always pay your guys
this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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for real. not making payroll is fucking nuclear and his reputation should be torched. definitely collect any documentation/pictures of timecards, save copies of communications with him/others and try to avoid voice conversations... make him put his communication in writing.
I have had two employers pull shit like this. each time I was new to the area, so I didn't have a context for their shadiness and took them at their word. even when it was literally several years later, i made sure everyone knew how scummy and incompetent they were for the rest of the time I lived in that part of the country.
when I was a known quantity in the community as a reasonable, friendly, highly competent worker and their name came up or they appeared at some function, I would point them out to everyone and tell the story. people love that kind of gossip and of course the way they treated me wasn't some outlier, but I wanted to make sure their reputation never recovered over time.
people like that need their teeth kicked in.
Genuinely baffling. You're a capitalist! The system is already rigged in your favor! Fucking with payroll may hurt your employees immediately, but down the line it hurts you the most.
There's a certain type of bottom tier capitalist I call a "hustler" type - always cooking up a new scheme, moving money around, and taking out loans they can't afford. As long as they can keep juggling all that, everybody gets paid. The second that changes, all creditors have to get in line and of course they are much more afraid of banks than workers
I've been playing coy. Only phone conversation was when I originally called to ask why I hadn't been paid. Everything else is via text, including his promises to pay me this weeks wages in addition to next weeks and asking to stay on while he sorts it out. Even got a text where he promised to pay me half my check tomorrow.
The owner of the shop showed up to work this past Monday with another quad cab GMC Sierra Denali, a 90k truck.
He also informed me he will pay me an additional weeks pay if I will stay on.
I'm guessing the promise was purely oral.
No, that one was thru text actually. Doesn't matter, I've already left and been hired on elsewhere to start Tuesday. I'm thankful the work I do is always in demand and I've never really had a problem with finding new work.
No, that one was thru text actually.
Wow, he was greedy and dumb.
Your ability to not take shit from people is truly admirable
I'm fortunate that I'm good at what I do, and I have been at it long enough that I can get hired on mostly anywhere. I'm pretty well rounded; lots of residential work, fair bit of commercial, I can read prints, I have my med gas cert, and I've been at it a long fucking time. I learned from some real old school ball busters who've all gone tits up by now, but the knowledge they gave me is what allows me to walk off, and find new digs elsewhere.
I'm starting somewhere else Tuesday. Already hired on.
I'd see if the GCs wanna hire you directly, people don't want to be in business with folks who are going bankrupt
Your company is going bankrupt by the way in case it isn't obvious
Oh hell yeah it's going bankrupt. I've been thinking about it all day, and I think there were signs I just overlooked.. I've more or less been given carte Blanche to do what I need to do without having to justify expenditures for the most part, but lately they've been pecking me to death over stuff like buying ice and water for the day on the company card. The company card has changed twice. The company gas card has changed twice. I've gone to buy pipe and fittings at supply houses and our shop accounts have had 60+ day balances and had to use the company credit card instead.
I got asked once to go ahead and pay for a 1,200 dollar order and they would have a check to reimburse me that afternoon. I'm not that stupid fortunately.
Dude's gonna lose his shiny new toy pretty quickly when he realizes his meal tickets all just quit.
nobody wants to work anymore!
Collect any documentation you have, send to your union, Labor department, and file in small claims court.
Annihilate this motherfucker.
And save the documents and messages for if/when you claim unemployment
Filed complaint with DOL, have a lunch planned tomorrow with a customer of mine I do side work for, who happens to be an employment lawyer coincidentally. I'll ask about small claims court as well. I didn't think about that.
Fuck that guy
Mashallah. Proud of you for taking a stand and getting out of there. Sucks you might not get those wages ever but better than waiting around
Fuck that guy. I hope the GCs see what's going on as well and drop him.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Take him to small claims. Some states have add'l damages for late wages, although that's typically for direct employees instead of contractors. IDK your status.
GO NUCLEAR 
Already filed a DOL complaint, have screenshots of all texts sent and received concerning my rubber check. The company is an LLC, so I'm not sure what that entails as far as the owners actual risks, but I'm gonna get my fucking money.
hell yeah, get 'em
Are you a member of a union? If you are you should get in touch with them immediately. Scummy employers often miraculously find extra money behind the couch when they get a threatening letter from a union lawyer. At least that's what happened when I was in that situation once.
Scaring the bastard into paying up will be your best chance of getting your money. If he can't make payroll he's definitely going bankrupt very soon.
I wish I was union. There's not much to speak of as far as union presence in the backwaters of south Texas.
I have a lunch meeting with a client of mine I do side work for who is an employment lawyer. Looking forward to what she has to say about it. It's only going to cost me lunch.