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They don't want to honor verbal agreement/independent contractor

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thebee7777

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio
I didn't know what forum to put this in, so forgive me for duplication...I really just wanted to increase my chances to get the help I so badly need.
Help! I went to work as an Independent Contractor, last June, for a friend and her partner who started a Home Health Care agency last March. The office staff, RNs, LPNs, Home Health Aides are all employees and have been working Gratis, as have I, until the Agency passed their Medicaid/Medicare Survey and received their Medicaid Certification authorizing them to bill Medicaid for their services to Medicaid patients. I was contracted to enter the initial client admission information (Start of Care) into the software that communicates with the State and ensures compliance to "certify" each patient by creating a Plan of Treatment, and entering the State required information on each client, and also updating that information on each client every 60 days which is called a "Recertification." I also did the necessary paperwork and data entry for Discharges, Transfers and "Resumptions of Care." I have a 30 year background as an RN and my expertise was needed because my friend's Partner did all of the patient admissions and visits to assess clients for recertification and he couldn't manage to fill out the required documentation adequately on these admissions requiring me to interview him to construct an accurate picture of each client and develop a Plan of Treatment on each client and then enter it into the computer. My husband who has an MBA was asked to come onboard as an Independent Contractor, when the company received it's Medicaid billing number in August, to do the initial large back billing and then the weekly billing after that and submit it to the processing company who, then, would key it in to Medicaid's electronic billing system. We were told to keep track of our hours, for which we were paid an hourly rate of $10.00. Everyone working for the agency, including office staff, RNs, LPNs, HHAs, and subcontractors such as Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and us, the building owner who leased them the space, Providers of supplies, were told to keep track of hours worked or monies owed and as soon as the initial payment hit the accounts we would all be paid. Some of the employees had been with the company since it started in March, some had started later, like I did. No one had a written contract and all had been working Gratis since the beginning. This "Friend" had promised, in June, that it would be only a couple of weeks, before the money came in and we would be paid, lest you think I'm a Moron who would work for 5 months, without pay, on a handshake and a smile, even for a friend. Of course, that didn't account for the State's normal speed or all the snafus along the way, that kept her having to, weekly, put people off and talk them into continuing to work for her on good faith with the promise that all would be paid when the money hit. I had tried to get an Independent Contractor agreement signed at the halfway point, due to some minor disagreements on terms, so that everyone would know what was expected of them, etc., but I was told that it wasn't necessary and that I was blowing the "disagreement" way out of proportion and a contract wasn't necessary. "Just keep track of your hours and turn them in to the office manager." Well, I did and she and her partner balked at the invoices-$6885.00 for me and $3547.00 for my husband. She paid all the other employees, in full, what she owed them on a Thursday (the money had hit the accounts the previous Thursday), on Friday afternoon I had to track her down to cut us a check and she tried to get away with a $500.00 check to each of us. Mind you, the initial payment that hit was $50,000.00. My husband got on the phone and insisted on at least double that...that was the beginning of the end of the "need for our services." She said she would pay us all that she owed across the next 3-4 weeks. The following Friday we were paid $500.00 apiece and the length of time to pay became 2 months. I received the phone call, that evening, stating that our services were no longer required and was requested to turn in our phones and keys. I did that on Monday-it's now Friday again at 5PM and her response to my request for a check was, "I'll have to check the accounts, and see what I can do" she did and then stated "It won't be much this week because we had to pay (another employee) a big chunk." They don't want to sign a payment agreement delineating a mutually agreed upon repayment plan, we're just supposed to accept their promise that we will be paid and that she doesn't intend to behave dishonorably. Her partner just called me and said they would only be able to pay us $200.00 apiece this week and when I asked him to come up with a mutually agreed upon repayment plan to sign, he vehemently refused to sign any contract.
What are my rights? What should I do? Aren't we entitled to what is owed upon termination? Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks! Deb PS:Sorry this was so long, I just wanted to present all the facts.
 


BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
If you want to write a book call McGraw Hill.

If you want an answer to a legal problem, post here JUST the fact. Nothing more.

And use a paragraph or two.
 

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