Of wages and employer ass-hattery

tech_hunter

I live and work in the state of Washington.

The job I have now is through a technical recruiter.
When I was hired for this job I was told the position would pay 17$ an hour.
At the final interview all the hires were told that the position did indeed pay 17 an hour but that we would be paid 15 an hour and the additional 2$ an hour would be awarded as a quarterly bonus to be based off of attendance. So while I have never heard of this being done before I had just moved to Washington and needed a job. I was hired for the position on 10/21/08

Fast forward to now.
So I inquire to my manager that I haven't seen the bonus for this quarter hit yet and was wondering when it would be coming in. He tells me that the bonuses have been cut out.

I talk to a guy I work with and he says the last round of bonuses were done last quarter. Apparently there was a staff meeting regarding this and the stated reason was that it wasn't working as an incentive to get people to come into work. Although they weren't given an answer to where the additional 2$ of pay was going though.

So I need to know do I have any recourse in this? The position was advertised as paying 17$ an hour but this thing with bonuses I don't know how that holds up. I will definitely be calling my recruiter tomorrow to ask what is up.

What are the laws in Washington regarding wages. If I was promised a Wage by my employer and they decide to up and change the way my wage is paid out without notifying me or altering my contract in anyway can anything be done?

Darkewolfe

A bonus is a bonus and can be revoked whenever.

Aridhol

If you were informed before signing on that the $2 was a BONUS to be paid out then you likely have no recourse. If you were told after signing then maybe there was some underhandedness but you probably still wouldn't get any traction legally.

matt has a problem

You were hired on for $15 an hour, not $17. You agreed, I'm assuming verbally, to $15 an hour plus a potential $2 x hours worked a quarter bonus. Unless that promised bonus was in writing in a contract you signed, and the conditions for earning that bonus were met, you have no legal claim to it unfortunately.

It's a real dick move by the company though. I doubt employee morale is going to be very high.

Reverend_Chaos

Unless you have something in writing from the company, you don't have a leg to stand on. I had something similiar happen to me, I was promised a $.75 raise after 90 days, promised by the HR guy who interviewed me, promised by the trainer, my first Supervisor - then 90 days go by and I get $.25 and suddenly, no one knows what I am talking about.....

If you have a copy of the ad - which doesn't mention bonus - then you might, MIGHT have something, but still probably not.

VisionOfClarity

I'm willing to be the offer letter you signed says the same thing they told you.

Enc

Do you have a copy of your contract? They legally have to provide you with one should you not have it.

If your contract states the $2 is a bonus then you are out of luck, but if it just says $17 this is not the case. If your contract states you receive an hourly wage of $17 and you haven't been paid this amount (and the contract lacks any clauses allowing them to fluctuate your pay without signed notice), then you probably have grounds for a lawsuit.

The question is, is the back-pay worth losing your job? Is $15 an hour competitive for the area/field? How much back pay are you lacking?

The Crowing One

Start sending out resumes.

As has been said, you're probably never going to see a dime of this "bonus." Get your back pay by getting a better paying job. I assume this is a 40 hour week? Being conservative: $15/hr is roughly a 30,600 annual; $17/hr is roughly $34,680. They're shorting you $4k from advertised, which is significant.

Find a new job. Be happy you're employed now. From what I can tell, taking time off to go to interviews shouldn't be an issue.

Enc wrote: »

If your contract states the $2 is a bonus then you are out of luck, but if it just says $17 this is not the case. If your contract states you receive an hourly wage of $17 and you haven't been paid this amount (and the contract lacks any clauses allowing them to fluctuate your pay without signed notice), then you probably have grounds for a lawsuit.

If the above is true, you may have a workable case.

tech_hunter

Yeah I think I am pretty much screwed.

I haven't been able to get in contact with the recruiter and I am definitely sending resumes to other prospects. If the benefits were good I may have considered staying since this job is sooo easy. But they are pretty much crap they would not even cover standard labs from a regular yearly checkup and physical..WTF?

So thanks for the advise guys, guess this can be locked.