employment attorney questions

[riverdale]

I have a case where a former employer has refused to pay me for my last check, and the state labor board will do nothing about it.
Has anyone ever hired an employment attorney? If so what was the cost? I know the rate is from $225 - $280 per hour, so my question would be, how many hours did it take? Is there any way the attorney's fee can be part of the amount in the suit?

[elehhhhna]

1. you file through trhe states wage claim division of the state's DOL

that's pretty much your only option. What do you mean they won't help?

[demosincebirth]

2. What state?

[riverdale]

7. AZ Dept of Labor is terrible

The company is from the state of AZ. The AZ DOL positively, absolutely, officially will not do anything for me. The employer claims I was an independent contractor. I claim I was not. The state of AZ DOL agrees with the employer, and they will not look at the case if you were an independent contractor
It is for one paycheck, so it is probably financially unfeasible to hire an attorney.
Small claims court is going to be hard to work out since I am living 3000 miles away from AZ.
So the net-net of all this is, in Arizona, slavery is still legal.

[Tesha]

9. The IRS is officially interested in this topic now as a result of direction from the Pres.

So if you're certain that you're on the side of the angels
and all your paperwork was/is in order, you may want to
contact them about your former employer. It might or might
not get you your last paycheck, but it will probably get you
a lot of satisfaction.

See an article in the New York Times in the last day or two
for more information on the IRS's crackdown on employers
who mis-classify employees as "independent contractors".

Tesha

[demosincebirth]

14. Thats what a lot of companies do to get out of under state labor laws

is to hire personnel as independent contractors. That definition is defined some where in the state Labor code. Being AZ is a RTW state their labor laws are probably kind of fuzzy and slanted toward the employer. If you are able to afford it without any hardship, I'd set up a date in Small Claims Court and take a couple of days off and try you luck there. Your chance would seem to be 50-50 not knowing the terms of your employment and the amount of money involved. Anyway, good luck.

[taterguy]

3. It cost me a thousand daffodils

The length of time it took is none of your goddamn business

[harkadog]

4. If it is just one paycheck it would not be worth it to an attorney to take the case.

Your other option besides the state department of labor wage claims division is to file a small claims suit against the employer. Court clerks should help you fill out the paperwork (where to put things -- not what to put down) and they can explain the process to you.

[Emit]

5. Threaten to take him/her to small claims court

it's what my boss ends up doing when his clients don't pay him - he contracts his services so is not bound by employee/employer relations.

[riverdale]

8. s

Threats are not going to do anything in this situation. The employer is determined to not pay me My question is regarding what specific legal action I can take, and how to do it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Small claims court is not a threat

[Enrique]

6. you can try the U.S. Dept of Labor

supposedly they have hired 200 new investigators for the Wage and Hour division.

[lonestarnot]

10. I understand that reclassification of an employee can be a real gasssss for the employer if

you get my drift. :D Costs you as the so called independent contractor nothing.

[cap]

11. Were you paid on a W2 or on a 1099 basis?

if you were paid on a W2 basis you were an employee, regardless of what anyone says and regardless of the state you are in. Go file for unemployment, you are entitled to it. This is a very easy case if you can show your paycheck with withholding taxes. This happened to me once and I saw an attorney, a good one. He listened to me. He stated that payment of wages is a legal principle that goes back before the Magna Carta and that slavery has been abolished in all modern countries. This is a case of "wage theft". Then he literally whirled around in his chair and pounced on the employer so fast my head spun. The attorney was not kind. I got my money immediately. You can go to small claims court very easily and win hands down. My attorney wrote a nice little letter. I didn't have to go to court. My ex-employer blinked. Cost me $150. Well worth it in terms of emotional satisfaction as well as cash.

If you were paid on a 1099 basis, it is harder to prove because you are operating as a business.... sole proprietorship. But still, if you can document that you did work and have a written contract, you can collect. Never work without a contract. The key thing is did you satisfy the terms of your contract? If you did, you get money. If you didn't, there is a case for not paying you. No documentation and it gets harder to prove... not impossible but it is your word against his. Keep all emails sent and received and pay records. The employer does have more wiggle room not to pay you the full amount... but he has to justify it. Also, check the state where you were employed and the terms of the contract for what state has jurisdiction. If you were working from home and the employer was Arizona and no contract, you will have to ask an attorney where to file. You may be able to file in your own state.

Act immediately. Your employer may be going out of business.

The key thing is to get a good attorney...

[riverdale]

13. Thanks to all who responded

I appreciate the advice. I don't see how I can do a small claims court filing when I am residing in CT and the employer is in AZ. I am a high tech worker who worked remotely. Just flying in to AZ itself would eat up most of the money that I'm owed.
I was paid as a 1099, no withholding. The employer paid for one biweekly pay period, then decided to only pay for four hours of the next period. I have all kinds of notes and records of what was done and when.
The AZ DOL appears to be clearly on the side of business and against the workers. They rejected my claim with a form letter and won't even talk to me.
This article is accurate: I was misclassified. Just trying to figure out how to fight it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/business/18workers.html?scp=1&sq=independent%20contractor&st=cse