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velvet123

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? california
I worked at a company for 13 years ending 02-17-2006 after becoming extremely distrubed by actions and behavior of employer and staff I couldn't take it anymore and walked out.
I was offered nothing. After 13 years of helping establish successfully their Optometry business, one of the owners brought me a check valued at 2 weeks salary and said good luck to you. He said I only have 1 vacation day accured and he had no severance deal in effect. He went on to wish me well.
Insulted is an understatement. I started with making an contribution to the 350,000,00 per year to over 550,000.00 dollars per year income for the office and everyone is aware of my contribution including patients. Do I have any options available to help me?
 


pattytx

Senior Member
Not unless you had an enforceable employment contract setting out the terms of your employment and termination.

However, do you agree with the one day of vacation?
 

eerelations

Senior Member
It seems to me that you quit if you walked out. If you quit, your employer is certainly not under any obligation to give you any anything. The fact that you were offered two weeks' pay for quitting seems extremely generous.
 

velvet123

Junior Member
:( Thank you all for the responses. Legally i have no grounds. No I do not agree with the 1 day as we were given personal days/sick days but I don't even care about that. I was saying farewell to some of my former patients and they were more pissed off than I was and suggested I talk to someone so I posted it here. What about working on saturdays and sundays and holidays well over 8 hours. One time up to 14 hours and he never paid overtime. Never payed double for holidays either. Working over was really necessary as the office has always been short of staff . He put me on salary to avoid overtime however I didn't fulfill the requirements for a salaried employee. Oh and one of my main problems was the mis billings on insurance claims by doctor and some other staff members which were 100 percent wrong and I constantly would find these errors and bring them to his attention informing him that as a compliance officer it was my job to tell him this is wrong he would be fined or removed from provider listings he simply ignored me which began to take the office intergity to another level
Meaning I had the title of office manager but only on the surface. Dr cut me and his brother out the decision making in the office long long ago. It's a control thing.

I do feel one bit of consolation in knowing that things are going to be just as rough for the office per one of the owners (whom I still have a fabulous relationship with) who informed me that no one is able to fulfill my job, they are way behind, almost impossible to catch up, patients orders aren't being completed and cancellations/refunds are on the rise and they are being forced into processing jobs themselves as I was the only full time employee with full knowledge of every aspect of the office and my job duties. My weekly insurance billing processing was anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 and that's not including private patients. When I took over they were making between 300,000 and 350,000 10 years ago now last year it had reached 560,000 under my management so this is a big lost for the both of us, only the difference is I don't wish him well.I don't wish anything at all.
Dr. does still contact me via phone to assist him with processing an insurance order via/internet especially one whom I had developed an relationship with and I told him he could call me anytime.
 
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pattytx

Senior Member
Just so you know, sick days do not need to be paid out at termination, and personal days only under certain circumstances. If you were not paid out all the vacation you had accrued and not used as of your termination date, you were entitled to that pay with your final paycheck.
 

velvet123

Junior Member
thank you all again for your inputs. I have been contacted by several attorney's actually as it appears there is a serious issue concerning the unpaid overtime over such a long period of time that I did not recieve and they would like to represent my case. I can't go any more into details but I'm glad I found this site
 

Beth3

Senior Member
If the position you held was non-exempt and you should have been paid for overtime, then you have a claim for that. However no matter how miserable you decided your work situation was, you are not entitled to any additional compensation for that. Walking off the job is never a good way to resign.

P.S. It is not at all advisable, nor is it necessary, to post the names of your employers on a public bulletin board.
 

velvet123

Junior Member
ty beth for informing me about the names as I wasn't aware but thought about it after the fact and it won't happen again however it may be too late for apologys as it has already been done.
It seems to be a very important issue about quitting a job and not recieving any benefits here on this site whether under pressure or not and the only reason I asked in the first place was because it was suggested and as it turns out here in california not being paid overtime is a very big issue and very much misused by employers on a regular basis.
My major concern was did I have any recourse for severance but found I did not as all of our conversation about retirement were verbal nothing in writing and I am totally okay with that as that was a bad business decision that I agreed to continue on faith and it backfired however the research of information I recieved once I started to investigate, being placed on salary without my permission or agreement and allowing me to work more than 8 hours on any given day, weekends and sundays does require payment of 1.5 to double your hourly salary of which I was never ever paid any overtime (all time documented on time cards) and my position of office manager limited authority for problem solving decisions in office making, absolutely did not make me eligible to be a salaried employee and the amount I am due is overwhelming for the overtime I did work on a regular basis.
As an business owner these are definitely areas one should be more careful about. As an employee I was not aware that I was being underpaid because I believed my boss was correct and I had no idea I didn't even qualify to be on salary and even if I did overtime still would be available to me.
So my complaint isn't a get back or out of anger or malice, the law has been broken for at least 4 years of the 13 worked and he will be accountable the the last 4 years of my service with special circumstances.
again I apology if I overstepped boundaries here as I didn't mean too.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
however the research of information I recieved once I started to investigate, being placed on salary without my permission or agreement and allowing me to work more than 8 hours on any given day, weekends and sundays does require payment of 1.5 to double your hourly salary of which I was never ever paid any overtime An employee's consent is not necessary in order for him or her to be paid on a salaried basis. The only issue at hand is whether your position qualified for exempt status. If it did, then your employer is not required (ever) to pay you for any overtime you work. If your position as Office Manager was non-exempt (which I expect it was), then you must be paid for your overtime.

It is legal to pay a non-exempt employee on a salaried basis as long as he/she still receives overtime pay under the required State and federal laws.
 

velvet123

Junior Member
Yes beth you are correct except in certain cases your not told your being placed on salary because of the hours you work it's because of the type of job you have. And even if you are a salaried employee you may still be entitled to recieve overtime depending upon your job responsibilities. My boss put me on salary to avoid overtime payment because of the extensive hours I work and he did this willingly but not with the full understanding of what the consequences would be for breaking the labor laws. I had the title but appears no authority and also may appear that this was intentional meaning it was known at the time he decided to place me on salary, but I'm not a confrontational person and most of everything that transpired in our office was done on faith and I trusted that he was correct.So most likely it was assumed I wouldn't persue this isssue. I had never filled out an application or anything in thirteen years. It was my faith and belief that this would be my only job not that I made so much but I actually love what I do and I'm extremely good at it and I was helping them and I knew they would help me out in the end. All of my training was paid for by the company. Insurance specialist, Complaince Officer, Lasik Coordinator, Fashion Consultant, Problem Solver, Optometric Assistant, Frame Buyer. I have been certifed in all of these areas. And although I have all the certifications, it was not in writing, has no validity, no value whatsoever at all. So I guess everything has backfired on them and me. We both lose. This has turned out to be a very big issue and the actions that I must take I fear is going to severe my relationship with both of them and their families and that really makes me even sadder as I had become very close to all the children 13 in total and both wives so this is a touch'ie situation for us all but business is business and the law is the law.
It would have been so much simpler to have given me 5 or 10 thousand for good service and wished me well, but as it turns out my retirement is looking great right now for the future. Again I glad I found this site
 

Beth3

Senior Member
Yes beth you are correct except in certain cases your not told your being placed on salary because of the hours you work it's because of the type of job you have. The duties of the job one holds is the basis for making exempt/non-exempt decisions. Unfortunately, your employer appears to have gotten it wrong, whether accidentally or purposefully.

And even if you are a salaried employee you may still be entitled to recieve overtime depending upon your job responsibilities My point exactly.

My boss put me on salary to avoid overtime payment because of the extensive hours I work and he did this willingly but not with the full understanding of what the consequences would be for breaking the labor laws. Then that's a big problem for him. Employers are obligated to understand and comply with employment laws.
 

velvet123

Junior Member
hi beth thank you thank you thank you for your insight. To find all these things out after 13 years it's overwhelming absolutely overwhelming. Every minute more information surfaces more violations found and I wasn't even aware of one of them before day before yesterday. Had I not come to this site I would have just continued to look for work else where and chalked up my experience as a lost but I thank you and all of you for causing me to investigate more finding the wrongs that had been done to me over the years.
 

velvet123

Junior Member
Beth3 said:
Yes beth you are correct except in certain cases your not told your being placed on salary because of the hours you work it's because of the type of job you have. The duties of the job one holds is the basis for making exempt/non-exempt decisions. Unfortunately, your employer appears to have gotten it wrong, whether accidentally or purposefully.

And even if you are a salaried employee you may still be entitled to recieve overtime depending upon your job responsibilities My point exactly.

My boss put me on salary to avoid overtime payment because of the extensive hours I work and he did this willingly but not with the full understanding of what the consequences would be for breaking the labor laws. Then that's a big problem for him. Employers are obligated to understand and comply with employment laws.
you were so right about a big problem for him!!!!
 

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