I work for a junk removal service in NYC and we are paid minimum wage + 50% profit share from all the jobs we (the junkers) do. The company is very poorly organized but it's the only place I could find to hire me and give me consistent shifts for the time being. I also am very fond of the work as I like to explore the city and help people.
Unfortunately, the poor management at my job has resulted in several situations in which my paychecks do not equate to the aforementioned profit share that all of the junk removers are promised. A majority of the people at my job are college students (myself included) and we are still getting acclimated to the adult world and finances. We are withheld full-time employee benefits despite working 40+ hours a week and we have caught several operation managers manipulating our paperwork so they don't have to give us our profit share/commission.
I decided to take it upon myself to confront the management and operations team when I realized this was happening to not only me but some of my co-workers. I was warned by older workers there to just ignore it and eventually I'll be treated more fairly once I gain seniority (bullshit). I decided to arrange a meeting after one of my shifts and I was promptly met with vague answers and promises consisting of “We are sorry and will look into this soon.” and “This is a matter we would need time to assess”. Once I realized they were playing stupid I told them I refused to work until they figured it out. I left and tried to figure out what my options were. Not even a few days later I realize I was removed from the Slack group and my FieldService account with the company was de-activated. When I called my managers and asked why my accounts were deactivated they said I was being terminated due to poor attendance.
I'm so overwhelmed and confused because I've never experienced anything like this before and I don't even know if I have the time or money to take legal action. They owe me over $1,500 in commission but I can't waste my time trying to fight a shady company when I have bills and tuition to pay. Any advice? Thank you.