If my employer lent me money but later fired me, am I still required to pay them back?
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If my employer lent me money but later fired me, am I still required to pay them back?
My employer lent me money earlier this year to buy a vehicle. They fired me 2 months ago and I still have a balance remaining on what I owe them. They expect me to pay the money back next year. Am I legally required to repay them? Also, I was a sales rep and they will be and have been seeing my previously pitched deals closing which I am not getting paid for even though I already did the work and was structured on a draw plus commission. Is there any recourse to collect for those sales? I have records of all the appointments I presented to.
Asked on December 14, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
1) The loan: you are absolutely required to pay them back. The terms of the loan (i.e. the agreement to repay them) is separate from your employment status. They could sue you if not repaid.
2) Your commissions: it depends on what the terms under which you earned commissions were. The law does not regulate commissions in this regard, other than to enforce what agreement (written or oral) was in place about them. It would be legal that you are paid for all sales you worked on, even if paid after your employment ended; or it would be legal for an employee to NOT be paid if not employed when the commissions are paid out. It all depends on what the agreement or understanding was. If there was nothing explicit about this (e.g. no written agreement stating what would happen in this situation), look to what has happened previously with other employees--were they paid after the termination of employment or not? What has been done in the past can be used to show what the agreement was, and if you believe that the agreement was that you would be paid even though your employment ended, you could sue the employer for the money.
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