I have never had this happen before so I really do not know the best way to handle this. I live in TN. I was working for a major server management company located in Indiana until about 2 weeks ago when I realized there is little room for advancement and they expected level 2 techs to handle all issues including level 3 for only $2200 a month. What really took the cake is when I looked in their employee directory and seen they had like 1-2 level 3 techs in the entire company and the shift leads, supervisors and such were still level 2 with a top pay for $2200. It was very discouraging to say the least. Also when I was initially contacted about the job they told me there was a 2 week training period and once they seen what i could do they would adjust my pay and move me to the level my skill was at which was level 3. After the first 2 weeks this did not happen, they wanted me to relocate and all this. Looking back now I almost did it and it would have been a disaster. Anyway, the 26th of october I left after working around a month. I admit did not leave any notice but I was hurting so bad financially after not doing any more freelance management and being held back for bi-weekly pay I had no choice but to leave and try to hustle up some money fast. I asked for my check, said it was urgent matter and they told me it was mailed on october 28th, well they said it was in the mail then. After that and many trips to the post office, they kept telling me they knew the check was sent and all that, that is If I could get them to respond to my emails or simply pick up their phone. Monday they told me that the check was "lost in the mail" and they would resend with confirmation code. Well after that they never responded with no tracking code, they told me I could expect it in mail Thursday and as well all in US know the mail dont even run today for veterans day. I wont post the name of the company just yet as they are vindictive enough to try to screw me out of my check or leaving if they was going to pay they probably surely wont if I do. However it appears now after many ignored emails, messages left to voice mail that weren't responded to and such they are trying to screw me out of my pay which is around $523 for the first paycheck and now it is approaching the second pay period where I am owed around $150 more. Does anyone know what can be done in this situation? This was a 1099 contract position. They are in IN, I am in TN. THe pay period was the first in which I should have received my check then but obviously they are either delaying it or do not plan on sending it at all. Please advise..
a well known pharmacy company screwed me out of my last paycheck (never got paid) so what makes you think some 2-bit computer company is going to care about you? Just say'n....
You may want to get advice from someone in the USA that would understand "1099 contract position" but if you breached your contract by not giving your notice period you may open up a can of worms by making too much of a fuss. In many cases if contractors are put through training here and they leave before a minimum period then whilst they would be paid for their time they would be expected to repay the cost of the training, which will often be much more than their day rate and on top of that without notice period can lead to being sued for breach of contract.
google where he lives / his company is based..should be easy enough to find. send written letters to them, if that fails just forward it to the police with as much evidence as possible
Do the police in the USA deal with this sort of thing????? Certainly in the UK its a civil matter of breach of contract and the police would firstly laugh at you and secondly tell you to see a solicitor
In the US there aren't really any good reasons to not pay someone, even a contractor, just because they quit. I would send them a certified letter requesting payment as per your contract it, and send a cc to the Department of Labor in their state. I'm sure that alone will get them moving. If you are able, find an attorney in TN who will draft a letter for you. Some attorneys who have experience dealing with employer issues are willing to do this for a portion of their hourly consult fee (basically the time it takes them to write a letter on their letter head and mail it). Yes you may end up spending a little bit of money, but it will increase your chances of netting the majority of what you are owed. Don't give up without at least trying. Sure you quit without proper notice, but that doesn't negate the fact that you worked for the company expecting to be paid.
The old "checks in the mail" excuse. You might be able to file a Wage Claim at the state labor department (one of those type departments) I know people that have done that in Colorado but I think it is a state department so it might be differn't from state to state. Do you know what project you were working on ? you might look into a mechanics lien on the project, I don't know about computer programs but in homes and other types of projects these are usually very effective in getting people paid.
Well this company eventually sent me a tracking number yesterday, however I been checking on it and it still shows "electronic shipping info received" so they probably just printed a label from paypal or something. On this job there was no contract on mandatory work or period of time required to work. This was basically a job offer that sounded good despite a 2 week low pay training period. It turned out to be low pay everything and was just real disappointing. Some may say, well you probably wasn't that good. no that is not the case, I am a very skilled admin with over 5 years experience and the company seemed pretty exciting about me relocating to their branch and all. IN reviewing everything I couldn't have lived off that much money and I would have been a level 2 tech by name but doing all work from level 1 to level 3 to sysadmin work. Another company that I done some work for lately in my area - Pomeroy IT Solutions, was another problem employer. It's been a month I was due $200 from them only to be requested form and after form then claiming forms was lost and requesting more. in googling them I found out they are all over rip off report for payroll issues - http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/-Pomeroy-IT-Solutions.aspx But the funny thing is, this contract I done with them was for the TN Dept of Labor lol. So a little ironic. The current remote employer doesn't seem to have the same issues as pOmeroy as they just now started hiring remote contractor work to evaluate for relocation to their office. So I guess where they are used to doing direct deposit mailing a check is a big deal. From searching and asking around it seems civil suit is the only possible way to get money and it wouldn't even be worth filing and traveling all the way to IN for that. SO I guess Ill keep on checking this tracking number and hope they actually do mail it. At this point I am afraid to give anyone my bank info. The way the economy is its just been tough finding work, i used to have so much remote work I couldn't do it all nor leave the house for over an hour at a time without someone calling me back. But now its definitely tough and as you can tell my luck has not been the best I have decided to go back to my partner's business and help him with marketing, setups, etc; which will be a much better gig hopefully.
You need to "pound the hound" and talk to them person to person. A greyhound ticket shouldn't be to be much.
Ya I ended up getting a personal check in the mail from the first company I mentioned, practically worthless, cannot cash it anywhere, bank puts 10 day hold on it SO I guess another 10days just to see if I have got paid yet. The Pomeroy IT solutions never paid and are waiting for me to give up. Im totally going back to freelance admin work, I dont care if its slow now, I have a few thinsg going on now When you are doing management and admin for individuals you get paid up front, otherwise I don't even take the job. seems like any work done for any company is such a pain to get paid from. I did have one excellent remote employer who paid well and on time, even early - server4sale/blockdos but eventually that assignment ended and Ive yet to see any others care about their contractors as much.
Even though true independent contractors are usually not covered by state labor department wage claim procedures, if you think that you have any reasonable arguments that you were really a common law employee, I'd go ahead and file a wage claim. It doesn't cost anything and you may end up with the state on your side.
I've done several contract jobs for PomeroyIT. And usually they pay on time. In the future, you have a couple options. If your contract work is hardware related, check state allows regarding mechanic's liens for the equipment, and some states allow you to present an invoice for billable hours to whatever client you were working for, in lieu of Pomeroy. Secondly, contact you local county clerk and file a small claims action (assuming the amount you're owed falls under small claims, usually less than $5k or $3k). Most county clerks will waive the filing fee for indigent status and nothing says "I'm serious" like a subpoena or being served. If Pomeroy doesn't have a corporate presence in your state then you'd have to file a claim in district court, and that's infinitely more time consuming and should really only happen after consulting with an attorney. But either way, not only would you get your contracted pay but also reimbursed for time and expenses required in binging the action. I've only had to do this twice, and in the future I was a lot more selective about which clients I allowed net terms.
I'm not so sure that I would use small claims ct for this issue, though b/c there seems to be more than one issue. As far as "indigent" status, many small claims courts make the Plaintiff jump through hoops to file for it. There still is the issue of service of process, and if the small claims court or the state has "long-arm" jurisdiction to haul D in to your state.