Empolyer not paying/contacting after termination

[needadvice75]

What is the name of your state? NJ

I applied for a vacation and it was approved. After the vacation , I was not able to come back to work for certain reason and didnt notify the employer for few days. When I finally contacted, the employer send me an email saying I was terminated for not contacting them and turning my vacation into extended leave.

But the employer did not give me my final pay (which includes the approved vacation days). And he is not responding to my emails/phone calls. Its been over 30 days now.

What should I do now? How long can he withold my final pay? Should he not mail me the termination letter instead of just an email ?

Any help really appreciated. Thanks

 

[Beth3]

NJ reg's require that final wages be paid within 10 days. You may contact NJ's Department of Labor and file a complaint.

FYI - your employer has no obligation to send you a termination letter. He's free to notify you by e-mail that you are being terminated for job abandonment.

 

[needadvice75]

Empolyer not paying/contacting after termination Reply to Thread

Thanks for the reply. I have few more questions.

1. Can the employer terminate me without informing me at all. Or can he terminate me back dated?

2. I had direct deposit with the employer. He first deposited the pay for my vacation days and then withdrew it when i did not show up. Can he do that legally? And also, when I give them the right to direct deposit , do I also give them the right to directly withdraw from my bank account ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JETX]

"Can the employer terminate me without informing me at all."
*** And how would he do that?? Since the assumption is on YOU to return to work at some point.... and presumably he would then 'inform' you. And if you did return to work and he DOESN'T inform you... you are not terminated.

"Or can he terminate me back dated?"
*** See above.

"I had direct deposit with the employer. He first deposited the pay for my vacation days and then withdrew it when i did not show up. Can he do that legally?"
*** Yep. There is NO statutory obligation for him to pay you for days you don't actually work.

"And also, when I give them the right to direct deposit , do I also give them the right to directly withdraw from my bank account ?"
*** The payer has the right to 'correct' an error made in his deposit.

 

[cbg]

Technically, your employer has no legal obligation to tell you that you are fired. Strange, but true. In actual practice, the chances are overwhelming that at some point, either you will contact him and he will tell you you are fired, or he will contact you to tell you; however, if he does not, that is legal. And finally, as Jetx says, if you return to work and he does not tell you to go home, then you are not terminated.

There is nothing illegal about backdating a termination. In my state, I am required to pay out vacation time at termination regardless of the circumstances so I probably wouldn't bother, but if I were in a state where vacation payout was not mandatory and an employee failed to return to work or contact me, I would certainly term him and I would almost certainly backdate it to when he began his vacation.

As Jetx says, he has no obligation to pay you for time you did not work. In your state, payout of vacation at termination is not mandatory.

An employer cannot reach into your account and take out whatever he wants; however he can reverse a direct deposit, within certain limitations, if it was in error.

 

[needadvice75]

Thanks for the adivce.

Is it that employer is not required to pay vacation even though it says in the employement agreement that he would give me 2 weeks of vacation?

I did contact my employer via email after my vacation was over. He did not mention about the termination then but just asked me the reason. After few days I got an email about the termination. Does that mean that I was still an employee at the time of the first email? So can he still back my termination to the last day i actually worked and thus not pay me the vacation time? (The thing is that the vacation was approved and only after the vacation was over that termination happened!! )

 

[Beth3]

Is it that employer is not required to pay vacation even though it says in the employement agreement that he would give me 2 weeks of vacation? No, it's because NJ reg's don't mandate that an employer pay out vacation upon separation of employment. Deciding to go AWOL at the end of your vacation is obviously costing you the vacation pay the employer would have provided had you returned to work as planned or called to notify them of your absence.