Shady employer

[jroc]

My current employer has me worried because i have found out some disturbing information. My co-workers and I feel like our company may skip town without paying us our commissions. We sell advertising for a company that has a contract with a major sports entity. We are selling a yearbook that is due to be released in january, therefore part of our pitch is to allow clients to pay for their ad space in Jan. We found out that the company was based in london until last year. They do not have a business license and are not paying taxes on the income they are recieving because they are taxing me on fgures from my w-4 that I did not fill out. All sales that are made are in the form of allocation forms for space in the said publication. The salesperson has a commission sheet that is to be filled out but we are not allowed to have copies of our proposals, the order forms, or commission sheets "proprietor information only" we were told. The so called contracts indicate that payment is due within 15 days of signing the contract. However we are not provided with a list of who pays when or what has paid. They have avoided paying me on my larger accounts, but have paid on the "cheap" ones. They have come back to me and said that company a or company b will not be paying until january, when that was not confirmed on the orginal contract. It seems like they pay us when they want what they want. The CEO is in new york looking for office space because the brits hate jacksonville. WE know they are leaving but they say they are leaving this office open, but we are not privy to the next project that we will be working on to justify the office staying open. One of my co-workers was asked by the landlord what our company's plans are because they have not made any payments towards office rent. I was also promised benefits that "they just cannot afford right now". This has been going on for months most of the sales team has quit or been fired and they have yet to get their money. Bottom line: what can i do to ensure they do not skip town or the country with the money I am rightfully owed. Do I rock the boat now or wait til it might be too late?

 

[Attorney_Replogle]

JROC: You most definitely need to visit this web site's attorney listings to find a labor lawyer near you in JAX. Do this immediately and then consult with him or her. First of all, your company is obligated to pay its employees their compensation earned. They can not defer any of it. They are also under a legal obligation to purchase and provide health or other benefits if they were promised to the employees. The benefits could have been promised either in written contracts of employment (not likely), employee handbooks or policies and procedures manuals (again not likely that you were provided any), or verbal promises made by a manager or above as part of the process to employ a worker. Third, they obviously are under a legal duty to pay taxes in the U.S., and probably in their home country. Since I am not a tax expert I can not say for sure. However, the issue of non-payment of company taxes in the U.S., plus the intentional miscalculation of taxes due on employee wages is most troubling. Fourth, they likely have to have at least a city business license to operate legally in JAX. Fifth, if you or any other employee was terminated or disciplined because you complained about the company's violations of the U.S. tax code, city business licenses, etc., then you have a very good claim. Do not wait until you are terminated or the company vanishes.

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Mark B. Replogle