If you did, you should draft a letter to your employer notifying him that you are not receiving your promised commissions. If that does not resolve the case, you can seek the commissions in small claims court if the amount is relatively low.
Some states have laws that award attorney's fees to employees in pursuit of unpaid commissions. When a business files for bankruptcy, its employees may have claims for unpaid salary, wages or commissions. Depending on the basis for the claim, all or some portion may be entitled to "priority" in the bankruptcy process. If your wage claim is entitled to priority, it might result in the claim being paid earlier than other claims or result in a greater prorated distribution than other creditors ultimately receive.
Wages include salary, commissions, vacation pay, severance pay and sick leave. If you are continuing to perform work for a bankrupt employer, you may wish to verify that the bankruptcy court has approved wage payments in the amount of your prebankruptcy salary.
The bankruptcy process may require employers to pay reduced wages, or may not allow for the payment of wages at all until there has been a final distribution of the company's assets by the court.
If your employer has filed for bankruptcy, and you have either not been paid or are concerned about your ability to be paid for your work in the future, it is recommended that you consult with a local attorney with expertise in this area. Bankruptcy is a complicated subject with special legal requirements.
To ensure that your right to assert a priority wage claim is not lost, it is important to get expert advice before any filing deadlines which might affect your ability to recover some of your back wages. Wage theft is the illegal underpayment or non-payment of wages owed to workers. Evidence from surveys suggests that wage theft is common and costs workers billions of dollars a year. This transfer of money from low-income employees to business owners is unfair and worsens income inequality while harming workers and their families.
Wage theft most often occurs with low-income workers and undocumented immigrant workers. He also noted that the victimized workers had been disproportionately immigrants.
Though these circumstances are not the only way it can occur, wage theft often happens when employers refuse overtime pay, force employees to work off the clock, pay employees less than minimum wage, make illegal deductions from paychecks, misclassify employees, or fail to pay employees at all. Things to consider:. Wage theft can violate provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act FLSA , which requires a federal minimum wage and requires employers to provide for overtime pay for people working over 40 hours per week.
When employers fail to meet these requirements, employees may be owed wages. Even when employers withhold amounts that seem small, the stolen wages can add up. The first step is to keep careful track of your pay and know what is being deducted from your paycheck.
Know how many hours you have worked and make sure each hour is being accounted for on your paycheck. It is also helpful to know your rights regarding work and overtime pay. If you work over 40 hours a week, ensure that you are being paid proper overtime wages for the amount of time over 40 hours. Unionizing is also a way to avoid wage theft. Union workers negotiate a contract to receive pay, and if wage theft is occurring then union advocates can challenge the wages being paid.
Unions also provide an outlet for expressing concern or complaining about employer wages. You can file a complaint with the U. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division , and include information regarding your job title, pay, hours, and additional information from pay stubs and other payment information.
You can also pursue your case at a state level, with state labor and employment division resources. You may also choose to pursue a private cause of action against your employer.
In some states, employees are allowed to file wage theft claims in small claims court as long as the amount in question does not exceed the jurisdictional limit. Typically, you should receive your wages within the next pay period. Even if you quit, your employer must keep careful records of the hours you worked and wages you earned so you can be paid in full. An issue can arise if you leave your job but keep company property.
In this case, it may be useful to be informed about your rights. An attorney can provide more information about the specifics of your situation. If you believe you are a victim of wage theft, you can file a complaint and report your unpaid wages to the U.
When you do so, include information about your pay, job title, hours and other information from your pay stubs. If you choose, you can pursue your case at the state level as well with state labor resources. Alternatively, you can pursue a private lawsuit against your employer. In certain states, an employee can file a wage theft claim in small claims court if the amount does not exceed the limit set by the jurisdiction. You may be limited in how long you can wait to file a lawsuit in Pennsylvania to recover lost wages.
When you are fired from your job, your employer can wait until your next typical payday to pay what you are owed, including your severance pay. If you are not paid on time, you only have a few years to bring a suit. Be sure you are complying with the pay laws that are of the greatest benefit to employees. Check with your state's labor office to find out its requirements for paying employees, including overtime pay, minimum wages, and last paycheck on termination.
Just because your company has declared bankruptcy doesn't mean you don't have a continuing legal responsibility to pay employees, whether your business continues during the bankruptcy or it is closed. Employee claims for wages and benefits made before the bankruptcy petition are classified as "priority unsecured debt," paid after secured debt and before general unsecured debts. These claims must be made within days of the bankruptcy filing and they have a dollar limit.
You will be directed by a bankruptcy trustee as to how and when to pay employees. There are several ways the federal government can act against FLSA violations:.
It's a violation of federal law to retaliate against an employee who files a pay claim, an internal complaint, or a whistleblower complaint against a company. An employer may not retaliate by non-payment, discharge, or any form of discrimination. It's also against the law Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act to discharge an employee whose earnings have been garnished for any one debt. It also limits the amount of employee pay that may be garnished in any one week.
Federal laws don't require employers to give former employees their final paychecks immediately. Each state, however, has laws stating when employees must receive their final paycheck. Some of these state laws differ depending on whether the employee is fired or leaves the company.
Missouri, for example, requires employers to pay an employee who was fired "all wages due at the time of dismissal. Employee tips are the property of the employee. Some states have more generous rules about paying tipped employees.
For example, California law says that an employer cannot use an employee's tips as a credit toward the minimum wage. The most important thing you can do to protect your business from wage complaints is to keep good records of the amounts paid to employees. If your business receives a complaint about non-payment, this is the first thing a state or federal official will ask for.
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