Is there a general time frame to give an estate so that they can pay me back?

[sipet929]

What do you mean by "I just wasn't documented"? A bonafide employee gets a paycheck, with withholding and a W2 at the end of the year. A contractor gets paid by check or cash, with no withholding and gets a 1099 at the end of the year. Which were you?

Well I guess I wasn’t an employee since I wasn’t receiving those. But I did work though.

 

[sipet929]

Employers often misclassify employees as "contractors". Just because a person gets a 1099 doesn't mean they are a contractor and not an employee.

For the OP: What was the nature of the work you did?

I was cleaning a business, checking in customers, opening/closing the business, collecting money (sometimes depositing money to the business/owner’s account)

 

[bcr229]

Do you know if the deceased operated the business as a sole proprietor or was there an LLC/corporate entity in place?

 

[sipet929]

I think llc

 

[LdiJ]

Well I guess I wasn’t an employee since I wasn’t receiving those. But I did work though.

I don't mean to be snarky, but was NOT an answer to my question. I am trying to understand exactly how you were treated (financially) by the "employer". However, since you don't seem to want to explain yourself, then all I can say is that you have to be able to PROVE that you are owed money if push comes to shove. So far, your vague explanations seems to indicate that you might not have any proof at all.

 

[bcr229]

I think llc

You can go to the Oregon Secretary of State's web site to look up the LLC name and see if there actually was one listed under the deceased's name. https://sos.oregon.gov/business/pages/find.aspx

Did you ever get paid for the work you did? If so was it by cash or check? What proof do you have of the hours that you worked? Is the LLC still operating or has the business closed?

 

[sipet929]

I don't mean to be snarky, but was NOT an answer to my question. I am trying to understand exactly how you were treated (financially) by the "employer". However, since you don't seem to want to explain yourself, then all I can say is that you have to be able to PROVE that you are owed money if push comes to shove. So far, your vague explanations seems to indicate that you might not have any proof at all.

Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to come off as snarky. Looking back at the answer, I can see how someone took as a rude answer. But I don’t have any actual papers to show I was an employee or contractor. I was paid by cash at first (like the first few weeks).

I do have text messages of the supposed manager (this is NOT the deceased person). I don’t think the “manager” was an official employee, but I have text messages of telling him the hours I will work, when I need some change (money), when I lock the business up, and any other things I need. I also have bank deposit receipts/confirmation of when I put the business’s earnings into the boss’s bank account.

I also have a voicemail message of the actual deceased boss asking for the hours I work and the hours that ‘manager’ worked weeks before the boss died.

 

[LdiJ]

Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to come off as snarky. Looking back at the answer, I can see how someone took as a rude answer. But I don’t have any actual papers to show I was an employee or contractor. I was paid by cash at first (like the first few weeks).

I do have text messages of the supposed manager (this is NOT the deceased person). I don’t think the “manager” was an official employee, but I have text messages of telling him the hours I will work, when I need some change (money), when I lock the business up, and any other things I need. I also have bank deposit receipts/confirmation of when I put the business’s earnings into the boss’s bank account.

I also have a voicemail message of the actual deceased boss asking for the hours I work and the hours that ‘manager’ worked weeks before the boss died.

Well, at least you have a bit of evidence that you actually worked there.

How long did you work there, and how were you paid after they stopped paying you cash? Was it by ordinary business checks? Did you keep copies of any of those?

Do you have anything that proves the hours you have not been paid for yet?

 

[sipet929]

Well, at least you have a bit of evidence that you actually worked there.

How long did you work there, and how were you paid after they stopped paying you cash? Was it by ordinary business checks? Did you keep copies of any of those?

Do you have anything that proves the hours you have not been paid for yet?

I wasn’t being paid after those few weeks of payment. And I worked total a little over 3 months.

I don’t have evidence of the unpaid wages. After two months, the ‘manager’ told me to tally up all the hours I worked and I did my best to remember the hours I worked. From that day onwards, I just kept track of my hours (i have it on a time sheet app).

 

[LdiJ]

I wasn’t being paid after those few weeks of payment. And I worked total a little over 3 months.

I don’t have evidence of the unpaid wages. After two months, the ‘manager’ told me to tally up all the hours I worked and I did my best to remember the hours I worked. From that day onwards, I just kept track of my hours (i have it on a time sheet app).

Did the business lose a lot of money due to COVID-19? Is that why you were not getting paid? Why did you continue to work without pay for so long?

 

[sipet929]

Did the business lose a lot of money due to COVID-19? Is that why you were not getting paid? Why did you continue to work without pay for so long?

Well at the time I didn’t really have a place to stay. I was told by the ‘manager’ that I could get a place to stay and work (the boss was a rich guy, but had serious health problems).

But I’m think the ‘manager’ just was telling me whatever to get me to work. So for a while I was just eating off tips. I worked for that long because at the time didn’t really have anywhere to go so I was just working and kept trying to get a meeting with the boss. Also the whole time I thought that the business was going to be moved to another & better location& I was going to actually be a documented/legit employee with the W-2 & be paid better (also the ‘manager’ was telling me this)

 

[bcr229]

The more details you give the less I think you're going to get any money out of the estate as there won't be records in the LLC's files of you being an employee. Without that documentation whoever is tasked with either taking it over or closing it will feel free to ignore you.

You can try filing a wage claim as it's harder to ignore the state:
https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/pages/wageclaim.aspx

 

[sipet929]

The more details you give the less I think you're going to get any money out of the estate as there won't be records in the LLC's files of you being an employee. Without that documentation whoever is tasked with either taking it over or closing it will feel free to ignore you.

You can try filing a wage claim as it's harder to ignore the state:
https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/pages/wageclaim.aspx

There's definitely no record of me being an employee. The business is already closed. There were also regular customers that would come in and they usually saw me there working all day (not sure if that's proof). Also the natural gas company (and some heating/cooling services) has me down as a manager/worker because they had to come in a few times because stuff was going on with the heat.

But besides that, I don't have like a W-2 or any of that.