Contract signed under misleading pretenses

[klillestol]

State = Minnesota

I currently am employed at a large corporation through a contracting company. Technically, I am employed by this contracting company. When I was going through the hiring process and we got to the point of determining my hourly wage, they gave me a range and asked what I wanted to be paid. I inquired as to what affect requesting a lower or higher wage would have, and was informed that the large corporation would look more favorably on hiring people who requested lower wages. Being a new college graduate and needing experience badly, I accepted a low wage to give myself a better chance at the job. I have since discovered that the large corporation has no clue how much each contractor actually takes home, since they pay the exact same amount for each contractor. The contracting company, on the other hand, makes more money if their contractors accept a lower wage. I have talked to other contractors who are with the same contracting company and they have confirmed the same story. They have also said that they were told that accepting a lower wage would give them a better chance of being hired. Now it is 7 months and approximately 1300 hours later and I realize that I am out a considerable sum of money due to the low wage which I unfortunately accepted.

I have looked through the contract, which I also reviewed before signing, and it makes no mention of the true nature of compensation.

Can this kind of deception be grounds for legal action against my contracting company?

Thanks a lot for the Advice!

Fleeced in MN

 

[Beth3]

Can this kind of deception be grounds for legal action against my contracting company? Highly doubtful because what you don't know is how the billing rate to the company would have been effected had you and/or others required a higher wage. If the contracting agency had felt the need to charge more for your services in order to maintain their profit margin, the company could have balked and gone elsewhere for their contract employees. It's entirely possible the staffing agency and the employer agreed upon a flat billing rate for everyone regardless of individual wages being paid.

If you're not happy with your wages, you're free to pursue other options.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

They have also said that they were told that accepting a lower wage would give them a better chance of being hired.

And they are right. THEY hired you, so you taking a lower wage helped them to make that decision.

Now it is 7 months and approximately 1300 hours later and I realize that I am out a considerable sum of money due to the low wage which I unfortunately accepted.

And that's a bunch of crap. You are out NO money because if you had asked for a higher wage the company simply would have hired one of the thousands of contractors waiting in line.

I have looked through the contract, which I also reviewed before signing, and it makes no mention of the true nature of compensation.

And, of course, this is none of your business. You have no legal, moral or ethical right to this information.

Can this kind of deception be grounds for legal action against my contracting company?

This question shows you know nothing about business or the law. Either be thankful someone was willing to offer you ANYTHING to give you experience or quit and try your luck in the real world.

Just so you know, I don't hire programmers without at least 10 years of experience and there are always more than 200 resumes to select from. Quit your whinning and be thankful you're not flipping burgers.