Help Plz

[tasha22]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I am so upset right now, I just dont know what to do. I am having problems with my employer, my expenses, the hours I am working, and to tell you honestly I feel trapped. Now to keep from rambling I'll just post highlights of whats going on and maybe someone could point me in the right direction.

-I am being told right now that if I do not have my cell phone turned back on (its been disconnected because of lack of funds) however if I pay my cell phone I will end up evicted, If I pay my rent I will end up losing my job. This cell phone is 99 percent work related. The company will reimburse me 100 per month but due to extensive travel its costing about 500-700 a month and has put me in a financial pickle.

-I have been told that I will not get my expenses reimbursed if they are over a week late to the corporate office. I have also been told that if any of my employees expenses are late that will be deducted from my expenses or I will be terminated.

-I have told my boss that I had been diagnosed several times with ADD/Depression and sometimes I become a little less focused on the task at hand. My boss replied to me, dont tell HR because you dont want people thinking of you like that, do you? =(

-I travel extensively (sometimes over 9 hours- the company will not pay for a flight in that case I am expected to drive up the night before-my day off) I do have a company car and do get reimbursed for gas. However I am expected to be at work at 9am everyday and to not leave until 6pm. This is not a rare occurance either, on average I commute about 800-900 miles a week then am expected to work a minimum of 50 hours and when i am not "working" I am doing officework for a minimum of 10, plus I am expected to be reachable by phone at any other time.

-I was involved in a car accident when driving home one night (I had driven 5 hours to get to work then worked a 10 hour day) the company has still not submitted a claim, as a had to go to the hospital with very minor injuries that was in November...now I am getting nasty notes from the hospital...

-I expressed to my boss my finacial issue to which they replied "none of my other employees have any problems at all with their bills, i suggest you figure out a way to fix it..." However these other employees all have spouses and a second income, I do not.

-I was told by a former supervisor to go ahead and get rid of my personal car in order to save money. however now I am trapped as I cannot even begin to look for another job without a car and if I quit, the car goes.

-My boss even suggested for me to move in to my parents house to save money, ummmm, I'm 35.

-I cannot even get a loan as my credit has been messed up by these bills incurred by work. I make 29k for travelling the entire east coast, working 60 plus hours a week and driving over 800 miles in addition to those 60 hours. is there no end? I am over reacting? I sure as hell am exhausted. Its gotten to the point when i go home I dont even want to go outside of the house.

-I have even been asked to work 15 days straight

-Yes I admit I got the wrong cell phone plan, i didnt realize how extensive the travelling would be and i didnt know alot about cell phones before so I got a plan that was a 100 dollars and ended up with about 1000 minutes roaming (thats the reason my credit is bad as I was threatened with my job so had to switch carriers, I did switch plans however, the company will still not reimburse me anything else, and now I'm going to lose my job for doing my job.

I wish I could just cut my losses, as I seem to be paying the company to work for them. However I cant, because i will not be able to get another job because i do not have my own personal car and there is no public transportation. I feel so trapped and now to top it off my Depression is flaring up and I cant sleep because of all this. I feel like a slave and theres no way out.

what can i do? anything? or will I have to face this nightmare every time a bill is due.Any advice would help

Tasha

 

[cbg]

"-I am being told right now that if I do not have my cell phone turned back on (its been disconnected because of lack of funds) however if I pay my cell phone I will end up evicted, If I pay my rent I will end up losing my job. This cell phone is 99 percent work related. The company will reimburse me 100 per month but due to extensive travel its costing about 500-700 a month and has put me in a financial pickle."

Huh? If you do not have your cell phone turned back on, what? I think you missed a phrase. Please clarify.

"-I have been told that I will not get my expenses reimbursed if they are over a week late to the corporate office. I have also been told that if any of my employees expenses are late that will be deducted from my expenses or I will be terminated."

Nothing in the law requires that they pay your expenses regardless of when they are submitted, so it is perfectly legal for them to refuse to pay them if they are late. I am also not aware of any law that forbids them from deducting your employee's expenses from your expenses if they are late. (It WOULD be illegal for them to deduct your employee's expenses from your WAGES, but since they don't have to pay your expenses at all, they can put pretty much any conditions on it that they want as long as they don't violate Title VII or public policy. Nothing in your post indicates that they are doing so.) Finally, it is perfectly legal for them to terminate you if your expenses are late OR if your employee's expenses are late. It would seem to me that the easiest way to solve this problem would be to see that your expenses and those of your employees are turned in on time.

"-I have told my boss that I had been diagnosed several times with ADD/Depression and sometimes I become a little less focused on the task at hand. My boss replied to me, dont tell HR because you dont want people thinking of you like that, do you?"

Not enough information. In what context did you have this conversation?

"-I travel extensively (sometimes over 9 hours- the company will not pay for a flight in that case I am expected to drive up the night before-my day off) I do have a company car and do get reimbursed for gas. However I am expected to be at work at 9am everyday and to not leave until 6pm. This is not a rare occurance either, on average I commute about 800-900 miles a week then am expected to work a minimum of 50 hours and when i am not "working" I am doing officework for a minimum of 10, plus I am expected to be reachable by phone at any other time."

Nothing illegal here. It may or may not be unreasonable but it is not illegal.

"-I was involved in a car accident when driving home one night (I had driven 5 hours to get to work then worked a 10 hour day) the company has still not submitted a claim, as a had to go to the hospital with very minor injuries that was in November...now I am getting nasty notes from the hospital...

What claim was the company supposed to submit? I'm not very familiar with workers comp laws in your state but I think it VERY unlikely that an accident on your commute home from work qualifies, regardless of how many hours you worked that day.

"-I was told by a former supervisor to go ahead and get rid of my personal car in order to save money. however now I am trapped as I cannot even begin to look for another job without a car and if I quit, the car goes."

If your supervisor told you to jump off a bridge would you do it? Why in heaven's name did you not think of that BEFORE you got rid of the car?

"My boss even suggested for me to move in to my parents house to save money, ummmm, I'm 35."

It is not illegal for him to make that suggestion.

"-I cannot even get a loan as my credit has been messed up by these bills incurred by work. I make 29k for travelling the entire east coast, working 60 plus hours a week and driving over 800 miles in addition to those 60 hours. is there no end? I am over reacting? I sure as hell am exhausted. Its gotten to the point when i go home I dont even want to go outside of the house."

I will grant you that your salary doesn't sound as if it is competitive, although it's hard to say for sure since I don't know either your industry, your position or your part of the state. But you ARE making more than minimum wage and you ARE making more than the minimum to be paid on an exempt basis, even under the new laws to take effect in August, so your employer is not doing anything illegal.

"-I have even been asked to work 15 days straight"

Unless your state has a one-day-of-rest statute, which your state currently does NOT, this is perfectly legal. (And even if the one currently under review by your state legislature passes, such laws do not always cover exempt employees. I haven't been able to find enough specific information in a quick search to determine if the one in front of your legislature does or not.)

I am not unsympathetic. It does sound if you have a tough row to how. But the bottom line is that nothing in your post suggests that your employer is doing anything illegal. It sounds harsh, but the fact of the matter is that your financial issues are not your employer's problem.

 

[tasha22]

Sorry, heh, I'm just beyond tired..thanks for your advice.

1. I was told I would be terminated if I did not have my cell phone turned back on..

2. I told my boss over the phone several times about issues that i was having in regards to paperwork/office work taking me longer to complete because I am having problems, they take longer to complete but they are still done on time. thats when she said When she said dont tell HR because people will think differently of you.

3. I was involved in the accident in a company car, and was told i had to take a drug test for workmans comp. Another employee who was a passenger in another accident previosly in a company car recieved workmans comp, all i wanted them to do was pay for the trip i had to the ER

4/ yeah the car thing was stupid, i dont know what i was thinking but man i am really trapped.

5. I know that it is not the companies responsibility fro my financial situations, but they are the ones who have put me there, heh

thanks again for the advice =)
Tasha

 

[cbg]

1.) Then you'd better find a way to get your cell phone turned on because they CAN require that you have a cell phone and they CAN fire you for not complying. Can you switch your cell phone plan?

2.) Given the specifics you have provided, while it was a stupid thing for your boss to say it does not appear to violate any laws. However, if at any time you feel that HE is treating you differently BECAUSE OF that conversation, re-open this thread and I will give you some information on how to approach HR.

3.) As I said, I think it is VERY unlikely that workers comp covers an accident during your commute, but while I've had employees in your state I've never had any of them file a workers comp claim so I've never looked at what w/c does and does not cover. No state that I know of would cover this but I've not studied w/c law in all fifty states. What happened to the other employee does not equate to your situation. You may or may not be entitled to have the hospital bill covered by the company, under your state's laws. You are free to ask a workers comp attorney in your state. Many have free or low cost consultations.

4.) There's nothing I can say. You made a stupid decision (I don't know any other way to say it.) and now you have to find a way to live with the consequences.

5.) Whether you consider that they "put you there" or not, that still does not create any legal obligation on their part.

 

[azgrandpa]

My question is: Why in the world would you want to keep working for an employer that has so little respect for you and the effort you put forth to line his pockets with gold??

Don't you have enough confidence in yourself to tell your employer where he can put his precious cell phone requirement?

There's plenty more "fish in the sea"; go out and find a GOOD ONE! It makes no sense to let an employer make you feel trapped! It's not good for him and certainly not good for you!

Go for it!! And best of luck to you.