Virginia labor question

[OrangeSkin]

I have a question concerning labor in Virginia because something about the following situation just smells wrong...

OK, my son is attending The University of Mary Washington...he's a sophomore and is working on campus. He started work in late August, and the first payday was supposed to be today (Oct. 4).

So he has direct deposit, checks his account, no paycheck.

He goes to payroll, they tell him that his supervisor turned in his timesheet late, and he won't be getting paid until the next pay period which is three weeks from now. They have no sympathy, it's basically just tough ****.

That's two full months without pay. Isn't this against some labor law? How the hell can you work two months without one paycheck? Is there anything that can be done? I'm just kind of pissed off at the administration about the situation.

Any lawyers want to give me some info?

[OrangeSkin]

Bump - Anyone?

[JMS]

you need to figure out where the company is incorporated. Typically there are state and federal laws which would prohibit this type of action. I would call the federal labor commission and the labor commission of the state where the company were incorporated and discuss with them what actions I could take. I might also find myself a lawyer willing to write a letter for 50-100$ to the company.


I wouldn't let this slip because im my experience companies which will do something messed up like this are hiding the fact that they are themselves on shakey ground financially. My sister had this happen to her way back in the day. She was a life guard and the company she worked for declaired bankrupcy every year just as the pools closed in order to ace the kids out of there last paychecks.

[Buddy Dude]

Terminix, Lowe's home office, Office Max delivery, and HRSD, all with whom I had offers from in the past, made it clear that they withold the first 6 weeks.


My guess is your boy is **** outta luck, as much as it sucks.

[Corcaigh]

Whether legal or not, that's a ridiculous excuse. They can cut a check for him anytime they want.

[JMS]

Whether legal or not, that's a ridiculous excuse. They can cut a check for him anytime they want.

Most companies cut checks only periodically. But that period typically is weekly, not monthly.

[sacase]

Whether legal or not, that's a ridiculous excuse. They can cut a check for him anytime they want.

Seems to me they can't do this. They are denying him access to money he has earned and by keeping it from him they are earning interest on money that is not theirs. So he should get a little something extra. :)

But seriously, check with the local government. I had a problem with a company that didn't pay me when I quit. I had to go through them to get my final check. it took a minute but hey its money.

[Corcaigh]

Most companies cut checks only periodically. But that period typically is weekly, not monthly.

That's their policy, nothing more. Of course most businesses do it with a certain frequency to minimize admin effort.

They can cut him a check any time they want. An employer who pulls this kind of stunt doesn't care a damn about its employees.

[OrangeSkin]

Thanks for the advice guys...

I should clarify that he isn't working for a company, he's working for the University. He has a job on campus. I don't know if that changes anything or not.

[Popeman38]

I wonder what would happen if you said the same thing about a tuition payment?

"You cut the bill late, you will have to wait till next semester."

[Mark The Homer]

Is the student on some kind of scholarship? That might complicate things.

[JMS]

Thanks for the advice guys...

I should clarify that he isn't working for a company, he's working for the University. He has a job on campus. I don't know if that changes anything or not.

At least you know he's going to get his money form the University of Mary Washington. Again however the laws regarding W-2 employment are rather strict and are heavily slanted in favor of the employee. It seems unreasonable to hold the employee fiscally responsible for the failure of their manager, their representative, to do his job correctly inside their system.

I would definitely call the labor department and talk to one of their councelors as to your rights.

I would definitely write a letter as a parrent to the manager involved as well as to the next three or four levels of responsible people in his chain of authority including the President of the University.

Likewise you might write a note to the schools newspaper as if your son is having this problem it's likely other students are too.


The ultimate solution one your son might be interested in would be to sue in small claims court. I've done this to large companies in the past and it's a very fun and morally rewarding exersize. It costs about 50$ to file a suit and have the opponent served. You can represent yourself, typically they hire lawyers; which in itself costs them money and is incentive to settle. The two times I've done it were to recover business depts and employment debts. In both cases the companies involved failed to show up to the hearing and I won because of their failure to appear. That's when the real fun starts. Then you get to have the county sherrif go to their place of business and start to inventory their phisical assets on the premises for seizure ( computers desks chairs). AT&T's lawyer was on the phone with me the next day to pay me my money. I of course insisted on a cashier's check rather than a company check and wanted it in my hand before l called off the impending confiscation of equipment from their offices.

I would add however I didn't have to attend classes at AT&T for the forseeable future and filing a small claims case is an escalation. It's also possible that the check could be delivered prior to the case coming to court, however small claims courts move pretty quickly. Lastly there is a limit to the money one can ask for in small claims court. Under 1000$ I believe. Although you can also sue for interest on the money, especially if you can show that you have a credit card balance or something that you could have applied the money too. Basically saying their failure to pay, caused me to incure this interest payment.

Anyway... small claims court is a county issue, so you would go to the seat of the county government to file your case.

[zoony]

So was it you, or your son? :)

[GOSKINS_08]

haha..These bumps are great.

[Mark The Homer]

Wow, how many of these are gonna come to surface now? This should be interesting (in a fun way). :)

[SkinInsite]

You should feel angry because those people lied to you!

And we all know what happens to liars don't we.

[Xameil]

we point and laugh?