Employment Question

Okay you have several issues. If you quit, they own you for hours worked and travel expenses. In Texas, we have the "pay day law". If an employee quits, I have until the next pay period to pay them their final check. Which would be pay and accrued vacation. If I terminate them, I have three days to pay.

Benefits - Not sure what you have. Do you have vacation? If you do, check your handbook. Some companies accrue, pay out or don't pay out at all.

This is a big red flag. Any time a company has an issue making payroll, they are having financial difficulties or there is something going on that you don't want to be a part of. So, I would most definitely get my resume updated and ready to go.

Go onto the Department of Labor in your state and see what the rules are for paying employees.

Good luck!!

What you are owed is only wages and actual expenses. Benefits are not required under the law therefore up to the employer whether they want to pay them out.

So if your expenses are something like paper clips, a hotel, stuff you actually paid for, then it is owed. Mileage is not something they would be required by law to pay.

First, this is a HUGE red flag that the company will be filing bankruptcy within a year. My husband's company (huge multinational company) started doing something similar with 401 contributions... holding those until the last possible minute to max out their interested earned. Our financial advisor picked up on it (because she's amazing) and had my husband roll his entire 401 into a private IRA because she warned us that the company would be filing within the year. He sold his contract to another company and within six months we were notified that the old company was going under.

Having said all of that... whatever way you can DOCUMENT what they "owe you" because yes, they OWE YOU for anything you do for them right up until your last day- including any unused "paid vacation" or "sick time".

If you leave the company, follow their rules and make sure to give them written notice and schedule a meeting (face-to-face) with the HR department to find out exactly what they owe you and how it will be paid out.

Good luck.

T.:

If the company can't meet payroll - it has some serious financial issues.

You need to pretty up your resume and start looking for a new job. You can consult with an attorney, however, keep in mind that any money you get via a check might bounce. So have a contingency plan.

Make sure you keep and document all correspondence, hours worked, contract you signed with the new employer and all expenses. DOCUMENT. DOCUMENT. DOCUMENT.

Good luck!

Well in my State, there are laws about by when an employer is supposed to pay you. Meaning, if they are not paying you... then you can file a complaint and any backpay must be paid etc.
Who knows what the laws are in your State or who handles non-compliance.
There are employee laws. And there are employer laws.
Maybe contact your better business bureau?

And hopefully, you have everything, documented too, regarding what they owe you and time sheets etc.

I don't believe you need to get an employment lawyer involved. All you need to do is file a complain with your state's labor relation board. They have specific rules and regulations about how quickly a company needs to pay you etc. Google Kansas Labor Relations and you should find all of your answers along with a complaint form on their website. They will investigate your claim, collect the wages, and pass them along to you. If necessary they will probably levy any fines they deem necessary as well.

They absolutely owe you your back and if you quit, any pay that is owed to you plus vacation accrued but not taken.

If you like your job and want to keep it, approach the owners and tell them so. Then mention that you must have a regularly scheduled pay check.

Chances are very good that there is some financial hardship. Get to the heart of the matter and then make a decision on what to do. Good luck.

Yes, they still have to pay. But they don't have to pay you on the spot like they would if you were terminated. They do, however, have to pay all that is owed on the next regular pay day.

I completely understand where you're coming from. My hubby's pay check is ALWAYS late. Sometimes as much as 2 - 3 weeks! And all the while, hubby is using our money to put gas in the company van, we pay the insurance on the van because we have better driving records so the insurance is less expensive. Insurance is in our name with the other employees being "additional drivers." I am constantly telling my hubby that it's ME footing the bill for his company because if it weren't for MY paycheck, we would not have the money to front these things.

Sign of the times I guess

If they owe you money they owe you money. That does not mean they will pay you. That's when you get an attorney involved.

Do you have anything in an employee handbook or anything that states the pay dates/pay period workings? If so then you need to have a sit down with your employers about what your expectations are and when you expect to be paid. I'd have a deadline in mind but the fits thing I'd ask them is what is going on.

They may have bought the company expecting certain things and found all sorts of hidden issues and financial problems.

We got a new executive director when I was working at a sheltered workshop. When they sat down with the finances they found all sorts of complications. The state requires a company like this to have 3 months working capitol in the bank at all times or they can close the facility down. The previous director had been using funds to several things and not managing the finances correctly. She had been "hiring" her boyfriend to come in and teach ETL classes. She would put him up in a hotel and pay compensation for his meals and such. She was staying with him in one of the nicest hotels in town and they were eating room service meal after meal. He was someone they would have hired anyway BUT the director should have put the man in a less expensive hotel and allowed him a certain dollar amount for food compensation.

She was funding all sorts of other activities and not charging them to the correct agency for billing. She made a mess of the company money. It nearly cost the company the whole workshop, group homes, supported living and shared living homes, etc....

When the new director came in and discovered these discrepancies they shut down everything that could wait to put every penny they could into the bank to fill that account for the 3 months capitol.

Did we do without checks? No. Did we get our hours cut so no one would have any chance of getting overtime? Yes. Did we lose any benefits? Yes, our Christmas bonus that year was only $50 instead of a certain dollar amount per each year of employment. Did the cutbacks effect everyone? Yes.

They didn't come out and tell everyone in a formal announcement, they let people know as they needed to know. They just said, to everyone, that there were too many dollars going out for the money coming in. That it would only take a few months to get everything on track again. To please be patient.

We were and by the next spring we were all back to full time with overtime and everything was pretty much back to normal.

So ask them what's going on. They may have bought a company that was circling the drain and they're trying to make sure they don't lose their money and make sure they don't lose their clients or employees.

So talk to them like a professional business person to an employer who needs to answer some important questions.

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