Work, it's an easy enough word and easy to understand. Why do we work and have jobs? That is easy enough as well. To earn money is usually the first thing that applies to this basic word. Work used to be this and more for me: A sense of accomplishment, a job well done, pride in my work, the best fabricator on the planet, creativity and something to do. Many of you know that work for me this year has been a little slow. This year has been hard to say the least with little or nothing to do at all, until now! Work is booming and we're booked for several weeks.
For about 6 weeks though, Amy was in and out of the Hospital and during those weeks and for those days I spent my time with her giving her my total devotion and support to her to help her get better. Luckily, before all this happened, I had been paid after waiting for 3 months to get it. 3 months is a long time to wait for a paycheck and the stress that goes with that is not fun either! During all this free time I had, I was applying for jobs and going to interviews. And still nothing has happened in improving our circumstances! Recently I was turned down again and I didn't get the job, but now it doesn't seem as if I need a new job since mine is busy again.
But,
I feel dead at work! I no longer have a desire to do the work, at least not there! The "not" in "getting paid" has given me a desire to just not bother! I have now been waiting another 2 months for a check. For what little they owe me, you'd think that they could pay me! I have just about sold everything that is not tied down on ebay. I only have 1 box of personal items in our tiny storage closet and I may break that down even more to earn what little amount of money you can make on ebay!
I have been working hard and fast everyday for a two weeks now. The amount of work that I'm doing each day is enough for a small crew, but somehow I manage to produce about 2 slabs of granite a day, which is fast for 1 person. Sink cut outs take a toll on your back and take at least 2 hours of time. More than 1 in a day is hard enough and one day this last week I did 4 sinks plus the job in about 9 hours time. That is a super fast time! The more I do the more they expect and the more I won't be paid for! This is super frustrating!!
Finally, yesterday I was told that they would have to try to get me paid fast sometime soon! Soon should mean "NOW" and "NOW" should not wait! My desire to work has lost it's taste and everything that is said to me makes it even more tasteless!
I work well with praise as well as pay. Being positive and praising one's work, works great! But the one's who are doing your bidding, your work and paying your bills, seem to be forgotten more often than not. I would like a raise or a bonus, a job well done, but it seems that all I'm getting right now is, "you complain too much, are you sure you can get this done today?" and if there's a mistake, it's my fault automatically. Maybe if the schedule wasn't overbooked and on such a jammed up time line, that there would be time to breathe and think about what is being said! There seems to be no praise anymore, which makes bad situations worse! Depending on what is said to me next week, I may just walk out the door!
So, why do we work?
Well, I work for my boss's sake!!
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It is very frustrating to work without pay. Especially when you see your boss goes and spends his money on "extra" things for his enjoyment. To be put down daily and ordered to get things done in a certain amount of time is bad enought. But when you are doing it for free, it is downright rude of them. They are totally taken advantage of you and will continue to do so. I think you should go to them and tell them "I am not coming back to work until you pay me in full" You have nothing to lose, you aren't getting paid anyway. If they pay you, return to work and wait two weeks, which is when they should pay you again. If they don't say "I will return to work when you pay me in full" In the meantime continue to look for work elsewhere. Hang in there! I love you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amy. Don't go to work if they aren't paying you. Hopefully, you have kept a good accounting of your hours and you can say, pay me X amount or I am only coming in to follow you around until I get my money. Then I will start working again. You really shouldn't be doing work if you are *again* not getting paid.
ReplyDeleteI remember one place I worked where the owner of the company wanted to give me a pay cut and it is a long story, but it was not justified and I knew it and he knew it. He called me in to tell me about it, and I basically refused. I told him it was not justified, and made sure he knew the value that I provided to the company and I walked out with the same pay as when I walked in.
ReplyDeleteI recently worked with a guy who I will call “Jum” was very capable and a great worker and he was in a very similar situation as you in that he has not gotten paid for work he did months ago. He has been in that situation for years. When he calls and starts pushing the issue with his “pimp,” “Stove,” he magically gets a check. He found out that there is another subcontractor, “Keth” that gets paid very regularly from the same guy, “Stove.” When Jum found that out, he was rightfully very upset. He even would get the excuse from Stove that he hasn’t even been paid from the client yet, but hear that Keth already got his check. Even with all of this, Jum still came to work and still let Stove not pay him on time.
Dave, I don’t know you that well, but I can see the frustration in your post. One thing I know is true, is that people will treat you the way you allow them to treat you. They are not paying you because you let them, and they know it. They know you have low confidence and don’t stand up for yourself, because a person with high confidence does not allow this to happen.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to get paid, this is what you will need to do.
1. Go into work Monday, (2 days from today). Speak to your boss and tell him you will not be able to work until you receive a check in full. If he gives you a check right then, tell him you will return after the check clears the bank, and then go.
2. If he does not give a check right then, tell him he has 24 hours, and you will stop by on your way to DWS(it is called EDD in Cal, but verify the department before you go there) to report employer fraud, theft, and evasion of taxes. If he comes up with an excuse, do not budge, tell him I am sure DWS will be very sympathetic to your reasons for not paying me.
3. You are going to contact an attorney and sue him for the money owed you. If it gets to that point, he will also have to pay interest, and lawyer fees, which will add up to a lot.
4. You will be busy contacting all of his competitors soliciting employment. Since he will have a pending lawsuit, he will not be able to say anything in retaliation to try and sabotage you, etc. If he does you will add defamation of character, and slander to the lawsuit, and judges in Utah really frown on employers retaliating against plaintiffs.
5. If that still does not work, you will be contacting the Better Business Bureau, the state tax authority(Franchise Tax Board in Cal), the city where he holds his business license, the state licensing board for contractors(CSLB in Cal)
6. You can still put a lien on his business assets, and even his house. Really anybody can put a lien on anybody’s house for virtually any reason. It is really really easy to do, but boy is it a pain to clear those.
Now, Dave, you have to sack up. You have to be prepared to do all of these things. My guess is the first reaction is going to be him telling you you can’t do that and that if you do not show up for work, you will be fired. That is a lie. He cannot threaten you with termination because he has not paid you. Tell him if he can’t afford to pay you for the work you have already done, he certainly won’t be able to pay for a wrongful termination suit.
You have to stick to your guns, and not call, not email, not write a letter, but show up, let him see your face, and let him see you walk away when he “claims” he cannot pay you. If he pulls the “family” card, tell him that is all the more reason he should be paying you first, above himself, above anybody else.
When he says he can’t pay you, that you are screwing him over, etc., DON’T GIVE IN.
You need to make it very clear to him that you are not going to allow him to act this way anymore. If he cannot pay you, he should not give you work, he should do it himself, or find someone else who is willing to do it for free. Hopefully you can truly understand what I am saying here. You are going to have to be stronger than you have ever been and it is going to be very hard, but you will not regret it if you do, and EVERYONE will respect you for it. He may try this crap one more time just to test the waters, but you go right back to what you did this time and he will never try it again. Think about it. If you know that your power company will shut off you power the second a payment is late, which bill are you going to pay first, no matter what? It is all about expectations. When your employer has the expectation that you will not tolerate his non-payment crap, and there are repercussions, he will pay you first and on time, trust me.
That seems like pretty good advice.
ReplyDelete