\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/dcc5dcb9-1024x829.jpeg\" alt=\"Image description: Closeup of the control panel of the ERMA check processing machine, 1959. End of alt text.\" class=\"wp-image-1903\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/dcc5dcb9-1024x829.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/dcc5dcb9-300x243.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/dcc5dcb9-768x622.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/dcc5dcb9-1536x1244.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/dcc5dcb9.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Bank of America employee uses the ERMA check processing system in 1959. Courtesy of the Bank of America Archives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Europe was an early adopter of direct-to-account payment of wages, mostly bypassing paper paychecks. From the 1950s in Sweden, workers were encouraged by banks, big employers and unions to embrace direct-to-account payment of wages. Through the 1960s, postal companies increasingly developed the giro system pioneered in Austria, creating the infrastructure that enabled the introduction of direct debits, standing orders and check guarantee cards, such as Eurocheque.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the late 1950s, a push for German companies to replace the standard weekly \u201cLohnt\u00fcte\u201d (pay packet) with more efficient monthly paper paychecks was met with resistance from workers, who preferred cash. But many banks offered free accounts for receiving wages to entice new customers, and in the 1960s and 1970s, the number of bank branches grew steadily, and the number of households with current accounts rose dramatically. German banks agreed on a giro standard for transfers in the 1960s, enabling cashless payment transfers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default\">In the U.S., the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco set up the first automated clearing house (ACH) in 1972, enabling nearly instant electronic payments. In the 1970s and 1980s, U.S. employers encouraged workers to have their weekly wages paid directly into a bank account. Paper paychecks were more secure than cash, but they created traffic jams at local bank branches as people waited to withdraw their wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide\">Historical check usage in the United States<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation\/9480053\"><script src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/resources\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Going electronic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The use of paper checks \u2014 including paychecks \u2014 plummeted as the adoption of electronic bank transfers increased and the use of <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-debit-cards\/\">debit cards<\/a> rose. In the United States, check payments accounted for almost 80% of all purchases in 1995 but fell to about 45% in 2004 and just 7% in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default\">By 2012, the Bank of International Settlements found that payments by paper check were basically nonexistent in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland. Paper checks still play a minor role in everyday transactions in Australia, Brazil, India, Italy, Mexico, the U.K. and Singapore. In the United States, France and Canada, use of the paper check remains notable, though it has declined significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide\">Global use of checks in decline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation\/9396340\"><script src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/resources\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Digital paychecks are more secure than paper ones, and are more cost effective as well. Nacha, which oversees the U.S. ACH network, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nacha.org\/news\/ach-costs-are-fraction-check-costs-businesses-afp-survey-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimates<\/a> that issuing a paper paycheck costs $2 to $4; issuing a digital transfer costs less than 50 cents.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital payments for wages, benefits and personal consumption. 15% of workers in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region receive wages in an unconventional form, such as via prepaid debit card. But globally, most people working in the informal sector are still paid in cash. Some economies are exploring the possibilities of mobile money and cryptocurrency for wage payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As cashless forms of payment give way to alternative solutions in the 21st century, one wonders how long we\u2019ll hold on to the term paycheck. Probably as long as we keep punching in.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"block--author\">      <div class=\"block-author__inner\">\n        <div class=\"author--image\">\n                      <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/dr-bernardo-batiz-lazo\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/profile_Bernardo-298x305.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n                  <\/div>\n        <div class=\"author--info\">\n                      <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/dr-bernardo-batiz-lazo\/\" class=\"author--name\">Dr. Bernardo B\u00e1tiz Lazo<\/a>\n\n          \n          <p>Dr. Bernardo B\u00e1tiz Lazo is Professor of FinTech History and Global Trade at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Academy of Social Sciences. He read economics and history and received a doctorate in business administration from the Alliance Manchester Business School. He joined Northumbria after appointments at Bangor, Leicester, Open University and Queen\u2019s Belfast.<\/p>\n          <div class=\"block--author-social\"><ul class=\"author--socials\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BatizLazo\" title=\"Twitter\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-twitter-square\"><\/i><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bernardo-batiz-lazo-92a86428\/\" title=\"LinkedIn\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northumbria.ac.uk\/about-us\/our-staff\/b\/bernardo-batiz-lazo\/\" title=\"Author Website\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fas fa-globe\"><\/i><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n       <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--recommended-content alignwide is-style-bg-adp-tan\"><div class=\"block-recommended-content__inner\">\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read more<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/money-matters-costa-rica\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PFWRJE-1084x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">Costa Rica, a caring country and hotspot for global investment<\/span>\n          <p>This stable Central American country\u2019s attractiveness for foreign investment has created more than 85,000 jobs in the past five years.  \n<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/history-white-collar-vs-blue-collar\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/whitebluecollar-1084x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">The origins of white collar vs. blue collar<\/span>\n          <p>The collared divide of occupations emerged in the 1930s, following more than a century of changes in the nature of work and clothing.<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/check-kebabs-naples-filza\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/05-2-1084x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">Cashier check \u2018kebabs\u2019 sum up Naples\u2019 financial history<\/span>\n          <p>This Italian port city was a business hub for centuries, and all its dealings were documented on slips of paper strung up like meat. <\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull section--sign-up has-background\" style=\"background-color:#7967ae\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center is-style-default has-white-color has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><a href=\"\/sign-up\/\">Sign up<\/a> to keep up to date with ReThink Q.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The story of the paycheck is one of unrealized potential. Learn how this payroll innovation went out of fashion as quickly as it came.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[65,138,204,44],"coauthors":[21],"class_list":["post-1757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-looking-back","tag-digitization","tag-history","tag-paper-paychecks","tag-payroll","issue-issue-5-out-of-office"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The rise and fall of the paper paycheck - ADP ReThink Q<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The story of the paycheck is one of unrealized potential. 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