Some of you have heard me complain and mention some of the work place wrong doings that the owner of my company has been doing. Not paying his vendors, lying and ripping off customers, slandering and defaming everyone who leaves. Well today was pay day and he finally did what we all figured he would get to eventually and that was not pay us. His excuse was first he lost the money over at one of the offices then changed it to his car was broken and had 10,000 dollars stolen from his car. First off this man is a compulsive liar. To the shear extent that he could blow some politicians out of the water and I say that without exaggeration. The second one being is the amount of debt that this man has. He owes so many people so much money that the place was just barely treading water. Well tonight after a few hours in on my shift when he didn't come in with our pay I walked out. I wasn't giving him anymore of my time when I couldn't even be bothered to be paid for the time I've already given. From there I guess things escalated. I'm not entirely sure of all the events that transpired afterwards but I was over at my manager's house(who was in total support, agreement, and outrage as me)for a little while just talking and she kept getting phone calls from various people. Apparently though because so many people weren't going to show up for work and were going to join in on some protests that were already taking place against the station(vendors not being paid)that the owner had finally gotten so desperate that he actually agreed to give up a share of the station for some money. Enough to cover all his debts and to pay his employees actually. However according to one of the girls I work with that I talked to earlier he has now decided that I'm the mastermind behind this. His words. Pretty much everyone has already agreed to come back to work since pay will be available in the morning. I'm still undecided myself if I'm going to continue. My first initial response was hell no however my manager is trying to get me to come back. I'm only considering it because I love and respect her. She's a good friend. But from some of the things I'm already hearing the owner may be trying to get rid of me. Personally I feel I was well within my rights and in fact quite amused by his reaction. So what is the point to all this? Not entirely sure myself. I half wanted to rant I guess and half wanted to point out this man's pettiness for people not rolling over and just taking it. It's been a bit of a long day and just needed to get this out there I suppose.
I'm not to worried about it. Legally their's not a thing in the world he can do about it. If he tried then yeah, I definitely would get one and I would love to see his face once a judge is through with him. As it is though I don't plan on staying there to much longer. I just want to make sure I already have another job lined up first before leaving.
I work for a place that has had several similar misappropriation issues with pay. The pay is only one part of a larger picture of the way the business is run. Before I mention any issues to the board here I want to say that I still work here only because they treat me well. By that I mean that two years ago I had a heart attack. There are many jobs and situations that I can not do anymore and the realize this and work well with me on this. If I were to pack up bags and move elsewhere, the other shops would demand I do certain jobs or else get the hell out. There were many Fridays when the office manager would give us worthless checks. However, he would tell us they are no good and tell us we would have to wait for funds to become available. Some plumbers would not return until checks were cashed . . . at the shops bank of course. The back room in our small building has a huge leak from the roof. Owner is unwilling to repair and after the heavy daily rains, the water is running out the door. I could go on and on but I certainly do not want to take anything from the OP. I do want to say this to you RedWolf, the owner will never change. His ethics of running a business are long gone if he ever had any in the first place. The first attempt at not paying will certainly not be the last and you can bet he (or she) is watching carefully how the employees are handling this. One poster mentioned a lawyer. Well, IMO hiring lawyer for a a thousand dollar check is useless as the attorney fees will eat that up and much more. My own experience says to not let any employer get more than one paycheck behind. Okay, this one check is no good and they will make good on it Tuesday or whatever but do not let them get ahead. I realize that places hold back a week or so but if Friday rolls around and you now have two checks no good, then you are the fool after that. But then again, If this is a week after week situation like it was at my place of employment you will have to take that into consideration. We were never more than one check out of synch. Each situation is different.
Not paying people for time worked is against the law and should be reported to the Labor Relations Board. Much like the FDIC, this gov't agency is staffed with people who don't have enough to do and they'll jump on your employer like a duck on a junebug. Also... not receiving pay on time is a legitimate reason to quit and file for unemp. Either way, good luck. I've worked for bad employers too and the best thing you can do is get out on your own terms. Don't wait for him to find a reason to fire you.
