working in a bar.

[Banned_Princess]

She was an employee, plain and simple. It's irrelevant that the employer chose to break the law and not treat her as such.

However.

As an employee, she must be paid no less frequently than semi-monthly and no more than seven days after the end of the pay period (no matter what pay frequency the employer uses).

So, in order for the NY DOL to get involved, she'd have to wait until whenever that was supposed to be, THEN file a wage claim.
http://www.labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/wp/LS223.PDF

There is also a dedicated task force in NY handling employee misclassification issues.
New York State Department of Labor - Misclassification of Workers

Why would you EVER think about contacting this company on her behalf? If she's old enough to tend bar, she's old enough to handle this herself.

thank you Ma'am. now this is the kind of answer i needed.

If the frequency the employer uses, is the day of the shift, then my sister can report it tomorow? or should she err on the side of caution and wait till next saturday?

I will just sit with her and coach her on standing up for herself, and write her cue cards. she will contact the owner, she will demand tro be paid the full amount of minimum wage for the 8 hours she worked. she will tell him, if he doesnt pay her by friday in full, she will contact the state sites you suggested. -she will get paid, then turn in the business to the labor board or whatever for employing people under the table, and then not paying them. (thats for making her walk home and not allowing her to use the phone to call for help.)

Thank you patty thank you.

 

[stealth2]

And she should expect the bar owner to tell her she drank her pay.

She apparently filled out no paperwork indicating she was an employee.

 

[pattytx]

I can pretty much guarantee you that the workers who are currently being paid as employees are NOT paid at the end of every shift. At the very least, they are paid weekly.

Nobody "made her walk home". Since when is the company (employee or not) responsible for seeing that workers get to work on time, or get home by some particular method? She doesn't have a cell phone? There wasn't a pay phone within that 5 miles?

 

[stealth2]

I wonder how Sissy thought she was going to get home at 4am?

 

[Banned_Princess]

And she should expect the bar owner to tell her she drank her pay.

She apparently filled out no paperwork indicating she was an employee.

Ahh, that is all compleately irrelivant. she was a misclassified employee, she was drinking, but it is illegal to withold wages to pay a debt to the company.


I will just advise her to tell the employee to Prrrove it, if thats what he says. she can prove she was working there with pictures and testimony from prople who were at the bar, how is the employer going to prove or even show that she was drinking for free, when he told her she could drink while on the job. she could have accuired those drinks in any number of ways. bar goers buy drinks for the tender all of the time, and lots of the patrons that night were friends and accuaintenses [sic] of hers. [my spell check is missing]

too late anyway, i have already sent her a message as to what to say, who to say it to and who to contact when she is done.

 

[Banned_Princess]

I wonder how Sissy thought she was going to get home at 4am?

I dont know how you could be so thick headed. she was going to get a cab. c'mon lets keep up, she was going to be paid, then she was going to call a cab. not that hard to get, as a matter of fact, my brother (also a local bartender for many many years) ALWAYS gets paid at the end of the shift, AND he always drinks while tending bar, as a visitor, or filling in for the regular tender. She didnt take a vehicle, because she was going to be drinking.

I overreacted about her walking home, and i am not going to call the owner. but i have given her the links, and I will make sure she uses them. As an older sister, occasionally i feel like its my job to protect her, but at the same time I know its HER job to protect her.

Let me just put a face on how much i worry about my credability to you ha ha ha. ignore is an easy to use feature on this site.

 

[CourtClerk]

It's alarming how many people put adults out into this world who are incapable of taking care of themselves. She walks out the house with no money (ANYTHING could have happened that resulted in her not getting paid), she can't manage to go to work and not get drunk, then she needs someone to write her cue cards to get her through life. I bet she's having sex too.

Kudos to your parents for doing such a bang up job.

 

[stealth2]

I dont know how you could be so thick headed. she was going to get a cab. c'mon lets keep up, she was going to be paid, then she was going to call a cab. not that hard to get, as a matter of fact, my brother (also a local bartender for many many years) ALWAYS gets paid at the end of the shift, AND he always drinks while tending bar, as a visitor, or filling in for the regular tender. She didnt take a vehicle, because she was going to be drinking.

Most mature people plan on an alternate in case there's a problem with Plan A.

And I'll tell ya... the people I know who tend bar do NOT drink while working. Just 'cause it's a bad business practice. They keep it to soft drinks.

 

[Banned_Princess]

It's alarming how many people put adults out into this world who are incapable of taking care of themselves. She walks out the house with no money (ANYTHING could have happened that resulted in her not getting paid), she can't manage to go to work and not get drunk, then she needs someone to write her cue cards to get her through life. I bet she's having sex too.

Kudos to your parents for doing such a bang up job.

i agree, my mother is the worst.

and I told her (my mom) so too when she was going on and on about the bar owner was wrong for making her walk home and whateverelse she was trying to say to leave my sister blameless in this. when she was getting mad at me for pointing out that it was sisters fault, as well as when I was telling her a bunch of things she could have done to not be in or get out of the situation she was put in/put herself in. she said "well your sister is only 23 and isnt as street wise as you, how was she supposed to know what to do?" "the bar owner was wrong and how could he do something like that" I told my mom, that my 23 year old sister should grow up, its her fault for being stupid and drunk, and it was also 1/2 my mothers fault for overprotecting her, even now.

I guess I should feel lucky that my mom put me on the street at 16, that way I could get street wise, and sheltered my sister to the point that she cant or wont do anything for herself, at 23.

its the difference of the oldest, and the youngest.

whatever, it seems that there is some sort of underlying thing here. so im sure it wasnt as simple as " I worked at this bar, i had a few drinks, at the end of the shift I was thrown out on the street without being paid." i hate gossip, and i dont want to have to feel like going to the bar, and being arrested. SO...

I'm done with this anyway, I dont get myself in these situations for a reason. I gave her the links. I gave her my oppinion, now I am going to go about my boring life where i dont get kicked out of bars, and walk home at 4AM.

 

[stealth2]

i agree, my mother is the worst.

and I told her (my mom) so too when she was going on and on about the bar owner was wrong for making her walk home and whateverelse she was trying to say to leave my sister blameless in this. when she was getting mad at me for pointing out that it was sisters fault, as well as when I was telling her a bunch of things she could have done to not be in or get out of the situation she was put in/put herself in. she said "well your sister is only 23 and isnt as street wise as you, how was she supposed to know what to do?" "the bar owner was wrong and how could he do something like that" I told my mom, that my 23 year old sister should grow up, its her fault for being stupid and drunk, and it was also 1/2 my mothers fault for overprotecting her, even now.

I guess I should feel lucky that my mom put me on the street at 16, that way I could get street wise, and sheltered my sister to the point that she cant or wont do anything for herself, at 23.

its the difference of the oldest, and the youngest.

whatever, it seems that there is some sort of underlying thing here. so im sure it wasnt as simple as " I worked at this bar, i had a few drinks, at the end of the shift I was thrown out on the street without being paid." i hate gossip, and i dont want to have to feel like going to the bar, and being arrested. SO...

I'm done with this anyway, I dont get myself in these situations for a reason. I gave her the links. I gave her my oppinion, now I am going to go about my boring life where i dont get kicked out of bars, and walk home at 4AM.

Oh bull. You were more than happy to call the bar owner and whine to him on behalf of your sister.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY


Hi guys. small issue I would like some advice about.

My sister was hired to bartend a few towns away last night. she worked all night, and being a first time bartender she had some small issues like customers not paying for their drinks and whatever. She told the bouncers who had to kick a few people out. Whatever the problems that came up, she didnt deserve to be treated the way she was.


I am not sure about the specifics of the evening, but i know the conclusion, that in the end of the night, the owner refused to pay my sister, and made her walk home (5 miles at least) at 4 AM.

I intend on calling the business owner, but i would like to know if maybe I should just have her call the labor board instead. Should she see a lawyer tomorow, or should I just try to get the owner to pay her, and leave it at that.
Thanks guys.

 

[Banned_Princess]

Most mature people plan on an alternate in case there's a problem with Plan A.

And I'll tell ya... the people I know who tend bar do NOT drink while working. Just 'cause it's a bad business practice. They keep it to soft drinks.

Key word is Mature, my sister is in no way or under any circumstance mature.


Personally, that kind of thing would not have happened to me. and if it did, i would be able to point out where i went wrong, and what I should have done differently ... then applied it to the future. I would have also handled it myself, and only asked who to report it to, as I did today, now for in the future, I know who to report it to.

And i dont get drunk period, so i have no idea what bar tenders do or dont do... but im sure getting drunk on duty isnt one of them. soft drinks sounds reasonable.

 

[Banned_Princess]

Oh bull. You were more than happy to call the bar owner and whine to him on behalf of your sister.

Yes, well I dont think whined would have been the word to describe what i would have done, had I called the owner right then.

I should have known it was drunken shananagans before getting worked up.

now I am not worked up, and objectively, she has to handle it, or she doesnt handle it. I gave her my advice, told her what I would do , she can use it or she can not.

whatever.

 

[cbg]

For the record, once you put it on the internet, it's there. You can delete the whole thread; it won't matter. It's cached.

She, and only she, can contact the employer. She, and only she, can contact the DOL.

You, and anyone else who interfers on her behalf, can get her fired. If not from this job (I doubt this employer will ever hire her again if she gets drunk on duty), from any other job that you feel inclined to "protect" her from.

And just so you know, $8 an hour for one shift, from an employee who doesn't know enough to keep her fingers out of the product, and who expected to get paid at the end of the shift, is going to be a very low priority on the DOL's radar if she ever bothers to get around to reporting it. Just so you're not expecting the DOL to swoop down and bombard the employer with fines and other bad karma in short order.

As long as you're around "protecting" her, she has no incentive to grow up.

 

[Banned_Princess]

Let me add, instead of edit.

this morning, i was feeling too emotionaly connected to the situation, like i had to do something. now a few hours later, I feel more objective thanks to the wit and wisdom of time and freeadvice . com and i did do something. thanks to Patty I was able to give her the links to the things on NYS websites she should look into.

thanks again stealth, you were the most objective contributer.

Sorry spelling.

 

[stealth2]

And i dont get drunk period, so i have no idea what bar tenders do or dont do... but im sure getting drunk on duty isnt one of them. soft drinks sounds reasonable.

And again - bull. YOu said your brother tends bar, and that he drinks while doing so. So you DO have an idea what bar tenders do. At least... the ones related to you.