( 4 years ago) I had just graduated with my bachelors in science.
Got hired in a state over, was over 100miles to a position i never even applied too. (in hind sight this should have been the first red flag).
The future employer just told me my resume was accepted at such and such place (In my field! science!) I was estatic and after I hastily accepted the position, I was then offered a sum of 15$ an hour and was told I should just accept it seeing as I had no experience at the time, I was fresh out of college. I turned it down citing having to move so far away and just afford basic expenses. He returned not an hour later with 19/hr, still i told him no thanks, I gave him my own calculated 21/hr to live and get by, to just break even and gain experience. a few days later he surprisingly agrees.
this whole time were emailing back and forth and he keeps spelling my 4 letter name wrong. =/ uses poor english, and is clearly second language, I let it all slide, this man is giving me a job after 600 applications.
so now heres where the rampant ____ begins after im hired.
anyways, he sends paperworkover basic “contractor contract” which we never discussed. I was sold on working for ” big pharma company” no compete contract, 40hrs per week. given 21/hr rate, contractor no benefits, whatever. i was upset a little but figured “its just the business”.
so 3 weeks of training go by and I still havent gotten paid. I show up every single day, I've moved out of my parents place with nothing. provided my first months rent and now second month im told is due, so I call out my boss to find out when im being paid. it wasnt stipulated anywhere in the contract, and he tells me “oh payment is monthly”
my heart sank, id have to budget every month in advance from nothing!
After 3 weeks of training im then told ive been selected for 3rd shift overnight. 10pm to 6:30am.
???? I would NOT have accepted at all, but I was already here. Now I had to adjust in 2 days to be ready for my first shift. I didnt want to get “blackballed” in the industry.
the next red flag was the first paycheck was wrong, i worked so many hours and he missed every single OT hour AND rounded down the time that i was reporting. we had special softwear that had you input and it always rounded any partials down to the whole number. if you worked 7 hours and 30 minutes, youd put in 7.5 and itd go down to 7. you put in 7.75 for 7hours and 45minutes and its also down to 7!
He even tried changing the pay periods to try and avoid paying any OT, even if i worked for 10 days straight hed try to somehow spin it as under 80hrs in a 2 week period.
so naturally i emaied him about it, complained thats theft you have to pay me for what i worked. He says if you dont like the easy to use software you can make your own timesheet and get it signed off by your supervising manager so i did (not an easy man to reach). He verified the hours that i worked ( by badge swipe in and out) and would send it to my employer.
after that, he agrees to pay what im owed on the second months paycheck. spoiler, second month comes around and he doesnt. he does the same errors (inputting my hours into his software, just translating what ive written printed out for him). now im behind and owed even more money from both the first and the second month!
he tried giving me the same runnaround of “oh it will be fixed on next months paycheck, i promise!”
i gave him the ultimatum, id said i would contact the state labor board if he didnt pay me ___ the amount owed by friday. id given him a weeks time to fix it.
so magically hes able to send a check for the amount owed, contrary to what he said over the phone.
all in all, he was a horrible employer and i probably should have reported him anyway, but i got my 6months of experience in and opted NOT to renew the contract and moved back home without any prospects. the manager at the pharma was very sorry to see me go.
needless to say, the final 6th month paycheck was also wrong and shorted. about 87 dollars. I was not going to go through hoops to get it back.