Seriously, it's been about 3 months since I quit my last job (please read my post history if you're curious) and I still haven't been paid for the work I did. I thought I was following all the steps I could to retrieve my paycheck from them and honestly, I am exhausted and my mental health is going down the drain. I filed a wage claim with the state, I contacted the IRS (again due to the reasons for me quitting) and they wouldn't do anything unless the wage claim was settled by the state. Which I also didn't know before contacting the IRS that they would only be able to recover minimum wage ($7.25 for my state) from the hours I worked if the wage claim didn't give me back everything.
I have also hounded the wage claim office and they told me these things take months, usually longer than that because the employer has not responded. I have also reached out to numerous local attorneys and nobody is returning my calls.
On top of everything the work I did, as an intern, is currently available on their website for purchase and nobody will know the person behind it didn’t get paid for the work they did. And that the last paycheck was going to be a rent payment. And that they also had to work two jobs to make ends meet while working for them. And that (last one I swear) I have to seek counseling after dedicating myself to a job (I even quit my other one) that pays less than a living wage only to be threatened and discarded like trash.
What am I doing wrong? Is there a something that poor people can do to recover the money they actually worked for? I don’t want any more or less, just what I am due. I just graduated college and I can’t take the possibility of working for people knowing that if they aren’t stealing my money, they are exploiting me in another way.
TL/DR: I’m owed money from my last toxic employer, I’ve tried everything I can think of, got any suggestions? Also just had to rant about how horrible I feel right now