How doI obtain my wages that my former employer is witholding?
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How doI obtain my wages that my former employer is witholding?
I had an independent contract with a company to sweep consumers parking lot. Because one consumer found out that the company was lying about using a truck to sweep the premises and using me to manually sweep they wasn’t satisfied and ended the contract. The company told me that I wasn’t getting paid because of that. I said okay however that was only one site and I had several more sites that I did and never gotten paid for. How can I get my owed funds?
Asked on December 1, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If you did the work which you contracted to do in accordance with the terms of the contract, you must be paid for it. For example, say that the contract that you had with the company did not specify that you had to use a truck to sweep; in that case, you did not breach the contract and must be paid for the work. On the other hand, if you violated the terms of your contract, the company may be justified in withholding the money. (Note: it doesn't matter if the company's own customers were happy or not, or whatever might be in a contract between this company and its customers--*all* that matters is the terms of your contract with them).
So if you complied with your contract, you must be paid; if they won't pay you voluntarily, you may sue them for breach of contract, to recover the money. Depending on the amount, you may choose to represent yourself (possibly suing in small claims court) rather than hiring an attorney).
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