Lawyers help please....

[TeamSelig]

Wife just quit her job over a bunch of drama/etc. Anyways, they had accidentally gave some of her hours to another girl with same first name. She has asked them several times to give her the money which is over $200. They informed her since she didn't give a notice that her remaining hours of this pay term would be paid mini. wage (which is in their handout). I told her to tell them that she would be coming in tomorrow to pick up her check for unpaid hours or she would take them to court.

Not knowing really what we can/can't do in this situation, what can we do if they refuse or don't give us the whole check?

[George Foster]

I'm not a lawyer but I had an employee who had a similar situation with her old boss.

Go to the unemployment office and they can lead you to the right agency to handle this for you. It's against the law to withhold wages. Big fines come with it as well. Don't get an attorney. I doubt that any would take the case anyway because there is not a lot of money envolved. The unemployment office will assist you.

[Boston Red]

Depends on what the Wage Act in your state says. In MA, there is criminal liability for not paying wages to employees. That's a big stick to have in this sort of fight.

[TeamSelig]

Wasn't actually planning on getting a lawyer... waaayyy too expensive. I just knew there were plenty of law students/lawyers on the board to give advice.

Thanks, I'll search for Indiana's wage act.

[919191]

Originally Posted by TeamSelig

Wasn't actually planning on getting a lawyer... waaayyy too expensive. I just knew there were plenty of law students/lawyers on the board to give advice.

Thanks, I'll search for Indiana's wage act.

Check out the NLRB websire. It is often more powerful than any union. My union recently filed charges against our employer and they saw things our way.

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by TeamSelig

Wasn't actually planning on getting a lawyer... waaayyy too expensive. I just knew there were plenty of law students/lawyers on the board to give advice.

Thanks, I'll search for Indiana's wage act.

A phone call to a lawyer familar with Indiana law could still be worthwhile. West Virginia's wage and hour regulations have some teeth. If an employer doesn't pay a former employee all wages owed within (I believe) 72 hours of the last day worked, or at least by the next pay period, there are penalities available, and there may even be a possibility of having attorney fees added. It has been years since I looked at our statute (I helped a person recover what they were owed about 20 years ago and I have had to remind the occasional corporate client of this statute) and I know nothing about Indiana law.
Oh, I'd recommend that she put her demands in writing. She should send the former employer a letter by certified mail, return receipt requested.

[bucksfan2]

I am kind of confused with this whole situation. Was it written into her contract that the hours in question were your wife's? I assume this is a shift type of job. Were the hours permentaly taken away from your wife? You also have to consider if the time and effort you are going to need to put into this is worth the amount of money you feel your wife deserves.

[TeamSelig]

They have to manually put in the hours, and a couple days they put it into the system with another girl that has the same first name.

Sorry, I may not have clarified well enough. The hours are hours that she worked - not hours promised to her or anything. She actually worked these hours, but has not been paid for.

[MaineRed]

So why are they refusing to pay her? Because she quit? You also mentioned some sort of "handout". Are you talking about an employee handbook? You said the minimum wage thing was "in the handout".

Maybe I am not understanding you correctly but if you have a document that says you get paid min wage if you quit without notice, there isn't much you can do.

[TeamSelig]

They just accidentally gave some of her days that she worked to a different girl. They haven't exactly 'refused' to pay her, they just say they will and do absolutely nothing. She has asked them for about 2-3 weeks. Now that she quit, I was worried that they would continue to shrug her off.

Hand out - hand book, same difference. I wasn't really disputing that mini. wage thing, just thought it was interesting. I guess I shouldn't post on the run, it helps when people can understand what you're saying

I just told her to go in and ask for her money, and if they didn't have it, to have it to her by Monday or she will have to contact the labor relations board. Seemed to work.

[camisadelgolf]

Usually, a professional-looking letter from a fake lawyer is enough to get me what I want in this situations.

[deltachi8]

If the position is non-union, go to your state's Wage and Hour Division (department of Labor) and file a complaint. Better yet - just inform the employer that you will be doing so. Employers hate Wage and Hour reviews as they will look beyond the one instance with your wife and look for a pattern that can be very, very costly.

The NLRB would refer her to the State or Federal Wage and Hour people.

By the way - not a lawyer here, just a humble HR person.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by deltachi8

If the position is non-union, go to your state's Wage and Hour Division (department of Labor) and file a complaint. Better yet - just inform the employer that you will be doing so. Employers hate Wage and Hour reviews as they will look beyond the one instance with your wife and look for a pattern that can be very, very costly.

The NLRB would refer her to the State or Federal Wage and Hour people.

By the way - not a lawyer here, just a humble HR person.

[Spring~Fields]

Indiana used to have a very effective labor board that would take action on behalf of an employee. I don't quite understand why the employers payroll department would not have made simple adjustments correcting the error, as you imply that the other girl was compensated for hours that she did not work, while your wife wasn't paid for those hours that she did.

What's missing to this story?

[TeamSelig]

Nothing is missing.

Come to find out, the manager that she had been talking to wasn't letting the payroll lady in on any of it. She had no idea. I think all is good, we just have to wait until the check comes in the mail.