Can't get the check.

[Zealot]

What is the name of your state? Texas

Recently I got hired by a place that finds jobs for people. They found me a job at a lumber company. I tried the job out for a day but decided it wasn't for me. I did not have my id and social security card at the time so they went ahead and sent me to the lumber company anyway as long as I brought my I.D. and Socail Securtiy card the next day. I went ahead and tried the job for a day but did not like the position. Ok. The next week I took my I.D. and a copy of a social security card only to find out my I.D. was expired. Now they are withholding the check for the days work. Although I have proof of who I am they will not send me the check. My uncle was even employed by this company and they know I as who I say I am. I don't have a car or the money to buy a new I.D. My question is why did they allow me to work without my I.D. and social security but now that I provide the best documents that I can they are withholding. Do I have any right to collect that check with what I have? After all they allowed me to work and I can't help it if I can't get my I.D. I can't even get my Drivers License because of an eye disorder I have, I can't pass the eye exam. I need a special written letter from a doctor to excuse my 'lazy eye' but I can't even do that because I can't even afford a doctor visit. I'm truely in a hole. O yeah **** George Bush.
His survival of the fittest policies leave people like myself no choice but to climb a tower with a rifle.

 

[cbg]

This is a situation where no matter what the company does, they're going to be breaking the law, and they have to decide which law they want to break. It's one of those (fortunately rare, but not unheard of) situations where they are required to follow two different laws which are diametrically opposed to each other.

Under one law, they must see proof of your right to work in the United States when you begin work, but they must give you up to three days to get the proof to them. Unfortunately, you quit before the three days were up. They allowed you to work that one day without your having the valid ID because the law says they have to give you three days, but if you had stayed the three days and still not had the valid ID they would have been required to either fire you, or tell you to stay home until you had the ID needed. They are not allowed to allow someone to work for them without that. (BTW, it's not so much a question of you being who you say you are, as it is whether you have the legal right to work in the US.) While I do not interprete the law this way, they seem to be taking the not uncommon position that they cannot pay you until you prove to them that you have the legal right to work in the US, and I have to admit that the law can be interpreted to read that way.

The other law they are compelled to follow, is that they have to pay you for all the time you worked.

So they both have to pay you for that day, and they cannot pay you for that day.

The easiest way to solve the problem would be to provide them some valid ID. Do you by any chance have a passport? That just by itself, without any supporting documents, would be acceptable. It doesn't HAVE to be a state ID and a social security card.

 

[Zealot]

Unfortunatly no, I don't have a passport. Well I guess this is just tough luck for me once again... ****ing bastrds. Thanks for the advice basically I'm burried. Would a birth cirtificate work? Anyway... I notice you're from Mass cbg. Will you be voting for Kerry?

 

[cbg]

A birth certificate would work, but only to replace the social security card.

There is a list of documents, provided by the government, that the employer is allowed to accept. They MUST see either one document from Column A, OR one document from Column B AND one document from Column C. A passport is on Column A. A state-issued ID is in Column B, as is a driver's license. Birth certificates and social security cards are both in Column C. So while you could substitute the birth certificate for a social security card, you cannot substitute it for the state ID.

How much does a state ID cost, that you can't afford to get yours renewed?

Who I intend to vote for is not relevant to anything in the thread - or the forum, for that matter.

Keep in mind that your employer is not making these laws up to get out of paying you. They are valid, existing laws that all employers have to adhere to.

 

[Ramoth]

cbg - remember, if the ID is not an immigration-related document, it doesn't have to be current. I've mis-placed my SS card, so I've been using my passport (which expired almost 20 years ago).

 

[Zealot]

Well I have no passport so basically I don't have anything to take place form my 'column B" category. I think they're just being hard about it because I didn't keep the lousy job they found for me. And about the Kerry question forget about it ok? I obviously crossed the line.

 

[Ramoth]

Zealot - if you are a citizen of the United States, your expired ID is acceptable for the I-9 form, provided the ID was issued by a government agency (example - a state ID similar to the driver's license). If the company is refusing to pay you despite the presentation of an acceptable form of ID, contact your state DOL and file a claim with them.

BTW, your Kerry comment didn't cross the line nearly as much as the comment about climbing a tower with a rifle. Some people would call that a terroristic threat.

 

[Zealot]

The climbing of the tower joke is just common disgruntled worker dark humor, kind of like the "going postal" gag please lol, I'm not a terrorist and only a paranoid Republican would consider that a "terrorist threat". Now, thanks for the advice about contacting the DOL, that is advice I could actually use and take action with. Thanks. Just one question what is the DOL. And yes my I.D. is government issued. Its a Texas identification card.

 

[HomeGuru]

DOL= Department of Labor.
What is DOH!

 

[cbg]

All of which shows that I really have to finish my coffee BEFORE I start answering posts in the morning. Thanks for the reminder, Ramoth.

 

[Zealot]

cbg - remember, if the ID is not an immigration-related document, it doesn't have to be current. I've mis-placed my SS card, so I've been using my passport (which expired almost 20 years ago).

So in this rational the important thing is to prove I'm a citizen right? Should'nt my expired I.D. card and a birth cirtificate be sufficent? If so how do I confront the employment agency that's holding back my check. I need a referal

 

[Ramoth]

No. In this rational I was finding a short way to say that if it's a state ID, and your Social Security card does not say "Valid for work with authorization only", you're good to go. If it's a resident alien card, employment authorization card, or Mexican driver's license and it's expired, you're SOL.

In case you're wondering, an expired Canadian Driver's License would be okay, too.