Fired when child support made contact

[movado1914]

New Jersey is the State I live in. I had been working for this guy for almost two years. I repeatedly requested to be placed on the books for work since he has 3 others on the books. My reasoning for being on the books was I do have child support that needs to get paid and its easy when they just take it from my check, other reasons were I wanted to be able to collect unemployment should something happen, and if I needed to buy a car I could do so if I have a job with pay stubs. This guy had really kept me under the gun and for my profession in this recession work is not easy to find and he paid me enough to pay all my bills so leaving was not an option. None the less he received a letter from child support requesting he withhold money from my check. My ex wife probably called them and told them where I worked. He called me up flipping out and I told him just put me on the books or 1099 me. He said child support was not his problem and told me not to come back to work. This incident has cost me severely I was evicted and my whole life has been spun upside down in a very bad way. I am disgusted with his behaviors and just really inhumane way of acting towards others. I have proof of me working for this guy because he has a contract with Exxon in which I had to get ID and log in every time I had worked there. Do I have a case to sue this guy. He really has cost me big time.

 

[swalsh411]

Have you paid taxes on the income you earned working for this person?

While it may be "easy" for you to have child support taken out of your check, it's a pain in the ass for him.

 

[movado1914]

my point is how do you fire somebody because child support contacts you an request you take money out.

 

[anearthw]

my point is how do you fire somebody because child support contacts you an request you take money out.

It's pretty simple. Employers who keep employees "off the books" will pick and choose what laws they decide to follow. When something like this happens, they know you're probably not foolish enough to complain to the government that they fired you after you probably haven't paid taxes for two years. Hopefully.

You've been working off the books for two years, have you been paying your taxes?

If not (and I'm guessing not!) then you might want to really think about bringing this up further.

Move on with your life and find an employer who follows the rules. It involves protection for both parties.

 

[eerelations]

If you've been working "off the books" and not paying taxes, then you are not an employee as defined by law, and therefore you are not covered by employment law.

 

[swalsh411]

my point is how do you fire somebody because child support contacts you an request you take money out.

Because by working illegally you are not covered by laws that protect those of us who don't cheat.

Good luck when your ex wife reports you to the IRS.

 

[commentator]

yes, it was convenient and not so bad while he kept you off the books and not paying income taxes or not paying child support for two years. But then you got reported, your ex told the state where you were working, which always happens, people always get caught wen they're trying to do this, and when the state approached them, the guy decided to lose the troublemaker. He had absolutely no commitment to you on paper.

In an "at will state like New Jersey, he could have fired you anyhow, even if you had been an on-the-books employee for just about any reason. Many people believe it's illegal to fire them unfairly or without a reason, but in most cases, it isn't. If you'd been a 1099 independent contractor (there's no such thing as a 1099 employee) then child support could have gotten the money from you directly, pretty much kept your income tax returns if you had been filing income tax and getting any back, coming after you directly. If you work, you're supposed to be supporting your children.

You get no extra credit for "but I kept asking him to put me on the books, and he kept saying "No!" Well, you kept working for him, didn't you? He had the power in this situation. Were you truly, the whole two years, looking avidly for a legitimate job?

You either pay your child support regularly, work only for legitimate employers, or subject yourself to winding up in this situation where you are fired in a heartbeat without unemployment, having had no income tax taken out, so you have problems with them if you report the guy, and also have no real protections from OSHA, EEOC, Worker's Comp or any of the other employee protective federal regulations because you are "in the shadows." Convenient when you're trying to duck child support, but not so hot when you're in trouble or when you get dumped or messed over by the illigetimate employer.

Now you can report him to the state Wage and Hour commission, or the Federal Wage and Hour people, and it will cause him some grief, probably, but they'll also be causing you some grief, because of the income tax issue. And this may happen whether YOU report him or not. Your ex wife may decide to do it. Child support enforcement will very likely catch this and may well report it to another department.

So I'd kind of be expecting the axe to fall in many areas of your life right now regardless. And I'd be looking like crazy for another job, doing just about anything for whatever it pays on the books.