What are my rights to obtain payment for past work done from an employer who is unwilling to pay me?
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What are my rights to obtain payment for past work done from an employer who is unwilling to pay me?
I have a contract with a company that states that I should receive a draw of $600 a week as a salary for working full-time. I recently was told that I was going to be terminated. I asked if I could have til the end of the month to finish some of my commission sales that I was working on. They said yes. I worked full time for the last two weeks and now they are refusing to pay me. They told me I owe them money for the commissions that I haven’t fulfilled with the draw. However, before I signed the contract, they told me that if I didn’t fulfill the draw, they would pay me the $600 anyway. Now they are trying to say they won’t pay me. I have been working for thr past 4 months. They refused to pay me for the first 2 weeks of work, now they are not willing to pay me for the last 2 weeks. They also did not give me medical,dental benefits and I worked full time for 3 months. What are my rights?
Asked on February 3, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Hawaii
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You have a right to be paid everything which they agreed to pay you for the work which you demonstrably did, subject to any set offs or reductions for any amounts which you owe them per those same agreements.
If you have not been paid what they agreed to pay you--which includes not having been provided any benefits, insurance, etc. which they should have paid you--your recourse is to sue for the money (and the cash equivalent of benefits you should have received). For amounts totalling less than $3,000, you are probably best off representing yourself in small claims court; for amounts over that, you may wish to consider retaining an attorney to represent you.
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