• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Layoff with no payment of money owed

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

ET66RM

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AZ

My corporate office gathered our AZ office in a conference call to announce our immediate closure. We were told we were being offered no severance and no pay for our unused vacation. They will be fulfilling orders placed up until the day we closed but not paying sales staff commission on those jobs.

This does not seem right to me.

On top of all of that, I had facilitated the signing of a large contract with another company and this project is only half way through. The company I worked for will be breaching contract by not completing this project, someone I talked to thought I may also be entitled to the commission on this full contract from my ex-employer.


Additionally, how many days do they have to send me my last check? It has been five days.

Thank you
Lisa
 


ET66RM

Junior Member
I forgot one other question I had.

A few months ago they announced we were taking a 10% pay cut but would be given "profit sharing".

The 10% pay cut came through immediately but we never heard another word on the profit sharing.

The company itself is still up and running and expanding even, they just opened a new office in another state.

I am wondering if I am entitled to my 10%, or shares in the company... or at least a statement about the companies profitability? I doubt they are losing money if they are opening new locations.

thanks
 

eerelations

Senior Member
Employers are not legally required to pay severance.

I don't believe Arizona state law requires the payout of unused vacation pay upon termination. However, if I'm incorrect on this point, one of my esteemed colleagues will weigh in with the correct answer.

You may or may not be entitled to commission pay on this project. This depends on what your now-former employer's commission policies say. If they are silent on this type of circumstance (i.e., commission payouts even though the project has ceased in an incomplete state), then you are not entitled to commission pay.

One of my esteemed colleagues will advise you on how long your now-former employer has to send out your last paycheque.

As long as the 10% pay cut didn't take your pay below minimum wage, it was a perfectly legal pay cut - even without an accompanying offer of profit-sharing.

Unless you had a bona fide contract on the profit-sharing, your now-former employer is not legally required to share any profits with you. It is also not legally required to restore your pay to its pre-cut level.
 
Last edited:

Betty

Senior Member
Agree with Patty re payout of unused vacation at termination. (Az. follow co. policy/practice)

Re your last/final paycheck Az. requires this: When employees are discharged by the employer, wages must be paid within three working days or the end of the next regular pay period, whichever is sooner. When employees resign, wages should be paid in the usual manner no later than the regular payday for the period during which the resignation occurred. If resigning employees want to receive the check in the mail, employers must mail them.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
I have a question for the payroll/hr type folks for this situation.

Since they closed immediately, if they had the required body count for WARN requirements, doesn't the company have to pay them for the 60 days they are required under WARN.

I thought I had read somewhere that a company had to pay it's employees for the time, up to 60 days that they did not allow as a notice.
 

eerelations

Senior Member
I thought of WARN too but it seemed to me (for whatever reason, one that I can't come up with now) that the AZ office didn't have enough employees for WARN to apply. However, maybe it did?

OP, how many employees were laid off when AZ office closed?
 

commentator

Senior Member
The federal WARN law is 100 employees (during the last so long). AZ has a little bit more stringency thrown in there, 50 or more at one worksite if it is a large company with branches all over, but that very likely doesn't apply here, just from the sound of what the OP is saying and the commission nature of the job.

Then, if they did have the required "body count" or have had it at any time during the past year, (In other words, the company can't just lay people off until they have 49 employees and then close) the employees as a group would actually have to retain an attorney and sue the company, and if they prevail, there would be a definite backpay requirement, as well as company insurance and benefits for that 60 days they did not receive it. I've worked with WARN since its inception, and it's an almighty pitiful protection. Unlike Wage and Hour, there is no enforcement agency at the federal or state level, it must be enforced by a lawsuit by the affected employees. Only good thing is, if they do sue, and if they do win, like owed wages, this money will come off the first fruits of the company's revenues, like owed wages, they can't duck it by taking bankruptcy.
 
Last edited:

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
There are also exceptions to WARN, even if all the requirements are met, which are situation specific. As an example, if the loss of a large contract or withdrawal of other funding, which could not have been reasonably forseen, is the reason behind the layoff, WARN would not apply even if it otherwise would.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top