For a little more context, I have been at this company for about 9 months now (5 of which have been a paid contractor). Prior to that, I was a paid intern that as discussed in the contract, was to work 15 hours a week divided into Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9am-2pm as I was still a student. Upon my first week of work, my direct manager made it very clear that my hours didn't actually represent my work and that I'd be working as necessary. And boy they weren't kidding. I was immediately asked to join meetings on my off days and complete tasks outside of my working hours. In addition to that, the work they assigned me was in no way possible to complete in just 15 hours a week. I was basically the company's social media manager and administrative assistant, and my manager's personal assistant (basically did everything they didn't want to do). I don't think it was the company's fault that I was being treated this way, but more so my manager as they were the one responsible for me. I have receipts for all of this.
However, I was 100% exploited and being taken advantage of by this person.
Because of workplace politics, I never really spoke up about it as they were the only person I could really work with (small department)
As soon as my internship ended, this manager temporarily left and I was offered a paid 3-month contract. During this contract, I was told by other managers within the company that a full time position was to be offered to me soon. However as soon as my manager came back, they made the direct call to not go through with the full time position and to instead offer me another contract (basically using me until they can find a replacement). Now, this is fine but what is frustrating to me is the fact that I never signed another contract. Heck, I wasnt even shown one. I had no idea what I was contractually obliged to and what I wasn't. I made it pretty clear that I wanted to see my contract but the manager at question was just very short with me and said that another team was handling it.
Now, my question to you all is can I get them for un paid wages? What are the legal repercussions? Can I get in trouble in any way? Do I have to get the law involved? Or can I simply just reach out to HR and file a complaint of my mistreatment?
Thank you all for reading.