Final paycheck delay

Wernway

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
I accepted a position as a operations manager for a small business with less than 10 employees April 16th 2019 to hopefully help someone whom I knew in my industry for roughly 15 years stabilize his business with corporate experience on a larger scale. Ultimately, it became clear fast that among a number of alarming business practices and they lack of inclusion into important business decisions I made the decision 5/6 to let the owner know I was resigning knowing I wouldn't be the right person to help. I made the resignation via text message although unprofessional I was unable to get a call to be answered and wanted it in writing. I received no response and days went by without me receiving a response or my final paycheck. I again followed up via text and email for the next two weeks asking for it with no response. On 5/19 I submitted a claim to the California labor law office after gaining knowledge of the law and that it was legal obligation for it to be sent to me within 3 days. I then forwarded the claim paperwork to my employer alerting them that I had made the claim and 5/23 a same daycourier service delivered a hand written check with no paystub to me pre dated 5/9.

Today I received a letter of the disputed from the employer to the labor deputy mostly attacking my character and falsifying claims about my performance which I'm not even sure are relevant to the claim. I responded to the deputy saying I refused to discuss anything outside the black and white claim to the law regarding when the pay came and when the law says it should have. I have a mitigation meeting 8/20 but my question is whether there really is anything relevant other than the timeline of the checks or if I need to be prepared further. A side note is my employer has not provided accurate paystubs and possibly appears to have not filed my employment status properly for the first pay period.
 
my question is whether there really is anything relevant other than the timeline of the checks or if I need to be prepared further.


An uninformed outsider could not intelligently answer your question.

However, it is generally best to say as little as possible.

I agree with you when you say this is simply about monies due, owed, and unpaid to you as a result of your resignation THREE months ago.


California law is very clear on when a resigning employee MUST be paid.

Employees who quit must receive their final paycheck within 72 hours after giving notice of their resignation.

California final paycheck laws require that the final paycheck include all wages and business expenses that the employee is owed.

California law goes on to penalize employers who FAIL to meet the payment deadline.

Employers in California are given a very short window in which they MUST pay their former employees.

Employers must have the LAST paycheck in the hands of the former employee within 72 HOURS AFTER the person resigns.

If an employer misses the deadline, the employee is entitled to a waiting time penalty of one day's pay for each day the employer is late, up to 30 days.

In your case I suspect you are owed your final paycheck, plus 30 TIMES your daily pay because THREE MONTHS after your resignation date you are STILL unpaid.

Don't go down the rat hole the employer is building about performance.

The only performance issue here is the employer's tardiness in following the law.

Good luck as you wait to receive your WINDFALL due to the employer's recalcitrance and obstinance in paying you.
 
An uninformed outsider could not intelligently answer your question.

However, it is generally best to say as little as possible.

I agree with you when you say this is simply about monies due, owed, and unpaid to you as a result of your resignation THREE months ago.


California law is very clear on when a resigning employee MUST be paid.

Employees who quit must receive their final paycheck within 72 hours after giving notice of their resignation.

California final paycheck laws require that the final paycheck include all wages and business expenses that the employee is owed.

California law goes on to penalize employers who FAIL to meet the payment deadline.

Employers in California are given a very short window in which they MUST pay their former employees.

Employers must have the LAST paycheck in the hands of the former employee within 72 HOURS AFTER the person resigns.

If an employer misses the deadline, the employee is entitled to a waiting time penalty of one day's pay for each day the employer is late, up to 30 days.

In your case I suspect you are owed your final paycheck, plus 30 TIMES your daily pay because THREE MONTHS after your resignation date you are STILL unpaid.

Don't go down the rat hole the employer is building about performance.

The only performance issue here is the employer's tardiness in following the law.

Good luck as you wait to receive your WINDFALL due to the employer's recalcitrance and obstinance in paying you.

Thank you for your response as it's in line directly with my thinking. I had been considering revoking the claim as I would gladly forfeit what's due to avoid a time consuming and pointless battle of ignorance. The California law as you said seemed to be as clear as any so all the reluctance from the employer after attempts to reconcile outside of mitigation certainly stumped me. I guess at the end of the day I'm certainly not entitled to pay any dues so attending the initial mitigation hearing does nothing more than take an afternoon and force me to possibly endure some irrelevant ridicule.

If In fact the labor committee rules as expected and a settlement is agreed upon is there precedence for the employer to take action based upon claims of performance impact upon the business whether valid or not? My assumption was that it's clear that if the statements were true the employer just showed negligence by not taking action or terminating but again, a little fear of what a wealthier business owner with legal assistance can do and whether my claim is worth it.
 
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