Employer withholding money

[Zigner]

It is so easy to criticize anonymously and offer nothing of substance! If I am incorrect about PA law here, then cite to the purported correct provision or precedent which indicates bonuses are not considered wages under these circumstances.

That's not how it works. You made the claim, you back it up.

 

[cbg]

ESteele, you're relatively new to message boarding, so I'm going to give you a tip here. Something we've all had to learn and that evidently you need to learn as well.

Posters lie.

They leave out information, sometimes deliberately, sometimes innocently, not realizing that it makes a difference.

Being human, they spin things to their best advantage.

A responder on a message board cannot assume that, "The poster said X - therefore Y". Yes, the poster did indicate that IN HIS OPINION he did all the work required to get the bonus, but we haven't heard the employer's side of the story. We haven't heard what was actually required to get the bonus. We haven't heard whether the bonus is discretionary or non-discretionary. We haven't heard what the policy was on payment after termination.

Now I am not saying that the poster is lying. But I am darned sure that I'm not about to assume that everything he says is 100% of the story, either.

It doesn't do YOUR credibility any good to be so adamant about what the situation is, and then have the OP come back with facts that blow your answer out of the water. And yes, I have seen that happen on multiple occasions.

Just one more thing. I hereby give you fair notice that if I receive another PM from you on this or any other message board berating me for "humiliating" you in public, I will post that PM, along with my response to it, publically.

Now, go ahead and report me to the moderators for giving you a few truths, but don't expect any of the responders here to back off. We call them like we see them, and when we see guesses, we call them guesses.

Poster, I'm sorry that you're having to see all this. If you could post back with some additional information (you'll be able to tell by the answers what information we could use) we'll be able to give you some VALID information about whether you are likely owed the bonus or not.

 

[ESteele]

First, cdg, you must have me confused with someone else. I have never reported you (or anyone else, for that matter) to the moderators.

Second, of course employees often do not provide a complete picture. Guess what? Neither do employers.

I have represented both. They are all human. Both employees and employers provide (either deliberately or unintentionally) their perspectives on what has occurred. Frequently, the stories are more complicated and nuanced than the accounts which are first presented.

While there are goldbricking workers, there are also lousy companies. Employer bias is just as misguided as employee bias here.

With that said, it is certainly not beyond the pale to accept the original post at face value. Unless and until we have some reason to disbelieve his account, why not accept it? While there may be more to the story – often there is – the original post may also provide an adequate description of the underlying events. It is not at all unbelievable that the OP worked his shift, he earned the bonuses and his former employer wants to give him the shaft. It happens every day!

Finally, I do not appreciate why anyone here would take issue with recommending that the OP contact the PA DOL. At the end of the day, the DOL is the principal venue where the OP should go to have his bonus-wage dispute resolved.

If this recommendation proves fruitless to the OP, then he has wasted a phone call and perhaps a trip to the DOL. If this recommendation proves fruitful, then he will recover his withheld bonuses/wages and penalties from his former employer.

 

[Zigner]

ESteele -
Had you simply recommended a call to the DoL, then NOBODY would take issue. But that's not all you did. You made baseless assertions and refused to back them up, either because you are unable to or unwilling to (I suspect the former.)

 

[cbg]

I didn't say you reported me previously - I anticipated your doing so in this instance. And I notice you don't deny complaining when I've called you out in the past - good thing, because I still have those PM's and can post them if need be.

The reason we do not just automatically accept everything the employee says as the full and complete story is that we've seen too many times when the poster comes back with additional information that changes the answer - so why not ask for additional information instead of providing an answer that may not prove accurate? Most of us here like to provide accurate answers, instead of half-***ed ones that may or may not be accurate depending on information we do not have.

One of the reasons that people with legitimate claims to regulatory agencies have such a hard time getting a response, is that the agencies are all backed up with claims that are not claims at all. Often made by people who have been advised, "Just go ahead and file the claim - what can it hurt?" So if we can sort out the likelihood of there being a valid claim, so much the better. THEN the poster can make an informed decision as to whether he wants to do so, or not. He can always do it anyway, of course. But at least he'll have some kind of reasonable expectation as to the results.

 

[bighouse1]

It is an unwritten policy so he can use it at his discretion.

 

[bighouse1]

Thank you for all the responses,
Yes I did finish my 8 day shift.
Within the 8 day shift you may work 5 different jobs and you can get a bonus for each job.
The policy is a Unwritten policy because the employer can penalize the employee using their bonus program ie: If the employee receives a safety violation the employer can dock the employee $1800 from his bonus, also you are allow to go in to the negative $2000 within the bonus system. So to actually get money you would have to work your way out of the negative into the positive.
Also if the employer under bids a job and they lose money they will take their loss out of your bonus.
We worked in 2 man crews and would split the bonus/ The supervisor would get 55% and the Laborer 45% of the bonus

 

[cbg]

If it's a discretionary bonus, then that means he pays it at his discretion. It is not mandatory.

It is not even remotely unusual, nor is it the least bit illegal, for an employee who no longer works for the employer to not receive the bonus.