Human Resource Blog

Compensation for expenses and labor

	Compensation
Employee Payroll Action Form W-4 Employee Withholding Allowance Cert. Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Direct Deposit Form Total Compensation Summary

I work as a service tech and travel all over Florida in my private vehicle. My agreement was for $440 a week plus all expenses; $65/Hr for work that can be billed to a customer or vendor; $28/Hr for work that comes out of the bosses pocket. My problem is he still owes my for over $4000 from 2007 for wages and expenses and I can’t get these guys to address this issue. In addition, now he wants to renege on the what our original agreement and short pay me on jobs at the lower rate. I an not going to budge on this and may get the state of Florida involved since this has been going on too long.

How can I get my money from this guy…???

You can try to sit down with the employer and discuss the discrepancies between what you have been paid and what you think you are owed. But, it seems probable that this employer is not going to pay you without outside intervention.

Although Florida has a minimum wage law, the Agency for Workforce Development has no enforcement arm. So generally, Florida employees seek relief through the courts, or through the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. If you have not been paid at all for some of the hours worked, then the federal Wage and Hour Division is probably your best bet. Unfortunately, if you have been paid a lower rate than agreed, they can probably not help you. That’s because the $28 per hour is well above the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour – and the federal agency only enforces that law.

Another alternative would be to take the employer to court. You can do this without an attorney if you go to small claims court. Small claims court handles wage actions of $5,000 or less. It’s important to pursue this matter as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the worse it looks.