TLDR; An old man and his company have been giving me the runaround for three weeks and owe me over a grand in wages.
I started working for an older man in my community about a month ago at his small home/business. Dude seemed really cool and relaxed and his business aspirations aligned with mine. I decided to take him up on his employment offer even though he said he only pays 10/hr, figuring the low wages weren't a big deal if I enjoyed what I did.
I started working the next week even though I hadn't signed any employment paper work. When I asked him about it, he'd always give me some type of excuse about his associate taking care of it, and to just text him my information. When I asked him about when I would get paid, he said the company pays every two weeks. Fair enough.
Second week comes rolling by and I ask him again about getting paid. This time he seems a little upset and continues to give excuses about sending him my information even though I already did and that his associates were taking care of it. I tried talking to him more about it, but he just walks away.
Besides feeling sketchy at this point, I didn't have any reason to believe I wasn't going to get paid next week, and like I said before, dude is a nice guy so I just assume he's old school and trusted it was a mishap.
Beginning of the third week comes and still no check. At this point I'm thinking “okay is this guy screwing me or what?”. I made it a point to bring up pay at the end of each day and it seemed like he always had some type of excuse. “Oh you need to call the office and have them approve your hours.” I call the office and no one's there.
Twords the end of week three I'm already looking for another job and decide to stop working at the end of the week if I'm not paid. Thursday I tell him I need to get paid on Friday and when Friday comes he's conveniently out of checks, “But someone's bringing some by”. I tell him then and there that I can't work if I'm not paid and that he needs to work out any issues with his office so I can receive a check. Since I can't ever get a hold of anyone at the office I leave a very descriptive and professional explanation of the situation that day and wait for a response.
Monday of next week rolls by and like I told him I didn't go to work that day. Still no call from old man or the office. I call the office and finally get through to their receptionist. She seems surprised to hear the situation and tells me she'll leave a message to the man I need to talk with. I never received a call back, so I call back Tuesday and FINALLY get through to the man I need to talk with. The guy says they weren't even aware I was working for the old man and asked me to send in my information and resume. I go to the office in person to give them the paperwork and they say I should get a call back this week about the check and that we'll talk more about an employment opportunity.
Later that week the old man texts me, asking if everything is alright and if I'm coming in to work!
He's either deliberately misleading and lying or senile.
So I called the office a couple of days ago on Friday and no surprise, no one's there. Meanwhile the old man's still texting me asking if I quit or if I'm coming to work!
In a last attempt to get paid for my work I'm calling the office again tomorrow, and if they don't have a check for me, I'll have to go directly to the old man and ask him to write one. What's concerning is that the old man is visibly upset when he texts me, like he's the victim since I haven't been coming to work and I'm not sure if he realizes that what he's done is wrong and illegal.
Honestly a Grand isn't going to break me, but damn dude, honest work deserves compensation. I'm not sure what to do if he refuses to write a check besides going to small claims court. I have conversation recordings and text history about wages and hours. But I'd rather avoid that route. Just continue to annoy the crap out of him I suppose.