I work at a plastic factory, nothing too crazy. About this time last year my cousin convinced me that his company he works for has a hire on/referral bonus (250 for 30 days and 6 months and 500 for 1 year after being hired on if referred by an existing emplyee ). I went to apply and was told that they only hire through a temp agency. So I go through the process, work for six months to get hired on and I go double check and see if im eligible for my bonus and HR tells me I should (be eligible) … fast forward a month (when I’m allegedly eligible for the first bonus).. a woman (We’ll call her T), who started working there about a week or two after me, was walking around with a wad of cash claiming she received her bonus. So naturally I thought she got hired after I did so I should be able to go to HR to get my bonus and was given a run around. HR told me they dont work with the hiring agency anymore and hiring agency employees weren’t eligible for the referral bonus even though when I applied they directed me saying they only hired employees through the temp agency, and T (the woman who claimed she got her bonus) was hired on through the hiring agency as well then claimed she received the bonus through the hiring agency anyway. So I go over temp agency and theyve never even heard of the referral bonus. At that point my cousin (the one who referred me to the job and was with me at all of these meetings to try to claim his end of the referral bonus) was giving up. As the person who referred T (we’ll call him O) started working there not long after my cousin started working there about 5 years ago. My cousin was at the end of his run but I see HR once more about getting a copy of the referral bonus to show to the hiring agency and they somehow have zero copys except the one posted on the bulletin to which HR reiterates that it’s definitely a no from the higher ups about my referral. Which ultimately killed the pursuit for me.
Until last week when T’s daughter tried to claim her bonus on her last day and our supervisor (who has a history of being a dickhead) came and told us that we were all liars, none of us were reffered and that if he hears about it again he’ll send us home. (It was her mistake gettin the supervisor involved anyway because he isnt involved with anything hiring related in the first place.
Anyway TLDR;
O referred T and T referred T’s daughter.
O And T received bonuses.
My cousin (who started before O Similarly to how I started before T) referred me.
Him and I and T’s daughter did not receive our bonuses.
I see jobs posting false advertisement to get hires on here sometimes but the ones who do claim to have their bonuses say they got it from the hiring agency, not even the company posting the ad. I’m just not sure where to proceed from here…. Should I get a lawyer involved? the company can’t keep employees anyway, rumors going around saying they might have to shut down the plant and I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do to get us the money they owe? Or should I just cut my losses