spiderpig33
New member
Louisiana
I will try to keep this as short as possible
I am a server at a restaurant in Louisiana. During the last month, I have been working to-go shifts a couple of times a week and receiving unemployment benefits for reduced hours (I was only getting like $50 a week).
Fast forward to a few days ago, I was informed that my employer took out an SBA loan, which states that the loan will be forgiven if 75% of it is paid to employees via payroll. So they tell us that they're going to "help us out" and start paying us what we were making before the pandemic, even though most of the employees have not been working a single hour.
However, my $330 check is nowhere NEAR what I was making per week as a server. Moreover, it now disqualifies me for unemployment benefits, which were more than double what I am now getting through my employer. I am now forced to survive on 300 dollars a week, when I was receiving nearly 800 a week with UI, a number that's far closer to what I was making before.
EVEN MORE, the clause in the letter that we were given attached to our check states that "We can now pay you the GREATER of: either the actual number of hours that you are currently working, OR what your average paycheck was before we had to scale down our operations.
Simply put, even though I am still working to go shifts, while others are not, every employee is getting paid based on what they were making before. In other words, I am not even being paid for the hours I am still volunteering to work. I mentioned to my manager that there is no longer any incentive for me to come into work, and she responded saying that if anyone who was volunteering for work now decides not to come in, they will be terminated.
This seems highly illegal to me, and there is definitely something going on behind the curtains. I guess my ultimate question is, is there anything I can do about this? Not only am I losing out on thousands of dollars per month, but I am also not getting paid for the hours I am even working, and being threatened with termination if I don't show up to work for free, basically. Any help would be more than appreciated.
I will try to keep this as short as possible
I am a server at a restaurant in Louisiana. During the last month, I have been working to-go shifts a couple of times a week and receiving unemployment benefits for reduced hours (I was only getting like $50 a week).
Fast forward to a few days ago, I was informed that my employer took out an SBA loan, which states that the loan will be forgiven if 75% of it is paid to employees via payroll. So they tell us that they're going to "help us out" and start paying us what we were making before the pandemic, even though most of the employees have not been working a single hour.
However, my $330 check is nowhere NEAR what I was making per week as a server. Moreover, it now disqualifies me for unemployment benefits, which were more than double what I am now getting through my employer. I am now forced to survive on 300 dollars a week, when I was receiving nearly 800 a week with UI, a number that's far closer to what I was making before.
EVEN MORE, the clause in the letter that we were given attached to our check states that "We can now pay you the GREATER of: either the actual number of hours that you are currently working, OR what your average paycheck was before we had to scale down our operations.
Simply put, even though I am still working to go shifts, while others are not, every employee is getting paid based on what they were making before. In other words, I am not even being paid for the hours I am still volunteering to work. I mentioned to my manager that there is no longer any incentive for me to come into work, and she responded saying that if anyone who was volunteering for work now decides not to come in, they will be terminated.
This seems highly illegal to me, and there is definitely something going on behind the curtains. I guess my ultimate question is, is there anything I can do about this? Not only am I losing out on thousands of dollars per month, but I am also not getting paid for the hours I am even working, and being threatened with termination if I don't show up to work for free, basically. Any help would be more than appreciated.