Another scenario that is possible here is that the laptops were stolen, employer called the cops, and the cops wanted to interview the employees. Employer then realized that it might not be smart to have his under-the-table illegal employee being questioned by the police, and gave you the axe and totally disassociated himself with you. In short, you went from being an asset to a liability overnight.
You had better file taxes on that money though. If not for ethical reasons, than because he may decide to expense you as a contractor to lower his taxes. All he has to do is write up some invoices from you billing him for your work. That could create a trail that will lead the IRS right back to you if there’s an audit (and this guy sounds like the prime candidate for an audit…).
So then the IRS could come to you and ask if you worked for so-and-so between these dates, and were paid X amount of money. If you say yes, then you’d better have claimed the income on your taxes.
Speaking as an IT manager, seeing something like this (reporting bad/illegal practices) is a BONUS on a resume–it tells me I’m hiring someone with a shred of ethics.
…I could’ve offered you a job in the Bellefonte/State College area if this was two weeks ago, but I just hired someone here.
I wouldn’t try that if I were in your position without talking to a lawyer. You were being paid cash under the table, and whether this might constitute crimes by you or the employer or both, is a question for some competent, local attorney. Certainly before you start filing claims to some government agency.
Actually, that’s been my best theory since the beginning (or when he first started flaking out on me). AKAIK, everyone else working at the time was legal. When I first started working there, the owner told me that his policy was to pay employees in cash for the first few months, then fill out the proper forms later.
No biggie. I’m 100 miles away from State College and my car is already over 100,000 miles, so it probably wouldn’t have worked out even if this had happened earlier. Thanks anyway, though. And GO NITTANY LIONS!
As for those suggesting I apply for unemployment benefits, I think I’ll pass. I can barely afford cigarettes, let alone an attorney!
Oh, and when I say “owner,” I actually mean “CEO.” Alliance is a corporation, though I’m not sure if it’s publically traded, and I’m not sure if that makes any difference in the responses I’m getting.
Guess what I didn’t find in the mail today. Yeah. The paycheck that was supposedly mailed on Friday from ten miles away. Since this was a holiday weekend, the post office could have been running behind, so I can give him the benefit of the doubt for another couple of days before I email him again.
Call me crazy, but somehow this turn of events does not surprise me in the least.
On the cash payments: Do you know if other employees were paid cash? or via check? There’s nothing inherently illegal in being paid cash, as far as I know, as long as the appropriate records are kept. One of my first jobs in fact - not far from you (Murphy’s at Harrisburg East Mall, many years ago) paid via an envelope full of cash each week. However - everything was documented, the envelope listed gross pay and deductions. and withholdings were taken. Somehow I imagine this was not done in your situation!
Nope, that wasn’t done in my situation. The longer-term employees were paid by check, shorter term by cash. A guy who started in the showroom a week after me got the same treatment that I did.
Oops. Let me clear up a couple of ambiguous statements in the previous post. When I say “shorter term,” I mean more recent hires, not temporary employees. And when I say “got the same treatment that I did,” I mean he didn’t fill out any forms and got paid in cash, not that he was fired; he still works there.
I might consult an attorney before cashing it, who knows what he might say you agreed to do, or not to do as a condition of accepting that money. Just a thought.
I’ve already made two copies of the check, and no, the only thing the “For” line shows is a $65 deduction for a power supply I bought from the store on credit while still employed there.
Doesn’t sound worth the hassle. They can pay you cash as long as they report it by tax-time. If the kids belong to the employers they can work at any age.
