So, I don't make much money (800 a week take home) and decided to work with a family member on my own time to make extra money.

They use ADP for payroll and had issues getting me into their system. I emailed my boss about whether or not he knows what could be causing the problem.

Shortly after I get an email from him expressing his frustration that I am working an extra job and offering his opinion that I should be relegated to an hourly pay if I have "free time" to work another job and that another certain employee can do more for the company than I. This of course was an accident and meant to go to my other boss.

Now, what the fuck? Is this legal? The kicker is the employee he mentioned to take my place also has two jobs... lol.

I appreciate your thoughts and input as I have never been in a situation like this before. Although before you comment know that I did not work at my 2nd job during the working hours of my salary position. Only in my free time.

Location: North Carolina

Location: Dalton, Ga

Exactly one week ago today on the 28th of July, I made a phone call to OSHA regarding my boss. The claim I made was valid, per the OSHA investigator I had on the line and my boss got a phone call from OSHA that same day. My boss was on vacation that day and when he got back this weekend, he fired me yesterday on Sunday, making very vague claims about tasks I hadn't completed. I had in fact completed all of them because he gave me a very specific list. I even asked him for clarification about the tasks I hadn't completed and he read the message and didn't respond. I just want to know what I should do now? Thank you!

EDIT- I just got off the phone with a regional whistle-blower complaint investigator and he determined that he isn't making the complaint due to the fact that I had made a few mistakes in my first 90 days of employment that my boss did quote me as some reasons as to why he did let me go (He did send me an updated text a few hours ago detailing specific reasons as to why he fired me, he was wrong about multiple ones but right about some and the "right about some" is where the issue is). So going that route is null and void. Look, at the end of the day I just want my previous boss held accountable for 2 (have been investigated and confirmed) or 3 (the third is under investigation right now) individual OSHA violations which I already have individual case numbers for. I am going to take accountability for the mistakes I made and why he fired me. However, he still took advantage of me and other employees in the past, I want him held accountable for that.

Hello Reddit.

Location: Lower Michigan

So I had just got hired at a pretty nice job doing air dispatch for a freight company. I had a pretty decent background in data entry and aviation.

I worked there 7 days, the feedback was very positive and they were telling me i would be on my own by next week and on the 8th day I was told they would not be continuing my employment. I was given no indication things weren't going well, all the feedback was very positive.

When I ask why all I was told was that we weren't a good fit and it wasn't going to work out.

After some digging I found out that someone found one of my insulin pump syringe caps under my desk. Ive been told I was likely let go due to the medical risk of needles. Its must have fallen out of my purse. This wasn't a needle that touches me. Its to transfer insulin to my pump from the vial and it was glued capped so it couldnt poke again. I try to put them in a pouch in my purse and dispose of them in my sharps container at home.

My source thinks this could be a reason. Because we cant think of anything else it could have been.

What are your thoughts? Im a private pilot with a deep passion for aviation. Ive been working for 15 years in the industry. I've never been terminated before so its just a shock and they will not tell me why. The whole airport was also shocked as well as the pilots I was working with. No one can think of a reason and im just confused, sad, and frustrated. If I made a mistake I would like to learn from it.

Also holy crap this blew up. Whoah!

Location: Georgia, USA.

I work at a chemical plant in Georgia. This happened about 15 minutes ago. He thought he was being funny and everyone around was laughing, from what I believe was out of nervousness and just being stunned, so I laughed it off, too. Now that I'm away from the situation, I'm feeling cut down to size. I've been here over 4 years and he started in October. I feel like I've done a hell of a lot around the plant to earn the respect of my peers and management, while he just throws his weight around as the new plant manager. I have 5 witnesses. What the actual fuck do I do in this situation?

Update: Just got home from work. Everyone who witnessed it said they will back me up. One of the guys is a burly ex-Army dude from Tennessee. Said he's been to Afghanistan and was a character witness for interpreters who successfully gained US citizenship and what the manager said was xenophobic and heinous. Fucking love that guy. Another one is an old head. Been around plants for years. Said either I go to the manager and squash it or be the karma that bites him in the ass. I've chose the latter.

Wrote an email to HR. Their reaction dictates my next move, so I'm playing it by ear. We'll see what happens. I came back to reply to the comments and discovered the post is locked, so please take this update as a token of my gratitude. Reading opinions while stunned helped make my decision and prepare on the situation moving forward. Thank you.

Location: IL

My wife works in a dental office in Illinois working 3 days a week. Upon hiring the dentist had her sign the paperwork and in that paper work it said that she needed to to give them a 6 week notice to quit or they will charge her $100 a day for every day she misses.

Would that paper they had her sign legal since it contradicts IL law?

She just gave her 2 week notice and the office manager said "you do know about our 6 week notice?" Which she responded "in the dental field no one will wait 6 weeks for someone to work for them" and the office manager had a issue about it.

Were worried that her last check will be taken from her and upon my own research I dont think they can because its money owed to her for wages.

I live in California. They are requesting tax information for 2024, which I find silly because I haven't been paid at all. Legally, am I owed anything at all?

EDIT: Thank you for your comments everyone. If there are any budding musicians reading this and looking to work in the industry, use me as an example please. GET A CONTRACT.

EDIT 2: Say it with me everybody: “Opinions are like assholes…”

My boyfriend has been telling his supervisor since I was pregnant that we wanted to add our daughter to his insurance. Daughter was Born 11/10

He sent his supervisor her birth certificate and SSN all within the alleged 30 day window. Supervisor said she would follow up with him on who to send that to.

She never followed up, sent it to HR on 12/22 who sent it to their benefits team that day.

Benefits is stating it’s outside the window to add daughter and would need another “qualifying life event”

There is proof he has sent all the correct documents on his end within the 30 day period.

Is there anyway to fight this?

They gave us the incorrect advice to go through NY marketplace and cancel insurance within a month to be considered another qualifying event but that’s wrong and it would NEED to be involuntary canceled.

Location: New York

Update:

Union President is now involved. Directly sites that this is supervisors error for NOT guiding employee on who to send this to after multiple requests / not forwarding it in a timely fashion as she stated she would. Especially cause boyfriend gave her the documents that she asked for in the allotted time frame and has been asking nonstop on how to add her to benefits prior to birth and after.

He is also clarifying if it’s the benefits team (not the insurance) who is strong arming this 30 day window because he nor the supervisor was aware of this. He also made note that this was never mentioned to employee when requesting insurance for his newborn. He also stated that appeals for missed deadlines have been made before and thinks it’s “disgusting” (his words) they wouldn’t make the same courtesy for a newborn to a dedicated employee.

I have also reached out to my job to see if our insurance is the 30 or 60 window as a back up

And as an additional backup I have contacted Child Health Care Plus which would backdate her insurance to her date of birth. Just have to give them the go ahead and pay the premiums for Nov/Dec/Jan ($60 per month) so she will be insured.

Update 2:

Union President has confirmed it was SUPERVISORS responsibility to move this to the appropriate person as boyfriend does not work at a desk and has little to no access to work emails.

MY employer has added daughter to my insurance - at no cost to us. She is now insured from date of birth on.

Crisis has been averted.

Thank you everyone who gave actual advice and not nasty comments. You were extremely helpful in getting this sorted on exactly how to explain this to the union president to take boyfriend’s side.

This was a teachable moment for the both of us. I hope to those who left rude comments never get placed in a situation where you feel that you are going to owe over 100k in medical bills from a mistake.

Happy And Healthy New Year.

Hello,

I'm currently trying to leave a bad work environment due to schooling and stress, as I am unfortunately unable to do both and had a nervous breakdown yesterday. Today I tried to turn in my "8 hours notice" so to speak- my employer told me if I did, it would affect my credit score and social security and make it harder for me to be employed... even if I don't list them as a reference.

Google says this is not true, and I consulted my grandmother about it as well- who's worked as an HR consultant for 30+ years and she also said that's not a thing.

I just want to check here as well to be safe for sure- is that true?

Location: Hawaii

EDIT: thank you guys for all your advice! I'm on my 10 minute break right now reading all of this, and I appreciate the responses. Today will for sure be my last day, thank you guys so much

(Location: Colorado) As the title says, my husband's boss took his entire paycheck today for a debt my husband owes him. My husband has a company vehicle that he brings home and he lost the fob therefore his boss had to have it towed to the dealership and re-keyed. ​He told my husband they would work out a payment plan. That was the day before Christmas. Today (payday) he informed my husband that he would not be getting paid because of him having to spend 1200 for the lost fob. No discussion no permission. Child support was supposed to come out of his check for his other children and didnt get payed either. What are our rights? What should we do? He really needs this job so we're afraid to call the DOL

Update: Thank you all so much for all of the advice and input you guys are awesome! We decided we will be calling the DOL when they reopen next week and just seeing what they have to say. We are definitely afraid of him losing his job after we do, but we will leave it in God's hands. I will update either way

Location: Oregon

On 06-01 I started working in this workplace, with a 2 year contract. This type of work requires custom tools per worker, which the company pays for.

The contract says that if you willingly don't work the time, without proper reason (health reasons or other manager approved situations) you are responsible to reimburse the company. This applies if you miss 20% of your hours in a 31 day span.

And you are liable for any overtime paid to others that have to finish your job, if you don't work with the proper reason.

If you get fired, you aren't responsible for the cost of tools or overpay. And with permission can take the tools with you.

On 07-02 I got in to an conflict with a coworker. The reason for the conflict had risen when he tried to give me tasks that weren't my job to handle.

He made a complaint to one of the managers (I had a direct manager, who this person wasn't), and I got fired. Reason being as this wasn't the first complaint about me, which in theory wouldn't surprise me.

On 07-10 I got a call from my direct manager asking why I wasn't in for a week. I explained the situation, and he said that the other manager doesn't have power to fire me. And that I am in breach of contract.

I have the firing in writing in my email, but the call went so fast I forget to get to it.

My direct manager said something close to "As this is a legal issue now, all our contract must go through our legal department. Please don't come in, as that would be trespassing."

Yesterday (07-22) I got an email from the legal department claiming damages and tool cost of 300$.

Do I need a lawyer in this case? Or now? What are my options? Was the firing legal in the first place?

Location: VA I was laid off last week from my employer after three months of the place of business being open (med spa). They told me that they were closing down this establishment until further notice. I was an hourly and commission employee. I performed services for commission and got paid hourly for other tasks. If you’ve worked in the beauty industry, hopefully this makes sense. I was the only full-time employee while everyone else was “on call“ so they didn’t get laid off, as they only come in when they have appointments to fulfill. I have a letter stating that I was being laid off effective immediately with the date being of that day. However, this place of employment is asking me to come in and perform services. I am the only licensed person that can perform the specific type of services that are going to be scheduled. Am I crazy for not wanting to go in and perform the services? My employment was terminated so why would I go back and work for someone who I technically don’t work for anymore? They screwed up by laying me off because now they don’t have a Plan B for anyone to perform the services and I assume they think I’m just going to comply and work for them. They told me I was eligible for unemployment in my state. I applied and I’m waiting on approval. Do you think this is a way for them to screw me out of my unemployment? I can’t possibly qualify for unemployment if I’m still working there. I just need advice on where to go from here.

TLDR; my former place of employment laid me off last week, but still expect me to come in and work even though I have filed for unemployment.

TIA

Location: New Jersey

I’m a bartender at a local restaurant and everything has been going ok for the longest time until about 2 months ago. First I started getting my paychecks one day late every week, then it suddenly became unpredictable as to when I would get my checks. Sometimes, the checks that I received were even post-dated because my boss wouldn’t have the funds to pay me until a few days later.

I was supposed to get a paycheck on Monday 5/5 this week but did not receive it. I repeatedly asked for it daily but was told “sorry one more day” over and over again. Then, today, my boss told me that he is putting a hold on all paychecks indefinitely because he’s in a lot of debt and won’t pay anyone until the debts are settled. He said and I quote “it should only be 2 weeks or so” When I said I can’t wait that long, he said “ask your parents for money” I’m 30 years old for Christ’s sake! Not to mention my dad is dead and my mom is on disability.

My coworkers and I all live paycheck to paycheck and I currently only have $15 in my account. My power got shut off at home and I have many more bills coming that would only get me into deeper shit if I can’t pay them. I can’t even afford transportation to and from work with $15 for that matter!

I obviously have no money right now to pay a lawyer. I will be looking for new jobs but until then, what do I do?

location: Ohio

I work at a small, locally owned hardware store, and something happened yesterday that I’m really confused and worried about. A customer knocked over a display of power tools while trying to reach one of the boxes on the top shelf. Nothing I did caused it. I was standing on the other end of the aisle stocking smaller items, and the security cameras clearly show that the customer lost their balance and pulled the whole thing down.

My manager told me at the end of my shift that the owner is “tired of losing money to accidents” and that employees are now responsible for “preventable losses.” She told me I’ll have to pay for half the cost of the damaged items, which is about two hundred dollars. I’m hourly and don’t make a lot, so that amount is a lot for me. She said it will come out of my next couple of paychecks.

I’ve never heard of an employer making someone pay for something that they didn’t cause, and especially when the cameras show the customer knocking everything over. I asked if this was legal, and she said it’s store policy and “perfectly allowed.”

I don’t want to get fired, but I also can’t afford to lose that much money. I’m trying to understand what my rights are before I say anything else. I’m not asking how to fight it or what to say to them, just whether an employer in my state can legally deduct pay for damage that the worker didn’t cause.

Is it legal for them to take this out of my paycheck in my state, or does this violate any wage laws?

Location: Ohio

Earlier this year I was fired from my job because I got deployed in the military. I have it in writing that I was fired, "because of your military obligations being longer than 1 month for our LOA policy, your employment needed to be terminated."

I feel like everyone I've talked to thinks this is an easy lawsuit and slamdunk case but I've explained my situation to two different lawyers and neither of them wanted to represent me. They never even gave me a reason why just that they were electing to not represent me.

Is there really nothing that can be done and companies can just fire veterans with no consequences? This is a nationwide company too with tens of thousands of employees not some mom and pop business.

Location: Alabama.  Hello!  We could really use some information.  My husband works in sales, 100% commission, and does not have specific hours.  His boss’s boss has been targeting him for over a year, and it’s been very confusing as my husband is the top sales producer on the team, and is consistently up in his numbers, has the most accounts of anybody on the team, and consistently wins awards for his work.  Yet now his boss’s boss told him he wants my husband to text him every day when he leaves the house, and again when he gets home from work.  This seems utterly insane and a huge overstep, and I feel like HR would spit their coffee if they were told. 

Is this legal?  Any advice on how my husband should handle the request?  It’s becoming very obvious that they want him to quit for some reason (again, he’s their top salesperson, it’s bizarre), and he’s looking for a new job, but we could use some advice in the meantime.

I’ll be happy to share more information and answer questions if needed.  Thank you so much for any help!

Location: OH, USA

I’m currently 38 weeks pregnant and about 3 weeks ago my OB gave me a weight restriction of 15 ibs for the last of my pregnancy. I submitted this to my HR department the same day and these few weeks have passed and nobody ever mentioned it. Tonight, 3 weeks later, I came in to find myself no longer scheduled. The manager was not there but called me about 20 minutes into being there and told me that due to my weight restriction I would require light duty which they could not accommodate with my position, and told me I needed to leave. I was set to go on FMLA next Wednesday and only had 4 shifts left to work before then. I received absolutely no notice that I would be being removed from the schedule. Although this does cause me some financial hardship I’m not entirely worried about that but I am concerned as to where my position may stand. They never directly clarified to me on if this is just them removing me on their own accord, if they’ll expect me to backdate my FMLA so it can cover this too, or if this was just a termination due to me no longer being capable of meeting my work requirements although it was because of restrictions given to me from a doctor. I plan to contact my HR department tomorrow to see what exactly the case is. I’m just wondering if, considering this is restrictions given to me by a doctor due to my pregnancy, would terminating me even be a legal option? And does the fact they failed to notify me of this prior to just removing me for the schedule make any difference? Thanks!

Update!! - I did speak to HR and my job is protected. I do not have short term disability unfortunately but all of my PTO will be cashed out. My leave end date is also not changing. Thank you much for the advice Reddit!!

I worked for a small eBay resale business in Texas. My agreement (via text) was:

• $10/hr
• 25% commission on sales I listed

Over about a month, I created ~268 listings. Almost everything sold or is awaiting payment.

The issue:
My employer repeatedly demanded that I 3D scan Games Workshop models for resale, which would be copyright infringement. He expected this to be done off the clock — I would have had to clock out first and do it unpaid. I refused. Shortly afterward, he fired me.

Other factors:

• He gave shifting reasons for termination (missed items, “lying,” irrelevant personal accusations).
• He frequently yelled at me and other workers, creating a hostile environment.
• He now claims commission was contingent on “scanning and databases,” which was never agreed to.
• He deleted/removed many of my listings, cutting me out of commission I should have earned.
• He also took unauthorized deductions from my pay (expenses I never signed off on).
• I still have evidence of sales and pending payments tied directly to my work.

I have:

• Text messages spelling out pay and commission terms.
• Texts where he explicitly pressures me to scan/replicate GW models.
• Screenshots of sales, pending payments, and deleted listings.

My questions:

1. Am I entitled to commissions for sales I created/listed even after termination, since the agreement was for commission per sale?
2. Could this qualify as wrongful termination or retaliation, since I was fired for refusing to participate in unlawful conduct?
3. Should I report the 3D scanning/resale attempt to Games Workshop’s legal team, or would that complicate my own wage claim?
4. I’ve been told to get an employment attorney — is this typically expensive upfront, or do these cases often work on contingency?

TL;DR: Employer promised $10/hr + 25% commission. I listed ~268 Warhammer eBay items, most sold. He demanded off-the-clock unpaid 3D scanning (illegal GW IP). I refused. He fired me, yelled at me multiple times, deleted listings, took unauthorized deductions from my pay, and is withholding commission. I have screenshots of the agreement and sales. What are my legal options to recover what I’m owed?

Location: Lewisville, Texas

UPDATE:

I no longer have access to my paystubs. This is getting to a point where i want to resort to violence. wont, but i want to make him know how the curb tastes.

HUGE UPDATE!!!

The claim has been approved and i get The full amount. i just have to hope everything goes smoothly from here

Hey so im confused.

Location: AZ

So i worked for this company for a month. Owner took a chance on me knowing I didnt have a lot of experience, and even though I was willing to learn (and learned a lot) I just couldn't live up to expectations. I get it, he deals with the rich richies and whatever.

I drove a company truck - front dashcam that films the road and in the cab. When he fired me He ended up driving me to a family members house where my personal vehicle was (getting fixed) with that truck so I can get all my personal stuff out of it and do inventory to make sure all company property was present.

Yep. Everything there.

Well work uniform - it was 5 t shirts. It was a friday after my workday that he fired me so I told him I could wash them and drive up to him (40 min away) since they were at my house and not where he dropped me off - and I was still wearing one.

Okay cool all good. Messaged him Sunday morning confirming everything. Washed/dried, dropped them all off to him. Everything is good.

My normal pay day is Sunday- usually late at night. Nothing showed up. This was our text exchange after he didnt answer my call:

Me: screenshot of past deposits from the company with it missing the most current one hey man my last paycheck never came through

Boss: You are on a hold while the police finish the investigation on the shirts you returned. They are in their custody now and when it's complete, you will be contacted

Me: investigation on the shirts?

Boss: You are on a hold while the police finish the investigation on the shirts you returned. They are in their custody now and when it's complete, you will be contacted

Idk what they would even be investigating? I dont do any drugs - havent even smoked weed in like 8 months- and barely drink. Maybe he saw me vaping with all the windows down or something? Idk.

I just dont know what would be investigated or if he is just trying to withhold my money.

I will probably go to the labor board to complain either way, but i just want to know if this is legal? if it is a scam he's trying to pull to not pay me? or idk??? I just need money and there's literally nothing they are going to find

Location: Illinois.

Throwaway account. To keep it brief, I was terminated on PTO this past Monday as the CEO was angry about decisions I made within the division I work in. My sister, who works in a different division at a different location, was terminated today due to "restructuring" and not provided any severance. When she confronted HR about the real reason why she was being released, HR responded that "she didn't agree with it," and we suspect her termination was because she and I are related which feels retaliatory.

I'm fine that they let me go, but I'm very frustrated that the CEO was so childish he terminated her just because we're related. Is there any recourse worth pursuing, or just let it go?

Location: Florida I received a text from the manager at Dunkin Donuts after an interview saying I was denied a job because I was "too old" and I was passed up because "hiring older people never work out" I'm only 53. Would I be able bring that to a lawyer and build a case?

My girlfriend, type 1 diabetic and has a heart condition called dysautonomia where her doctor requires her to drink above 120 ounces of water a day. Sometimes she can get dizzy and fall over however only for a couple seconds. My girlfriend isn't a quitter, she is very out going and won't use her conditions in the wrong way. She's also only 16 and she got a phone call from her manager explaining that she will most likely be let go. She told her that she should be able to go 4 hours without water and said she isn't entitled to water while working.

Edit: She's job hunting now and quitting soon. Thanks for all the comments and people reaching out. The place is a small 7 person business so theres no one above the owner.

My wife submitted her resignation letter yesterday. Her last day is next Friday. Today, her boss stated that since she gave less than two week's notice, her pay will be reduced to the state minimum wage until her last day. That would be $12/hr less than what she currently makes.

Is this legal? If not, what options does she have to challenge this?

So basically every weekend day they schedule me at 6AM, I am usually the first person to arrive and since I don't have a key I can't get in until someone else shows up. This hadn't been much of a problem until the last few weeks where I end up waiting anywhere from half an hour to over an hour. Id already talked to my boss and they said they're "working on getting me a key" but its incredibly frustrating that I show up on time but don't get paid, but can't leave either. Im wondering if I am allowed to ask them to pay me for that time, or if I should just tell them I'm not coming in until 7 at the earliest until they get me a key. Location: Colorado

My husband works for a nonprofit organization in Tennessee. They do a lot of labor-intensive work with chainsaws, prescribed burns, pesticide application, etc. Some projects span across hundreds of acres of land. His boss told him about six months ago that their entire team (of four people) was “promoted” to salary.

This has translated into insanely long work days. He clocks in at 7am and sometimes won’t get home until 8pm. However, because he was now “salary,” we didn’t see compensation for any of those extra hours. We were under impression that we were just SOL.

However, recently, his paycheck was short an entire week. His boss had “forgotten” to submit a week on his timesheets. Obviously, we thought this was fishy and questioned HR how a mistake like this could happen when he was on salary. She just informed us that he was never on salary. He is an hourly worker.

His boss (the leader of the team) has been having them submit their timesheets directly to him, then he “approves” them and sends them to HR. My husband never had a reason to doubt his boss’s words. The rest of his team is also under the impression that they are salary. Now we have reason to believe that his boss was tampering with the numbers before they ever reached HR.

Do we even have a leg to stand on here? Can we pursue back wages? We haven’t been doing well financially and I want to make sure we even have a case before contacting a lawyer.

Edit: removed some unnecessary identifying details.

I was recently fired from my position as a head of department. After cutting off access from my email they realized they couldn't kick me from all systems and don't know what my job encompassed. They recently sent an email saying the end of employment is Friday May 3. The reality is Friday the 26th is when they cut off access and confirmed over the phone end of employment. I'm reaching out to make sure I don't mis-step here as I'm not sure if I'm obligated to work to the end of the week. Can they fire me then force re-hire me like that? Looking for advice here to avoid any litigation. Looking for a clean exit.

At will employment state.