‘They cheated him out of $377’: Son quits job at father’s company after being conned out of wages

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Dec 26, 2023 3:00 PM EST

We humans can tough it out through a lot. We suffer pain, heartbreak, and loss every day. But if there's one thing we don't tolerate, it's messing with our money. Fool me all you may, but do not deprive me of what I am owed. It's decency at its most basic level. On that note, I wish they would have taught us how to balance a checkbook in school. Okay, maybe they did, I just don't remember how. But, to say the least, to mess with someone's money is to mess with their dignity. 

That's why this recent Reddit post ruffled so many feathers over on the antiwork sub, which also served as a great example of how to deal with a wage theft scenario. Labor on, fellow internet scavengers. 

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  • 01
    r/antiwork u/Temporary-Earth9110 11h My son quit the job I got him yesterday. ●
    via u/Temporary-Earth9110
  • 02
    I been with the company since August, my son moved back to the state I live in and I got him a job two days before Thanksgiving here. He and management came to agreement on an hourly rate but instead they were doing this thing they call "Day Pay" it's basically you get paid the same amount no matter how many hours you work that day. It's so they don't have to pay overtime. I get hourly pay so if I do work over I get paid for it, I told my son before the interview do not accept their day pay and
    via u/Temporary-Earth9110
  • 03
    pay but he was working 8 hour days and it came to the amount hourly they agreed on. Then he gets moved to a different department and started 10 hour shifts 4 days a week. They kept doing the day pay rate and even though the job he got moved to is way way harder he actually took a $2.90 an hour cut in pay. He kept calling them and calling them and telling them after 3 weeks he did the math and they had cheated him out of $377!! He told them if his pay wasn't correct and if he wasn't back paid the
    via u/Temporary-Earth9110
  • 04
    Lieutenant_Horn 11h ● Report as wage theft to the DoL with documentation. They'll get his money back and then some.
    via u/Lieutenant_Horn
  • 05
    Temporary-Earth9110 OP. 11h I thought about that and does there have to be a contract or something? He filled out an application but everything else is just verbal so wouldn't it be their word against his
    via u/Temporary-Earth9110
  • 06
    Lieutenant_Horn • 11h I mean, he should have filled out tax forms and the like. If he didn't, bring the IRS in on this. It doesn't hurt to file a report with the DoL with whatever you have, including text messages.
    via u/Lieutenant_Horn
  • 07
    ipdar Day pay sounds like illegal salary with extra steps. • 10h
    via u/ipdar
  • 08
    ray3050. 8h Isn't day pay just salary without all the benefits of having salary like PTO?
    via u/ray3050
  • 09
    unicorn8dragon . 9h That's probably a wage and hour violation. If they do this to others systematically there's a potential class. A plaintiffs employment lawyer will likely be pretty interested
    via u/unicorn8dragon
  • 10
    Miyuki22.9h Only certain work contracts are ot exempt. It sounds like this Pay Day is just a fancy way to try to steal wages. Report that shit.
    via u/Miyuki22
  • 11
    CumStayneBlayne • 7h Given the context, it doesn't sound like OPs son is a contractor (contractors arent employees of the entities who contract their work), and they definitely aren't unionized, so there probably is no work contract (assuming this is in the U.S.). What I'm confused about is whether OPs son was working 4 or 5 days a week when he was scheduled for 8hrs/day. 10hrs/day x 4 days = 8hrs/ day x 5 days. I don't know about every state, but employers in my state aren't required to pay OT
    via u/CumStayneBlayne
  • 12
    Temporary-Earth9110 OP. 7h Hey! So let me try to clear up the hours thing. He was being paid $116 a day and working 5 shifts of 8 hours a day. He didn't agree to day pay but agreed to $14.50 an hour which being paid for 5 days a week 8 hours a day comes up to $116 a day. He got transferred to another job and that job is 4 days a week 10 hour days. Yes he was getting 40 hours a week both ways but they were only paying him for the 4 days a week instead of the 5 which caused his check to be $116 sh
    via u/Temporary-Earth9110
  • 13
    EDIT: So holy this post blew up big time!!! Didn't think it would. I appreciate everyone who's given support and the advice, wish I could reply to everyone individually. I will address a couple of the most common comments here. After talking to my son, who's an adult he will be filing a complaint with the DOL, luckily he's kept every paycheck stub sent to him. We live in North Carolina and it's only over 40 hours a week that's overtime. If it's not clear in the post then I'll try to clear it up
    via u/Temporary-Earth9110
  • 14
    LaughableIKR. 9h Send an email to the owner if you can letting him know what's up. Easy money that the current boss will lie to the owner.
    via u/LaughableIKR
  • 15
    Temporary-Earth9110 OP 7h Oh the owner is all about he can ● people everyday
    via u/Temporary-Earth9110
  • 16
    01 marr • 1h doing this thing they call "Day Pay" Man. We gotta get rid of this global brain fart where people think you can just do any old provided you make up a name for it first.
    via u/marr

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family drama boss antiwork workplace-stories wage theft work stories toxic-workplace work wages reddit story workplace story family reddit thread Reddit
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