Not Being Paid What We Were Told

[DisgruntledInPA]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

The company that I worked for during the last 6 years was purchased by another company a few months ago. We were told that for our first two months we would be paid $10 per hour. Actual pay was $7.25 per hour. We were told that for the first 60 days we would be guaranteed an average of our last three months of pay with our previous employer.

During the first of those two months, our pay was fine, it was what we were told that it would be. For the second month our pay was shorted (some by almost half) and we have received no response to our inquiries regarding the situation.

Several of us were informed yesterday that we are being deducted money from our pay for supposedly incorrectly paid bonuses that we did not even receive during the month in question. Inquiries did not result in correction, they resulted in the exact amount being stated, which they plan to take from the individuals. We did not qualify for these bonuses to begin with. We were supposed to receive the guaranteed pay instead, and even that was not really there.

We are also being forced to be on conference calls and to attend meetings without punching in. They say that our hours are adjusted later but we see no proof of this.

We entered employment with this company in good faith. It appears that the new company made false promises and lured us in with verbal agreements in poor faith. They did not put it in writing, instead they told us about the pay setup during large groups orientation meetings. We're so frustrated that we just want out. Some of us are missing upwards of $1200 and we're being ignored. If we leave, would we have a case for unemployment benefits while we search for other jobs? Could this be considered constructive dismissal?

Thank you for your time.

 

[cbg]

How much of this were you told in writing?

 

[DisgruntledInPA]

$7.25 per hour with possibility of bonuses. None of the two month period pay was in writing. I'm assuming that this means that they lied to us and are going to get away with it.

 

[commentator]

While I can see that you would be terribly frustrated, the employer actually has you over a barrel in some senses. In the first place, they actually did pay the agreed on pay rate for a few weeks, as you say, to make sure you didn't go out the door immediately. This gave them a cushion to get their business up and running using you who were familiar with the way it works.

But you fell victim to the old "tell them any bleepin thing" routine. You had no contract, nothing in writing, and such an agreement isn't binding. The employer as long as they are paying you at least minimum wage, can change your wages and pay you what they want to.

Your alternative is to quit/ BUT......if you quit, there is a good possibility you're doing this without be able to get unemployment insurance. After all, as the unemployment office would look at it, you accepted the new employer's job. You severed all connection with the old employer and all claim to your former pay rates. How they treated you isn't going to be relevant. They even paid you the agreed upon rates for the first while you worked for them. Then they changed it. They can say they had to due to the demands of the business. You really do not have, or might likely not be determined to have a good valid reason to quit the job. You accepted the terms when you went to work for them, then the terms changed several weeks later, that's not a demand you can legitimately make on your new employer, that you always be paid what you were promised when you transferred from your old employer....

I think your chances of being approved for unemployment benefits if you up and quit are pretty low, slim, slight. So the best thing for any of you to do is keep working for this new employer, making whatever he will pay, asking, of course, for the wages you were promised in a reasonable manner. And be looking like crazy for other employment, and leave them when you find that new employer. You know this one will mess over you.

However, what you would draw in pay working there is more than you'd draw in unemployment, IF you were approved, and it would end quickly, and you'd still have to find another job anyhow. Why not just look for other work while continuing to work where you are until you are able to leave without having a blank spot in your employment and having to fight this out in unemployment? As I said, your chances aren't great that you'd be approved.

 

[DisgruntledInPA]

Thank you for your information. It is very much appreciated.