What laws protect me and what rights do i have against someone who doesn’t want to pay me
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What laws protect me and what rights do i have against someone who doesn’t want to pay me
I have been working for about 48
days now, 3 to 7 days a week and i
havent recieved any pay, i have 2
kids and been told i was to be
paid the 25 of October then the
date was changed to the 45th day
of labor and was changed to in
between the 31st of October and
the 4th of november, to this day i
havent recieved any pay and i was
just fired for not having enough
gas to go to work
Asked on November 5, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
There's nothing you can do about the firing, unless your firing violated the terms of a written contract guarantying or protecting your job. In the absence of a written contract, all employment is "employment at will," which means, unfortunately, that you could be fired at any time, for any reason whatsoever.
However, you must be paid for the work you did. The employer/employee relationship is fundamentally a contractual one, even in the absence of a written contract. While, as stated, without a written contract, you have no protection going forward (e.g. from being terminated), you must be paid for all work you in fact did. That is because you did work according or pursuant to an agreement, even if only an oral or unwritten one, under which you agreed to work in exchange for pay. If you did your part--you worked--the employer is contractually obligated to do his part and pay you.
You could contact your state department of labor to file a wage and hour complaint; they may be able to help you. If they don't or are simply being very slow (which is possible; they are a government agency, after all), you could sue your employer for "breach of contract" for the money. If the total due to you is within the upper limit for small claims court, suing in small claims, as your own attorney ("pro se") to save money is a very good option; otherwise, hire an attorney to help you. Good luck.
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