I had a job working at Wendy's back in early December. Needless to say, it was a terrible experience for many reasons and I ended up not showing up after 3 days because the environment was THAT soul crushing to me. The managers talked down to me, customers would say one thing and then get mad when I couldn't mind read the fact that they wanted another thing, and there was even a very loud argument between the manager and one of my coworkers over something that I can't even remember. Not only that, but I didn't even get a break for my full first day there (8 hours) for whatever reason. Maybe they thought I didn't need one since I spent the first 3-4 hours watching “training videos” but that's still considered working since I'm getting paid to do it. Still, I might've handled at least a full week of all that if I wasn't so tired after all that time. After all that, I'd come home with barely enough energy to microwave some cup ramen (did I mention that I didn't have the money to eat since I had to buy food there?) or hop on Discord for any genuine socialization.
So, against my parents' better judgement, I quit that job. They definitely gave me an earful for it, telling me about how embarrassing it was for me to do that and how I was gonna end up a failure, but I didn't really care since I had another job lined up (which I told them about). That job ended up paying me more money for way less work, so everything turned out pretty well in that regard. The only problem? Wendy's never paid me. They didn't pay me for the one 8 hour shift that I was officially in the system, nor did they pay me for the other shifts I worked while they were waiting to put me in the system.
I tried talking to the store about it. Nothing. I tried the Dept of Labor. Still nothing. It wasn't until two weeks ago that I got a letter from the parent company regarding an expired check that was in my name, stating that I would be able to get an updated one if I returned the letter with my up to date information. There was an email for their payroll department on the letter, so I took a shot in the dark and emailed them while I was getting ready to return the letter. Two days ago, I got a response. Not only would I be getting the original money from the expired check, but I'd also be getting a check for the remaining money that they owe me.
And you know the best part on top of all that? Since they waited so long to finally pay me, the money they owed is in my state's 2023 minimum wage instead of the 2022 minimum wage. It's only an extra dollar and some cents, but man, does that feel good.