To any & all owners

[ucmj22]

Anyone care to venture a guess on a good reason why an owner cant seem to pay its employees on time.

Frame work for scenario is: Owner is not having financial hardships. Weekly Pay is late from 1 day - 2 weeks, at least 3 weeks a month (averages 2-3 days late.)

Any guesses that could help me feel like they just dont G A S?

 

[signswi]

Don't care to guess, don't put up with it. Go legal. Regardless of the reason he doesn't have the right to pay you late, especially without notice.

http://www.las-elc.org/factsheets/paydays.html

Your state website should have a section some where with what actions you should take.

If he's having cashflow issues like every shop in the country he still needs to figure out how to pay you on time.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

How do you know the owner is not having financial difficulties? Does he say he is not or can you prove it?

There's no excuse for it either way, but if money is tight, he should at least be up front with employees, that's your livelihood and he should respect that.

Is he using a payroll service or accountant to process it or is he just writing you a check?

 

[SD&F]

i would not be an employee for long. i dont work for free.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

Insignia, I would go one step further. Has the owner notified the employees that the agreed upon payroll periods are not/will not be honored? Obviously, work is a precious commodity. Therefore, telling an employee/employees their pay will be late is VERY important. Likewise, the sign shop customers telling the shop they are having money issues is equally important. It is a CIRCLE without a beginning or an end.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Insignia, I would go one step further. Has the owner notified the employees that the agreed upon payroll periods are not/will not be honored? Obviously, work is a precious commodity. Therefore, telling an employee/employees their pay will be late is VERY important. Likewise, the sign shop customers telling the shop they are having money issues is equally important. It is a CIRCLE without a beginning or an end.

Agreed. In this economy, money problems are likely, that's just a fact and that's not necessarily "bad". It happens. The right thing to do is to be upfront with the people that are affected by it. If you try to pretend like everything is fine or just ignore the problem or the people you're asking for trouble.

No different than a customer who doesn't have the money to pay their bills. If they ignore our collection calls, that pisses me off. If they are upfront and tell me money is tight and that they're working on the situation and/or will make an effort to at least make payments, that goes a long way.

 

[ucmj22]

it has been happening for the whole 3 years i have worked here but over the last 8 months it has been a constant occurrence. I know they are busy... but come on. I could write a small novel detailing the intricacies and interconnections of the owners 7 businesses and how all of the revenue ends up in essentially 1 bank account that easily makes payroll, but you'll just have to trust me. payroll for non-temp workers is handled through an outside CPA firm and if I had to guess, I would say the owners just aren't getting the numbers to them in a timely fashion, which makes me feel like they don't G A S and I was hoping that there could be some other reason.

How do you know the owner is not having financial difficulties? Does he say he is not or can you prove it?

There's no excuse for it either way, but if money is tight, he should at least be up front with employees, that's your livelihood and he should respect that.

Is he using a payroll service or accountant to process it or is he just writing you a check?

 

[Fred Weiss]

Although they may be profitable, they could be having cash flow problems from unwise credit extension to customers and/or excessive compensation to themselves. Or, as you suggest, they just may not G.A.S. Either was, it's a bad sign and one complaint to the governing labor agency or the IRS will land them in a lot of hot water. If, for example, they are also running late submitting payroll taxes, the IRS will freeze their bank accounts in a hurry and without warning.

From a more basic level, they are asking for employee problems like unwanted resignations unless they at the least take the time to communicate what the problem(s) may be. It's not a bad idea to freshen up your resume and even send a few out.

 

[ddarlak]

Next time they are late with a pay check simply ask them if they want you to be as lackadaisical with your work habits as they are about paying you. Inform them that it simply isn't professional and you won't stand for it. Tell them you expect to get paid on time, just like they expect you to be on time for work everyday.

grab you balls and stick up for yourself.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

If you're sure the money is there, there's no excuse. Unwritten rule number one when it comes to having employees is you do not f*ck with their income. Complain to management, if that falls on deaf ears, follow Fred's advice and complain to the government.

If your boss is responsible for compiling the hours and submitting it manually at the end of every pay period, it would behoove them to switch to a payroll company that can provide an online time clock, that way your boss's needed intervention is minimized, the process is automated.

 

[ucmj22]

Next time they are late with a pay check simply ask them if they want you to be as lackadaisical with your work habits as they are about paying you. Inform them that it simply isn't professional and you won't stand for it. Tell them you expect to get paid on time, just like they expect you to be on time for work everyday.

grab you balls and stick up for yourself.

It gets old doing that every week. the time i was 2 weeks over due, I sat the owner down, and had them write me a check out of their personal account, and told them I would pay the taxes. which she did. I just feel like i have the same conversation all the time. but... this is my last day before my first vacation in 3 years next week, and my resume is updated and website is refreshed so i have a solid 40 hours to see whats out there. i'll probably be in this weekend finishing up some stuff to make sure commitments I made to customers for next week are still fulfilled, but then... job sear... eh em, I mean Vacation!

 

[GypsyGraphics]

Next time they are late with a pay check simply ask them if they want you to be as lackadaisical with your work habits as they are about paying you. Inform them that it simply isn't professional and you won't stand for it. Tell them you expect to get paid on time, just like they expect you to be on time for work everyday.

grab you balls and stick up for yourself.

exactly that!

i'm curious to know how your check is delivered. if it's typically handed to you, then walking into the bosses office at the end of pay day and simply say "i need to get my check." when he tells you he doesn't have it ready, tell him you'll wait, if any excuse follows says exactly what ddarlak suggested... it's perfect!

EDIT: just saw your last post and see you've pretty much done just that... with one BIG exception... you let it go two frigg'n weeks! plant yourself in that office ON PAY DAY till they hand you your check... and tell them EVEN ONE DAY LATE IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE!

 

[ucmj22]

exactly that!

i'm curious to know how your check is delivered. if it's typically handed to you, then walking into the bosses office at the end of pay day and simply say "i need to get my check." when he tells you he doesn't have it ready, tell him you'll wait, if any excuse follows says exactly what ddarlak suggested... it's perfect!

The owners are only around about 6 months out of the year and even when they are here, they dont have much to do with the sign business, thats my AO, and currently i dont expect to see them until about late october. all communications are through email or text messages except for the rare occasion they answer their phone.

 

[BigfishDM]

Who cuts the checks if the owners are never there? Thats BS!! Im getting upset just thinking what I would do if I was you but I dont reccomend that. Stand up and demand what is rightfully owed to you and dont setlle for anything less! Good luck and hope you find a better paying employer.

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

No excuses...period employees are 2nd payed Government 1st overhead 3rd.

But anyway you and the rest of the employees need to tell owner pay on time OR legal action if necessarily, find another job, make sure bills payed in order, find another CPA firm.

NO EXCUSES

 

[Robert M]

Payroll

Anyone who runs a business like this is not going to last. Sooner or later either that local tax authority or poor performance by disgruntled employees will bring them down. Bottom line is in the end you will get burned. Time to find a new job.

 

[ddarlak]

seems like it's been going on for awhile, i guess when your done getting used as a doormat you'll finally move on. sounds like they just don't give a crap, and you have been taking it. i mean how many times have you had a sit down? i think by the second one for me, F bombs would have been flying and i would have been out the door, but i'm a little high strung....

not everything is as it should be, if you not liking the situation, get movin....

 

[Billct2]

Sounds like it's their SOP.
I have a line of credit to make sure my bills get paid, some people just don't GAS as you said.

 

[ucmj22]

seems like it's been going on for awhile, i guess when your done getting used as a doormat you'll finally move on. sounds like they just don't give a crap, and you have been taking it. i mean how many times have you had a sit down? i think by the second one for me, F bombs would have been flying and i would have been out the door, but i'm a little high strung....

not everything is as it should be, if you not liking the situation, get movin....

I think it might be my time in the military that makes me just do my damn job regardless of the circumstances...."I need you to get a link to the satellite" "but we're under dense forrest cover" "Then you better start chopping some trees"... DAMN YOU MILITARY!

 

[ddarlak]

maybe that's why i was court martial'd