Hello reddit. Something happened today at work that really bothered me.
I work for a small construction firm in Texas. I started as a technician, but at a point two years ago I was given the opportunity to collect a commission on projects I estimated and sold in addition to an hourly wage.
I basically work part time as a technician and part time as a salesman. I see the job costing of these projects and generate a sales report. I've gotten better and better and can see I generate revenue far exceeding my wage and commission. I feel mostly underpaid, but not severely underpaid, and I like the business and the people I work for.
Anyways, I've had some personal difficulties and over an hour commute that has resulted in my tardiness. I was told I would be suspended without pay in lieu of being terminated if I was one minute late in the past, and this happened to me within the last week.
Today, the manager gave me a written final warning, and in the warning letter, it says “If you are terminated for cause or you voluntarily quit (firm's name), any jobs sold and incomplete and payment phase uncollected by (firm's name) are forfeited and no commissions will be paid out after your departure. ANY monies uncollected will not be paid out. On jobs not sold yet, you are forbidden from contacting the clients or taking clients to a new or different pool company. This is expressly stated in any “compete clause” and can be enforces by courts and damages paid by the ex-salesman as a penalty.”
Now, this was including in the warning letter of a policy violation that is unrelated to the commision policy, and I was forced to sign this “employee notice for file.” I know they've paid out commissions to salespeople who've left on decent enough terms before.
Of course I understand it would be unethical to steal leads if I did seperate from my company- I never planned to and would never do so. If I did leave, I'd probably work in a unrelated field or in a different market way closer to my home.
I dont think it's right to not pay my commissions out if I left in good standing or was fired for tardiness. I feel singled out for unfair treatment since they've paid other departed salespeople in the past. Moreso, I feel like this could be used to their advantage to fire me after I sell a bunch of projects.
It was a gut punch really. I didn't expect it as my employers have been fair to me in the past and I felt close to them. I'm going into a bunch of sales meetings with this weighing on me.
How should I handle this? What are my rights? I'm opening to having a dialogue with my employers about this.