Employer not paying for last 2 days of work! (1 Viewer)

[Joe6pack99]

Hey guys i need some advice. My last job never payed me for my final 2 days of working. I have faxed them my timesheet multiple times along with emails to which i receive no replys. When i call the "accounting" person is not there. I received the previous weeks worth of salary without any hassle whatsoever. This was about 6 weeks ago. Any advice would be appreciated thx.

 

[Bill Cowmeadow]

Call them and tell them you intend to file a lien against the company for unpaid wages. you can do it at the local court house. They might not pay you any way, but it will sure make things sticky for them in the future if they want to sell the business or enter a partnership with someone.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

You should probably call the state labor office.

 

[Jagan Seshadri]

Have you gone down to the company in person yet? That usually speeds things up without 'going legal' on them.

-JNS

 

[Philip_G]

there are probably some penalties for not paying in full, so if you go legal on them you stand to collect more, depending on the state

 

[Blu]

That is highly illegal. I'm surprised a company would be stupid enough not to pay. State Labor board would be my first stop if I didn't have a friend who was a lawyer to call them and pressure them into writing a check.
when my company was bought out there were a lot of people who weren't getting paid the right amount of hours and we got the labor board involved and walla! Checks galore!

 

[MikeAlletto]

Send a certified letter to them. Include your timesheet and clearly mark how much they owe you. Tell them that if you do not receive payment by (insert date here) that you will be filing with the local labor board or workforce commission or whatever they call it in Florida.

Faxes and emails are fine, but you need a more permanent paper trail that proves that they received your claim. A certified letter is the way to do it, they have to sign for it and you get the return receipt stating that they got it.

If the company is in trouble financially you may never recieve payment though.

 

[Joe6pack99]

Thx for the reply guys I will be dealing with this first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

Thx for the reply

hey how could THX help you here? hardy hardy har (ok its late, but i admit i was reaching here)

CJ

 

[KyleS]

You should probably call the state labor office.

Absolutely the first place you should go after they have blown you off. A lot of times the state will pay you the money you are owed and then they will go after the company for you to get the money back they payed you.

KyleS

 

[Joe6pack99]

Ok guys well to update I called the State labor Office here in Florida and to say the least was a waste of my time. Basically after i explained the situation she called them and they told her i was paid those hours in my previous weeks check. Whats funny is i have the last earning statement which states the hrs and days i worked and was payed for in that pay period. So of course i dispute that and the woman tells me there is nothing they can do.

Now I am considering taking them to small claims court. They owe me about $220. What i want to know guys is how much to do this and what are the pro and cons. I mean if its going to cost more then what they owe me then its really not worth it. However, just on pure principle i want to do this. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Last time I was in small claims, I think it was $15 or $20 to file. Pretty cheap. You'll have to serve them, which you can pay your local police department to do. I think that was another $35 or so.

If you win, you get all your filing fees & such back, though. So you're talking maybe $50 out of pocket if you lose. Personally, I think it's worth it just to stick it to those shady people.

Just go down to your local courthouse and ask how to file in small claims. They will give you paperwork & brochures that detail the process. The first time seems scary, but once you're there, it's really a very simple process.

 

[KyleS]

I am with Ryan. When I was laid off from my last job in Las Vegas my contract said they either had to give me a 30-day notice OR pay me the 30 days in Lue of the notice. Of course they did neither and I ended up having to sue them in small claims court. I won and collected around 5K that they owed me which was a lot more then you are going after Jarrett but it doesnt MATTER. It was the principle that they didnt follow through with a contractual agreement that They made. But these companies do this because a lot of people just think its too much trouble or that they dont know where to begin. Out of 15 of us that were laid off only 3 brought a suite against them. All 3 of us won but the other people just walked and called it good. Who do you think came out ahead in the end? The company of course. File a claim just make sure you bring Everything with you and Only state the facts because that is all the judge will care about.

KyleS

 

[Joe6pack99]

Ok guys thanks for the suggestions. Screw them I am going to small claims court. As far as paperwork goes all i really have is my last check along with the earning statement that came along with it which lists the last dates i was paid for.

 

[Joe6pack99]

Well interestingly enough i got a call from the state labor office. The lady basically told me that when asked why I was not paid they stated they do not "remember" me working the last two days lol. So basically nothing they can do since its there word against mine. As stated above I am going to go to small claims court screw this.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Jarrett, do you have any "proof" that you indeed worked those two days? Did you have to clock in, or use a badge to gain access to the building? Did you log into a computer? Any security cameras that may have captured you? Was there anything in writing that stated what date was your last official day? Public transportation tickets? I know 6 weeks is pushing it as far as how long records are available, but anything you can think of that will help prove that you actually showed up to work will certainly be helpful.

 

[Ryan Wright]

Yup. When you take this to court, the burden of proof will be on you. What did you work on? Whom did you talk to? You may have to subpoena a coworker or two. When you file, they will tell you how to do this. If you just walk in and say "I worked those days", they'll say "no you didn't", and the judge will ask you for some sort of proof or evidence in your favor.

 

[KyleS]

Do you have all your past receipts say for the previous 6 months? Take them to court with you. As Ryan stated you need to prove you worked those days. Was there someone you worked with that would be willing to testify? You don't need to subpoena them to come if you trust them to show up. If you are worried about them not coming you can subpoena them and then it is a contempt of court if they don't show. Time clock information can also be subpoena if it is still available and almost all money you spend on the court case can be retrieved back "If" you win. Heck I got my flight and room/board out of the company I worked for because the case took 6 months to go to court and by then I lived in another state. Best of luck and let us know how it comes out.

KyleS