AboutTimmy Chou Expertise I am a experienced Mediator and a partner in a management consulting firm. As a mediator I work as a third-party neutral and specialize in partnership/shareholder disputes, management/labor issues, company culture difficulties, and family-owned business problems. I can help describe why alternative dispute resolution may be a good choice for you. As an experienced management consultant I may be able to offer creative ideas to help resolve your organizational and business problems and disputes. "If you say conflict, I say opportunity".
Question I work for a call center called Opinion Resources in Cedar City, Utah. I found out on Wednesday, March 19th that I was hired at the Econo Lodge and my first day of work would be on Sunday, March 30th. I went to Opinion Resources on March 20th to give a notice that I was going to have my last day on Saturday, March 29th. It's not a full 2 weeks notice but I still gave notice.
I was supposed to get paid today at $11 an hour for 72 hours. My employer received my notice and misinterepreted it as a 2 day notice. He received my check from payroll today but would not give it to me. He then said that he had to print me out a different check which was paid at $5.85 for 72 hours. He handed the check to one of the supervisors and then left.
At the end of the day, the supervisor was talking to me about my check. I had noticed that my employer had forged the name on the check from payroll (beside the point but also illegal). I talked to the supervisor about why my check was so little and she said it was because I gave him a two day notice. I explained that I gave a week and a half notice and even if I had only given a two day notice, the paycheck that I would have received today should still be the full amount and the last check I get would be deducted, if even that.
So my question is, is any of this illegal? How would I confront my employer if it is?
Please provide the resources from your answers so I can print them off and prove it to my employer.
Answer Thank you for your question.
I am not an attorney and cannot give you legal advice. Though this is not a question about mediation I can answer from my consulting experience.
The practices you have described seem to me to be improper. You should immediately send a registered letter demanding to be paid in full at once. Do this today, since there are advantages to being prompt with your demand.
As far as working for 2 days or for a week and a half, I believe Utah is what is known as a "right to work" state. This meas that absent a contract, you are free to leave anytime and they are free to fire you anytime too. Hence, they can allow you to work until the date you wish -- but they can also cut you off now. In either case, you must be paid in full when you are separated -- no exceptions.
Utah, if I am not mistaken, has a pretty active advocacy for employees through the Utah Labor Commission. Do a internet search for it. You should file a claim with them, and also through the US Dept of Labor. These claims are taken pretty seriously and will cost you nothing. The employer can get in real trouble if they don't step up.
Feel free to follow up with any additional questions.
