Hi all!
Long story short, I currently work at a small smoke/vape shop in central Texas. I’ve been there for almost 3 months now.
For the most part, it’s been fine. I took the job knowing it would be low pay ($10/hr) simply because it works schedule-wise with my side jobs & hobbies. Nothing shady, clean store, a clientele I’m comfortable with, a bunch of products I know firsthand as a hobbyist, etc. So it works for me.
Manager (my boss) is great, but the owner is the kind of business owner who likes to skirt the law to save a few bucks.
My issue is with the way overtime is handled. The owner doesn’t actually pay overtime. He’ll put the maximum regular hours on your check, then pay the rest in cash under the table to you directly. So if you worked 87 hours in a period, 80 are on the check & the rest is cash.
I’ve been able to avoid it thus far at ≈35hrs/week. But, I finally ended up having to work OT this week due to staffing issues at other stores.
The manager was nice enough to bring this to my attention so it wouldn’t be a shock on payday. He’s an older dude, so he never had an issue with it (for whatever reason).
The switch from check to cash didn’t sound too bad.. until I was informed that he doesn’t actually give you an overtime rate. He just doesn’t tax the cash he gives you. In the owner’s mind, he’s doing us a favor by not taxing it. I ran the numbers & it’s pretty clear that I’m losing money.
It’s not a radical amount of money, but I have an issue with the principle of getting screwed out of what I’m owed.
What would be the smartest way to ensure I can both report this & get it rectified? This company has 12 locations, so I know I’m not the only one getting screwed. But it’s only my boss & I at our store.
So far I’ve just got a picture of our timesheet for this pay period so I can compare it against my pay stub (I’m assuming to report to the DOL? TWC?)
What else do I need to do? It’s a 1 party consent state, so should I try to get him to admit to this practice next time I get a chance to speak to him & record it?
Just a little lost on the way to go about this the most correct way possible.
Thanks to any/everyone who took the time to read!