The state or country I am talking about is: GA, MA, NY
Ok, here's the deal. I was laid off from this company headquartered in NY, but the US HQ are in MA (was also paid out of MA payroll), and I worked out of GA. To make the story short, my employment agreement states that they have to give me 2 weeks severance and my bonus. Upon termination, I received the 2 weeks and only a small portion of my accrued vacation, and they wanted to make payment of my bonus conditional upon my signing a release agreement that I found unacceptable and declined to sign. They also have failed to pay final business expenses (about $100). In a recent letter, they said they would pay me my missing vacation hours, but so far two payroll cycles and nothing). Looks like they are withholding everything trying to pressure me to sign.
BTW, my employment agreement is under the Massachusetts laws.
The amount they owe me is about $6k (can't be sure because I don't know exactly how much the bonus should be, so it's an estimate based on past bonuses). Not enough to sue and pay legal fees, but too much for small claims, at least in MA (not to mention it would be kinda inconvenient since I live in GA). My current thinking is to file a complaint for non-payment of wages with the Mass. Attorney General's office (already read the law and downloaded the forms). From what I read of the pertinent law (Mass. general laws Ch 149, Sec. 148 and 27C), it looks like they have defninitely broken it (not to mention breached my employment agreement), plus it has some real teeth to it (the state could pursue it as a criminal matter including fines and jail penalties, though I doubt they would go beyond a fine)
Questions:
1) Is this the best course of action at this point?
2) Which state would be best for me to file?
3) Could I file small claims in Georgia? The limits are higher than in MA and the company has a small sales office here.
Thanks in advance!
Ok, here's the deal. I was laid off from this company headquartered in NY, but the US HQ are in MA (was also paid out of MA payroll), and I worked out of GA. To make the story short, my employment agreement states that they have to give me 2 weeks severance and my bonus. Upon termination, I received the 2 weeks and only a small portion of my accrued vacation, and they wanted to make payment of my bonus conditional upon my signing a release agreement that I found unacceptable and declined to sign. They also have failed to pay final business expenses (about $100). In a recent letter, they said they would pay me my missing vacation hours, but so far two payroll cycles and nothing). Looks like they are withholding everything trying to pressure me to sign.
BTW, my employment agreement is under the Massachusetts laws.
The amount they owe me is about $6k (can't be sure because I don't know exactly how much the bonus should be, so it's an estimate based on past bonuses). Not enough to sue and pay legal fees, but too much for small claims, at least in MA (not to mention it would be kinda inconvenient since I live in GA). My current thinking is to file a complaint for non-payment of wages with the Mass. Attorney General's office (already read the law and downloaded the forms). From what I read of the pertinent law (Mass. general laws Ch 149, Sec. 148 and 27C), it looks like they have defninitely broken it (not to mention breached my employment agreement), plus it has some real teeth to it (the state could pursue it as a criminal matter including fines and jail penalties, though I doubt they would go beyond a fine)
Questions:
1) Is this the best course of action at this point?
2) Which state would be best for me to file?
3) Could I file small claims in Georgia? The limits are higher than in MA and the company has a small sales office here.
Thanks in advance!
