I have not been paid by an employer, its been 2 months.
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I have not been paid by an employer, its been 2 months.
I worked giving out lunches to kids in
the month of July. I was told I was
going to be paid on Aug 4 2017 and
was not. Every week after that i was
told that the Texas Department of
Agriculture is reviewing our paperwork
and we will not be paid until they
reimburse them their money.. what
legal actions can I take? There is about
5 of us in this situation.
Asked on October 6, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You can sue for the money. It does not matter if the employer is having some problem with reimbursement or otherwise with payment, with their contract, etc. You did the work: therefore you must be paid for having done it under some or all of--
Contract law (there was an agreement, even if only an oral/unwritten one, under which you agreed to work in exchange for pay; you did your part, they must do yours);
Labor law, which requires that hourly employees be paid for all work done
"Unjust enrichment" legal doctrine: they are not allowed to be unjustly or unfairly enriched by having the benefit of your work, which they knew you were doing only for pay, without actually paying you.
Suing in small claims court, as your own attorney, would be a good, inexpensive, and comparatively fast (small claims court is quicker than other courts) option, so long as the amount is less than the small claims limit. Good luck.
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