I work in construction. New job (extra money since I’m never super busy during these hours). Paid cash. Started last Friday. I work weekdays from 8-4. Payday is each Friday, which is today. Note that we’re paid for that week worked, not the previous week.
Yesterday after work I was told to drive to a job site (15 miles) in my own vehicle (normally picked up) and told to “wait” until my boss shows up. The boss is the contractor. I showed up this morning at 7:40 to begin my wait…
Come 8:20 I call my boss and ask what’s up - “Just moving a couple of things still (relocating to new apt) and I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Says the boss…
Ok, no problem. I continue waiting in my car…
Come 10:00 I call back again - “Sorry I’m running late. Just hold tight, I’ll be there shortly…” Say’s the boss…
Ok… I continue waiting…
Come 12:30 he calls back…
“Hey, where you at? I’m at your house…”
“I’m parked at the job site.”
“Why are you over there?”
“You told me to be here at 8” (I mentioned this to him also in those first 2 calls, he knew I was here)…
“Well, I thought you were here… Just head on back here”
“Okay…”
Now, I head back, it’s around 1:15 by the time I show up. The boss calls me outside to pay me. He asks what my hours were so I told him the times I worked… Already kind of annoyed about waiting in my car 5 hours (though not showing it) I say “I’ll be getting paid for this morning’s 5 hour wait, correct?” … “No. I don’t pay my workers unless they are working” Say’s the boss…
Ok. Stop… Wouldn’t this mean I don’t get paid for times we are waiting for material at Home Depot, driving to job sites, etc etc etc… Where in the hell does he pull this line from!.. If you’re paying me by “the job” why am I being payed “hourly”… straight nonsense…
I’ll spare the rest of what I did because I want your opinions on this… At the moment he said “No, I won’t be paying you”, what would you have done?.. I’ll reveal what I did later…
Oh hell no! You were told to go somewhere at a specific time. IMO, you were on the clock as of 8:00 as usual. You called him, he said he would be there shortly. Either he pays me or I would be done with him.
You mention that you are normally picked up, but that you drove. Unless you have a clearly stated agreement with your boss regarding milage, I would just suck that up.
Yeah, what she said. Or, as a late friend of mine liked to say, “Shit on that noise.”
Unfortunately, as you seem to be working under the table, I don’t see what recourse you have – either suck it up or walk, I guess, unless you can convince the boss of the error of his ways.
“so, monday, tuesday, wednesday from 8-4 and thursday 8-2, that’s 28 hours…” He said…
As he popped that off that was icing on the cake… When I corrected his error he was startled by it… surprised that he didn’t slip it passed me.
As the other 2 stated, I left… and didn’t take any of the money, none… he kept insisting I take my “earned” money but while offering that he was wanting me to shake his hand as confirmation I’d continue working for him… Fuck it. “Keep your money - consider this work free-of-charge”… I said…
While trying to leave he says “Go home and cool off, I’m going to drop your money off at your house after work. I want you to have this since you earned it.”…
Well, go fucking figure, ass hole didn’t show up with the money, or call… I’m so surprised by that… :rolleyes:
(Under the terms of ‘He drops the money off and doesn’t have the impression I’ll continue working’, I wouldn’t mind taking my money, but other than that I don’t really give a shit. I can’t stand having drama in my life. Especially stupid kiddy bullshit drama.)
It’s just funny how this is a guy who has a wife, 4 kids, and is a hard-core Christian… The only book this guy is reading, IMO, is The Book of Lies… It’s the only thing he seems to know how to do.
People get paid for not working all day. No worker is 100% utilized.
If you are on the clock 100 hours, you probably did measurable work for about 75% of that actual time. Employers can never grasp this concept. He simply underutilized you. Sometimes, you get 85 or 90% utilization for periods from workers, and sometimes, due to meetings, poor scheduling or work flow, it falls to 50%…or worse.
You should be paid, and he should realize what a crappy job he did scheduling you and utilizing you.
Yep. I if he didn’t have work for you, and didn’t want to pay you, the very least he should have done was sent you home. Better yet, he should have paid for the time you spend driving there and back.
I would have taken the money he was offering. Once safely ensconced in my wallet, I would say, “I still consider the time I spent waiting here at your direction time for which you owe me my wages, if I don’t have that by close of business Monday, I will be filing a claim with the Wage and Hour Division of the State Department of Labor.”