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Do I have any legal avenues to recoup these missed payments? Absolutely. You can write the first 1-2 "demand letters" yourself (look up the term for easily fi

Do I have any legal avenues to recoup these missed payments? Absolutely. You can write the first 1-2 "demand letters" yourself (look up the term for easily findable guidance on how to do this). In particular you can remind them as to which legal codes apply in your state and what they say about default payment terms. Be sure to put in a firm deadline ("within 15/30 days") - no need to include additional threats of what you'll do after that point. Just be clear about the deadline. And in the meantime find yourself a lawyer to start firing off more formal-sounding letters (likely costing 250-400 a pop) + to provide guidance on what to do after that. You'l have to dip into your pocket a bit, but that's the cost of doing business.

neilv 3y ago
If employer doesn't come through promptly, and money is tight, a local legal clinic might help.
Laaas 3y ago
> more formal-sounding letters Do you really need a lawyer for this? Pretending to be a lawyer and seeming that way to the other party is more than enough usually.
- jstanley 3y ago
  Writing a first draft yourself and then asking ChatGPT "please rewrite this text to sound more like a lawyer wrote it" might work quite well.
- lisasays 3y ago
  "Pretending to be a lawyer" was Step 1. If that doesn't do the trick (and you don't want to wait indefinitely) - it generally pays to get a lawyer.
- jcranmer 3y ago
  Demand letters can have legal repercussions, for example, resetting the clock on how long they have to try to pay up before you can initiate legal action to recover money. (And the precise repercussions are highly dependent on whose law applies!)
- bagels 3y ago
  Don't pretend to be a lawyer. That is not legal in many places.
  - lisasays 3y ago
    They didn't mean that literally. But as in the sense of DIY demand letters, etc.
    - frollo 3y ago
      It's still an extremely risky thing to do. These kind of letters have legal value, any formal error can open you up to getting your demands rejected (and there's no plan B, the moment they find a way to get out of paying you legally you're effed up), postpone the payments indefinitely or other issues. Don't do a lawyer's job unless you're a lawyer, because the guy on the other side will definitely get the best lawyer he can afford to retain as much of his money as he can
DyslexicAtheist 3y ago
> You can write the first 1-2 "demand letters" yourself it also has the potential to make you look like you can't afford a professional. An unhinged (reducto ad absurdum) version of this would be a person who insists they defend themselves in court. I get this is well intentioned and the claim might be small (few months salary). But it's not professional looking at it from the perspective of a judge or lawyer.
- yamtaddle 3y ago
  A brief initial request letter makes sense. Might get it sorted that way, no need for a lawyer. But it'd need to be a nice, concise, direct one, written in the correct register. I'd agree that going to two is too much. The second notice should be on a lawyer or regulator's letterhead.
yamtaddle 3y ago
> no need to include additional threats of what you'll do after that point. This is good advice in general, for formal communication. Do: State what you want to happen, when, how, and why, plainly and up-front; briefly state any directly relevant and necessary information. Do not: Hedge; express uncertainty (if they think you're wrong, that's up to them to figure out—cut the "maybe's" and the "I think"s, et c.); apologize ("sorry to bother you, but..."); threaten; whine; rant. Request, state, and do. Do not threaten. Threatening is what you get other people to do—lawyers, elected representatives, union reps, state regulatory bodies, et c. If you threaten, you just come off like a weak blowhard. [EDIT] Take note that when those others threaten it's inherent. A lawyer doesn't have to say "or we'll sue your ass". If you are personally threatening, you don't need to threaten. It's implied. If your ordinary correspondence doesn't carry an implied threat, it's because you're not personally threatening, and you need someone who is to do it instead. That's why explicit threats from Joe Blow tend to come off as weak—the actually-threatening are threatening when they simply make requests and state their case, and if they rise to actually making a threat, it's damn scary, because it's credible. If your request isn't threatening, your threats aren't either. By avoiding weak language and not falling into the amateurish trap of leading with threats, you raise your threat level, because you come off as someone competent enough to know all this. Concise, direct, clear language comes off as more-powerful and "higher" than wishy-washy language and threats, and it's easier to understand, besides.
skinsfan687 3y ago
Thank you for this advice - I've started to reach out to some lawyers to get some direction. I'll also write a formal email to the Founder to understand his intent.
paulcole 3y ago
> Be sure to put in a firm deadline ("within 15/30 days") Why would you give them this much time? In the US if you’re fired/laid off you generally are legally due your last check within a day or so.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  This varies by state, and by if you are fired, quit, or are terminated for cause (which is different than being fired). Usually it's 72 hours, or even the same day if fired. I'd agree with the parent poster: demand 72 hours for the check, or else give me a guaranteed date within a week. If they can't give you the check or dates, or if they miss the date, immediately escalate to state / legal / etc. resources.
  - lisasays 3y ago
    I stand corrected - for a regular employee situation, "a regular pay cycle" (per FLSA standards) is required. So the demand should be for immediate ("-ish") payment, as above.

neilv 3y ago

If employer doesn't come through promptly, and money is tight, a local legal clinic might help.

Laaas 3y ago

> more formal-sounding letters Do you really need a lawyer for this? Pretending to be a lawyer and seeming that way to the other party is more than enough usually.

jstanley 3y ago
Writing a first draft yourself and then asking ChatGPT "please rewrite this text to sound more like a lawyer wrote it" might work quite well.
lisasays 3y ago
"Pretending to be a lawyer" was Step 1. If that doesn't do the trick (and you don't want to wait indefinitely) - it generally pays to get a lawyer.
jcranmer 3y ago
Demand letters can have legal repercussions, for example, resetting the clock on how long they have to try to pay up before you can initiate legal action to recover money. (And the precise repercussions are highly dependent on whose law applies!)
bagels 3y ago
Don't pretend to be a lawyer. That is not legal in many places.
- lisasays 3y ago
  They didn't mean that literally. But as in the sense of DIY demand letters, etc.
  - frollo 3y ago
    It's still an extremely risky thing to do. These kind of letters have legal value, any formal error can open you up to getting your demands rejected (and there's no plan B, the moment they find a way to get out of paying you legally you're effed up), postpone the payments indefinitely or other issues. Don't do a lawyer's job unless you're a lawyer, because the guy on the other side will definitely get the best lawyer he can afford to retain as much of his money as he can

DyslexicAtheist 3y ago

> You can write the first 1-2 "demand letters" yourself it also has the potential to make you look like you can't afford a professional. An unhinged (reducto ad absurdum) version of this would be a person who insists they defend themselves in court. I get this is well intentioned and the claim might be small (few months salary). But it's not professional looking at it from the perspective of a judge or lawyer.

yamtaddle 3y ago
A brief initial request letter makes sense. Might get it sorted that way, no need for a lawyer. But it'd need to be a nice, concise, direct one, written in the correct register. I'd agree that going to two is too much. The second notice should be on a lawyer or regulator's letterhead.

yamtaddle 3y ago

> no need to include additional threats of what you'll do after that point. This is good advice in general, for formal communication. Do: State what you want to happen, when, how, and why, plainly and up-front; briefly state any directly relevant and necessary information. Do not: Hedge; express uncertainty (if they think you're wrong, that's up to them to figure out—cut the "maybe's" and the "I think"s, et c.); apologize ("sorry to bother you, but..."); threaten; whine; rant. Request, state, and do. Do not threaten. Threatening is what you get other people to do—lawyers, elected representatives, union reps, state regulatory bodies, et c. If you threaten, you just come off like a weak blowhard. [EDIT] Take note that when those others threaten it's inherent. A lawyer doesn't have to say "or we'll sue your ass". If you are personally threatening, you don't need to threaten. It's implied. If your ordinary correspondence doesn't carry an implied threat, it's because you're not personally threatening, and you need someone who is to do it instead. That's why explicit threats from Joe Blow tend to come off as weak—the actually-threatening are threatening when they simply make requests and state their case, and if they rise to actually making a threat, it's damn scary, because it's credible. If your request isn't threatening, your threats aren't either. By avoiding weak language and not falling into the amateurish trap of leading with threats, you raise your threat level, because you come off as someone competent enough to know all this. Concise, direct, clear language comes off as more-powerful and "higher" than wishy-washy language and threats, and it's easier to understand, besides.

skinsfan687 3y ago

Thank you for this advice - I've started to reach out to some lawyers to get some direction. I'll also write a formal email to the Founder to understand his intent.

paulcole 3y ago

> Be sure to put in a firm deadline ("within 15/30 days") Why would you give them this much time? In the US if you’re fired/laid off you generally are legally due your last check within a day or so.

red-iron-pine 3y ago
This varies by state, and by if you are fired, quit, or are terminated for cause (which is different than being fired). Usually it's 72 hours, or even the same day if fired. I'd agree with the parent poster: demand 72 hours for the check, or else give me a guaranteed date within a week. If they can't give you the check or dates, or if they miss the date, immediately escalate to state / legal / etc. resources.
- lisasays 3y ago
  I stand corrected - for a regular employee situation, "a regular pay cycle" (per FLSA standards) is required. So the demand should be for immediate ("-ish") payment, as above.