AboutThomas R. Ballas Expertise I will take questions about EEOC complaints, ADA, FMLA and most Human Resource issues. I am an expert in the Railway Labor Act and collective bargaining agreements.
Experience I have 36 years experience in the rail industry, 16 as the lead company negotiator for all Section Six talks.
Education/Credentials BA in Psychology, PHR and SPHR Certifications.
Question Hi Tom, My husband works straight commission selling windows, doors, gutters etc... His pay check only shows the dollar amount of commissions paid. When he has asked to have a list of the jobs and amount he is being paid for each job it is met with intimidation and anger. He is told they are not responsible for keeping track of his sales. He is concerned if he pushes the issue he will be fired. There must be some law requiring them to make this information available? They have to have these figures in order to turn it into to the payroll department (they use a payroll company) or they would not know how much to pay him. I feel they must be hiding something maybe even stealing from him if they refuse to provide him this information. They have never provided this informaiton since he started there but it is even more frustraing now because they have recently changed to not paying anything untill the job is completed and the commissions are based on the profit the company makes. This is crazy since the salesmen have no control over the installation of the products they sell or how well the jobs are ran which very much determines the profit the company makes. It sometimes can be 2 months before a window installation gets completed and we have no idea how we can begin to know if he ever gets paid on a job or not. Any information as to our recourse is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Answer Denise:
I am not aware of a law that requires details be furnished to employees who work straight commission, although it seems to me providing this information is logical and necessary.
What they do have to do is provide payroll stub information to employees, showing gross pay, withholdings, net pay, etc.
Your husband will have to make a decision to confront the company on how they withhold this information, or not. If he confronts, he must be prepared for them to refuse and or discharge him.
How employees are paid, via commissions, by the hour etc, are up to the company, but employees may not wish to work under such circumstances. Employees may choose to leave the service of the company, but do not have the right to make the company change its policies.
If there is an HR department, I would approach them with the issue and see if they can help.
