Can I sue my employer despite never signing an employee contract?
My wife took a job in Minnesota at a family-owned grocery store. All of the employees are paid under-the-table, but she insisted on a proper paycheck because she is a green card holder and will soon be seeking naturalization. When she got her first paycheck (late) the pay was lower than previously agreed upon, and no overtime pay despite 51 hours of work in 6 days. The store owner also left the pay period blank (one week) on the paycheck statement, perhaps to avoid legal action as a result of no overtime pay. When my wife asked where her overtime pay went, the boss said, "Sorry, but we don't pay overtime." That night, my wife began to search for a better job, and when she was hired at a legitimate company, she gave one day's notice and quit. The shop owner was mad, and hasn't issued my wife anymore paychecks. She says that she hasn't had time to go to the bank, and offered to lend my wife some cash. The shop owner owes my wife over $1,000. We had to ask our apartment complex to let us pay rent late.
Can we file a claim with the MN Department of Labor Standards? My wife never signed any contracts prior to working. The only paper proof we have is the shady payslip.
Comments
In Minnesota, at a small grocery store, there would be no contract to sign prior to working there.
My guess is the family that owns the store is not American and they may not be familiar with U.S. laws governing businesses and employees.
If you wife can document the hours she was not paid for, you should to online to the Minnesota Dept of Labor website. You will find a form to fill out and submit to them stating that the employer owes you wages and he refuses to pay. That's your only option.
Overtime is not a requirement, so she may not get that. But if she worked hours she was not paid for, she has a valid complaint.
The law is that they have to pay employees on the next scheduled pay date for wages earned.
I'd say you could report this company to the Department of Labor and even to your state's Attorney General saying that this grocery store pays under the table, therefore doesn't pay taxes. Surely if this grocery store has a business license they must pay taxes so maybe they don't even have a business license, and maybe they have more than 10 people working there and should even be paying Unemployment Compensation, but at any rate they are against the law..
There's more than one problem here, and that's if the grocery store is not a legal company then they wouldn't legally be able to tell anyone that your wife worked there so that might be a problem with her naturalization. So I'd say for further information to contact an attorney that does international work to ask where she now stands with regard to her naturalization.
This store owner feels they can do what they want and their policy is not to pay overtime. Frankly I never heard of a grocery store having any contract employees, they normally only have hourly workers. Sure if she was hourly and if she worked for an authentic business she could or should get overtime pay "if they asked her to work overtime" however an attorney would probably say you can't collect anyway if they say no, and they probably would say no since they are now angered because she would turn them in to the government because they are doing business illegally. Get the picture???? Perhaps you could even take that store to court, but even if you did no money would be forthcoming because if it's under $1,000 no attorney is needed and therefore they wouldn't have one and they'd just get a judgment, a lien, and they'd keep doing what they're doing with not paying your wife.
I'd say instead of her causing a lot more problems for herself that she find herself a legitimate employer. And contact an attorney quickly. Remember, what you're trying to solve is the naturalization and not the money.
whether or not there was a violation will depend on what laws cover this business,
federal law only covers interstate businesses and larger employers (over $500,000.00 a year gross revenue) as well as health-care providers, schools, and government agencies ....
see:
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs14.htm
so lets assume that just the state law applies:
the employer sets the work week, the work week may not be Sunday through Saturday so it is very possible that the six days worked were NOT all in the same week therefore NO overtime....
add to that under MN law overtime is only paid after 48 hours.... so it is possible that if she took breaks and they were unpaid (any break in excess of 20 minutes may be unpaid) that she did NOT work over 48 hours.....
this link is for information concerning MN labor laws:
http://www.dli.mn.gov/Laborlaw.asp
having a contract is irrelevant, for more information and help filing a wage claim:
[email protected]
i am not implying that this employer is in the right, just explaining that there may not be any labor laws violated,
it is NOT illegal to pay employees in cash as long as proper records are kept
see: http://www.dli.mn.gov/LS/Pay4Hours.asp,
and payroll taxes are paid.....
the state will help you determine the legalities here based on ALL the relevant facts
hmm... thats a difficult question, because all the employes are paid under the table that could be viable, but at the same time it could be overrun due to the fact that it is family owned. Now due to your story you DO HAVE Justification to Fight it, not enough to sue them i would say but you can get the law involved and at least get the money from them, but there aren't enough grounds to actually sue them. But the last part is still tentative. Is your wifes hours documented of her working of which you are trying to get the money from. If she isn't i'm sorry but i don't know what else to tell you man. But if her hours are documented if you can get a hold of those papers and a document relationg to the companies payouts you should be good to go and are on grounds to fight it. I don't know exactly who you would bring that to, but you would be in good shape. Best of Luck to you.
it sounds like they are abusing employees and not fulfilling their obligations as a company. This has legal potential for compensation.
Good luck.
an employer does not have to pay over time,, they just have to pay their employees. is she is doing everything legal she should all the labor board in her state and talk to them..