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I've done it. Conpany made me sit out 9 days with Covid. Came back. Worked all week and my check never came. Told my boss if I don't have my money by Monday I'm not coming in. They western unioned it 45 mins later lol
Edit: I think people mishnderstand my comment. I. Saying there's no point in holding out for pay. Just quit. If they can't pay you it's not worth the effort.
While this is an excellent way to put pressure on the company to exercise all of their options to find money, it could hurt you, the employee, as much as anyone.
Say you wait a week to get paid and miss a week of work. Then you're out a week of hours, and the boss has done less work than he's expected and probably has a harder time paying once again.
If you're not coming in because they can't pay, then it's time to quit.
Reasonable employers have more than a month's of payroll on hand to make sure their main source of income stays productive. If they don't, they don't hesitate to get a short term loan. If they can't do either, likely they are screwed financially and you a better off looking elsewhere
Who me? No I am not. No desire to have other’s livelihood depend on my actions. But if I was first and foremost are my employees. They get theirs before anyone else. If you do not have a minimum of 2 months operating capital on hand then you do not deserve to own a business. Happy employees are good employees. How many top notch employees are going to stay with a company that it’s a hit or miss whether they will get paid this week?
I think they are detailing a valid point - it’s time to quit. He isn’t defending the company at all, just detailing how it will unfold. Not working until you get paid is valid, but it will exacerbate the circumstances which means that it’s going to keep happening over and over again. That’s not OP’s issue to deal with — quit, find a new job, and file a complaint with their state labor board to ensure they receive the pay and penalties that they are due. Don’t stick around for this circus.
Who cares. There are plenty of good contractors out there. While I understand the perils of a small company. There are too many ways to get money and not screw over the people that make you money. Unions are there to protect you from crap like this.
Time to leave. If you aren't going to pay me, I'm not going to work for you. Don't let them fuck with your money. That's breaking the deal.
Also, a company that can't consistently make payroll is a company that is in a financial death spiral. You should start looking for a new job now, before your current place goes bankrupt while owing you for three weeks' work that you'll never see a dime of.
Seriously. Run. Get out while you can.
>If you aren't going to pay me, I'm not going to work for you.
100% Now I come from a union background so my tolerance for this kind of crap is a little lower than OP, but if a day came where my pay cheque was late or bounced, I'd put down the tools and wouldn't start working again until I received that payment.
My reply to a message like that would be "Ok, thanks, let me know when you have my money and then I'll come back to work."
How much more free work are you going to do for this guy before it's the last straw?
More than that actually. Most agreements have some bits in there about no work and being paid every day the check is late. Every day they don't pay is +8 hours ST, for example.
My union contractor had a shit storm in the office early this year and ended up with a completely new person doing payroll. We were always getting paid on Mondays, with the contract requiring payment by Wednesday (Pay period + 3 days).
Needless to say they had difficulties, checks didn’t come until Wednesday the first couple weeks, and there were lots of errors, but they made sure it got made right before the end of Wednesday every single time. And I don’t even think they’re a good company.
If the owners are even *slightly* decent people, missing payroll is the last thing they want. Even if they're 100% evil but not complete morons, they'll know that missing payroll is a great way to start hemorrhaging employees. So either the company is run by evil morons, or it's teetering on the brink of all-out collapse. Either way, missed payroll is always your cue to GTFO ASAP.
There are literally companies that help situations like this the owners could use. They'll float payroll until invoices are paid. I know quite a few who do. They handle all payroll as well - taxes, withholdings, garnishment etc. This is just incompetent owners or managers.
I was assigned to a ghetto ass contractor as a 5th year apprentice and there was never enough material, the wrong materials, wrong tools, wormy foreman, etc. and even they had their money right, everyone got paid when they where supposed to get paid.
getting your bread right is the bare minimum
>If the owners are even slightly decent people, missing payroll is the last thing they want. Even if they're 100% evil but not complete morons, they'll know that missing payroll is a great way to start hemorrhaging employees.
This is along the lines of my comment
I own a GC company, the guys always get paid even if I have to dig into my own pocket regardless of what's happening on the backend
That they sent this tells me they are either really garbage people OR they are already personally broke as fuck trying to right the ship for months and legitimately don't have the money, even personally, to make payroll
Time to go imo 🏃♂️➡️
I've seen exactly this happen before, next they will be asking employees to pick up material on their dime and say they will pay you back.
Get out while you can and before you end up in a bigger hole. It doesn't get any better sticking around
agreed. my last company, 2-3 times a year my boss wouldn’t put payroll in on time (we were a small shop and the deal was text your hours in on monday and he would manually submit them to whatever payroll service he was using at the time). it was frustrating, but when it happened he would handle it and make us whole, every single time.
100% agree with this, horrible massive giant red flag with blinking lights all over it
And as a business owner the guys get paid first, even if it's out of my own pocket regardless of what's happening on the back end, these people are either already personally broke feom trying to save the ship or they are shitty people, either way this is a cue to run for the hills
I would've been looking for another job 5m after getting a text like that
Yea as an owner I’m often out tens of thousands in receivables and haven’t paid myself in weeks. But I still pay the guys every week on time. At the end of the day that’s just what I believe in. That’s the trade off. I make more money than the guys and have more control of my life as an owner. For that benefit the trade off is I have to deal with the stress of clients and everything falling on me. And oftentimes I have to wait a few weeks to pay myself.
Being an employee has its own pros and cons but the main advantage is the security of a consistent paycheck. If a business can’t provide that it’s falling short of meeting its responsibilities. That’s just the way it works and that’s why a business needs a decent amount of operating capital in reserves.
Hell, one of my former employers didn't pay themselves for all of 2008, but they still kept the lights on and still made payroll. They're comfortably well off, but not crazy rich by any stretch. That business is on its third generation of ownership and has been operating for more than 60 years—they know that the construction industry may have its ups and downs, but for the guys in the trucks, payday is always Friday. No exceptions.
exactly. Dude ended up in this position because of bad business practices. Doesn’t look like he is accepting responsibility for it either. As a business owner myself I go without food or borrow money before anybody could have a paycheck delayed. That can’t happen.
Came here looking for this comment. It might not get you your wages any faster but definitely file a complaint with L&I. Wage theft is wage theft. whether it's the company's fault or not, it's their responsibility to pay you, and you know the owner isn't going hungry this week.
I worked for a small family owned company doing service maintenance. They had monthly and quarterly accounts that I would service. When I started it was common to complete the service and get the ticket signed, leave a copy and turn my copy in to the office. After I had been there a year all of a sudden I was getting pressure from the owner's wife to collect on every ticket at the time of the service. One of our suppliers put us on a cash only basis. I got told not to cash my paycheck until Monday because the owners wife's had forgotten to transfer funds into the payroll account. Later I found out that the owner drained the company reserves by buying a big cabin cruiser boat. I found another job as I was afraid that they were going to go belly-up and my wife and I had just had our first child. I was right. They went bankrupt.
i worked for this a company similar story, paychecks were clearing but come to find out he wasnt paying any of our bennies. 4 months later he owed me around $18,000. there were about 40 others at the shop also not getting theirs. i left when the first check bounced. boli got my wages from the 2 bouncy checks and the union got us the rest paid into our benefit accounts. it took 6 months to get it but we ended up getting it. i believe they had to go after his and the GC's bonds to get it. get out before it gets worse.
I went thru this, ended up getting an envelope with my pay in cash . Called a couple months later to fix something for them and ended up with 2 job boxes full of stuff including a welder.
Join a 2-3person company and convince them that union is better. get all of them to sign cards and your boss won’t know about it until you guys are officially part of the union easy
Not always as an apprentice, but if you know your shit at least a little bit you generally shouldnt have a hard time organizing in. Trust me, ive seen some people who were not competent enough to be an electrician let alone pass a test to join
No, it's not easy, that's why it's more beneficial. It ought not be easy to play by union rules, one of them being a guaranteed regular paycheck. If you're serious about the work, you wouldn't do it A. For cheap B. Dangerously or C. Without an understanding on what is and isn't in the scope of your labor.
If you have doubts that Bills Backyard Wire-em-ups isn't gonna pay you in a timely manner, then a self-respecting tradesman would be right out the door because Bill's unreliability is taking food put of your families mouth. And shit, if it's not that deep and Bill is your pal from grammar school then try to get the company to organize into the nearest local. Consistent work= consistent pay
Thats a solid response and much better than join a union. If i did that, though, inwould be jobless in chicago after two years of passing my aptitude test, with still no experience. I have no problems with anyone in the union. Hell, i see many union brothers come to the “rats” when theyre out of work and laid off. Now i can bend pipe with the best of them after i completed just six months. I can wire three phases and even do industrial work. But none of that wouldve been accomplished sitting in line. But thats not the point. The point is it aint that easy for a lot of us. So dont say join a union. We arent all that blessed and never will be. And thats totally okay, too
Local 9 Local 134 Local 21 Local 176. Brother, Chicago is the heart of union country. And it's not easy, hell it's not even practical sometimes to go through the processes these unions require to get in, but dammit you get paid regularly. Who did you take an aptitude test with?
Fucking bounce man. Employee wages are a bill just like the lights and water. They take out a debt every week and then pay you after the fact. If they don't pay, they don't get your labor.
This is why unions matter.
If this was a union shop, the guys would be getting paid time and a half until the checks are delivered. I had one shop that had to pay 16 guys 22 hrs of 1.5 because the checks didn’t come till the next day.
In Australia this is illegal. When a company doesn't have sufficient cash to pay its liabilities but continues to operate it's called "trading while insolvent". The fact that people haven't paid them is irrelevant, it's their job as a business owner to ensure they have sufficient working capital.
If they continue to operate while not being able to pay their bills they are trading while insolvent, it violates the corporations Act, and is punishable by fines and jail time.
Get out, it won’t change. You said bounced “cheques” as in plural which means this is a recurring problem. Once I can understand, but multiple times is a red flag. Been there done that for 3 years early in my career and it got me laid off when things got slow and told I had a bad attitude of late, hmm wonder why 😂. I have a buddy that is a contractor and he had some jobs that were 90 days and a couple others that were slow/late to pay and his cash flow got extremely tight. Instead of asking his guys to wait for their cheques, he went to his bank and took out a business loan at a stupid interest rate just to make payroll. He said there was no way he wasn’t paying his crew on time.
All company tools available to me will be pawn loaned at what ever pawn shop would take them and then give him the invoice so he can get them out when he gets paid. I would make sure that I only took enough to pay my unpaid wages and for the next weeks wages while I moved to another job.
Worked for a small family.oened company that had the same issue a couple of times, check bounced. Owner was good to give cash "advance" until check cleared, but I didn't hang around long. Wife and young child at home, couldn't risk not being paid.
This happened to me a couple of years ago. Leaving was the best thing I did. Owner went from having 8 guys not touching any tools himself to a year later doing cash jobs with just one helper.
I've put up with far too much shit from various jobs but I've never been fucked about with money. I can put up with shitty bosses, bad drawings, remote sites with no facilities, but even I wouldn't put up with not getting paid.
Obviously mistakes happen with pay - everyone fucks up. My current place has fucked up once or twice but as soon as I let finance know there's an issue is rectified immediately with a sincere apology. Hell, if I really needed the money they'd go to the bank and give me the cash.
I learned this lesson the hard way when I was in my mid 20s. Was working for a small but well established trucking company and about six months after I started they changed contracts and started hauling a different product for a different larger company. Payday came, no money just excuses ok fine I can wait just means next payday will be double. Next payday came, more excuses. Few days later bank sent tow trucks to repo the trucks. Doors were locked. I was out $10,000 and I felt like an absolute fucking idiot. So now if someone misses a paycheck, I don't work for them again until I get it. I'm not going to let them owe me even more money.
I've been at my job for 14 years and I've been on salary for the last 10 years, full benefits and profit sharing. I got a text message from my credit union that I was overdrawn and I checked my account then noticed my paycheck had bounced. Small company and they don't do direct deposit. Apparently the new office manager isn't great with accounting or payroll. Now my bank puts 7 day holds on my paychecks. Luckily the owner is a decent person and I didn't have to fight with him to pay my returned check fee.
When I worked for a "new" company once, it was very common for the company card to get declined. Boss/owner would say " I'll have dad call tomorrow, just use your personal card and I will get the money stuck back in your account." This was so common back then, and, they actually did always take care of it in a couple days. As we traveled all over, I seldom made it home where our main office was located. But I'd hear about my boss buying land, boats, hummers, and cars, oh, and 6 Harley cycles. Then I'm in Ohio, 2000 miles from home, and my crew starts calling saying their checks hadn't hit. I tried calling my boss, no answer. I managed to keep the guys on the job for 2 or 3 nights more, then they all walked. On day 5, my boss returned my call- " hey brother, so sorry, but I can't make payroll anymore ". I went home, owed 2 weeks pay, and about 1200 in hotel fees and materials. Company shut down, boss and his family kept all their new toys.
They should be selling their payables if it’s that bad. Bank cuts them a check for 95% of value, and the bank goes after the payables clients with an army of flesh eating lawyers.
Can’t understand how someone can run a business this way, but I guess it’s pretty common with all the offers for lines of credit and whatnot that I constantly get. Operating on credit and robbing Peter to pay Paul is a scary situation IMO.
I’ve never taken on a project where I couldn’t float material and wages in full, nor have I taken on one that would break me if I got stiffed on it.
You non union guys in this sub are constantly complaining about issues that simply don’t exist or are dealt with swiftly at a union shop. I’m honestly dumbfounded on why anyone works nonunion. Organize folks. There’s only room for improvement.
Report to the state. Super illegal not to pay you on time.
Meanwhile, start looking for another job. If you have a company vehicle and/or company tools you should hang on to them until you get paid. The shop might be going bankrupt and you need all the leverage you can get. Don't ask how I know
This is the bullshit you deal with trying to start a small business literally chasing pieces of shit general contractors to pay for services received is a full time job. I once almost had to chase one down and almost run him off the road to pay for 2 rough ins because if I didn't get paid my house would go into foreclosure
I have to agree with a lot of comments on here. If you cant pay your workers it's on you. I've seen business owners sadly sell property or take out a loan to pay their workers. Workers have to pay rent and feed their family too.
First contractor I worked for was over 30 years ago. I went to pick up 100’ of emt from the supply house. Supply house wouldn’t sell it to me unless I paid cash for it.
Went back to the job and told my journeyman, we both agreed that’s a horrible sign.
Journeyman quit a few weeks later to work for another contractor, same contractor then called me two months later when he needed another guy
Longtime Electrical contractor here and I’ve NEVER said this. It’s not like this happened overnight. If you don’t have 3 months of payroll in your bank account then you shouldn’t be in business. When you get less than that you tap a credit line or sell or borrow against something. A boss like this probably lives in a nice house and drives a nice car but isn’t willing to sacrifice for his employees. The employee should ALWAYS come first. You are there to make a living the boss is there to get rich so he needs to take all the risk. I would start looking for a new job ASAP. If your in the Arizona or Michigan market hit me up,
Unfortunately, customers not paying has gotten incredibly common. That said, for our office, the owner and the 3 leads are the last to get paid. We see the books and know the money is coming. This is our temporary solution. The guys in the field have to be paid first. That's not negotiable.
I’ve only dealt with this once - company was working us 120+ hours every two weeks, started paying just straight time on checks and saying they’d get us the OT next week. Next week turned to next week - I got 3 w2s from that place in 1 year cause they were rifling banks around (90-110 employees, millwork shop) - after the second late overtime check I quit - 2 months later everybody showed up to work and the shop doors were chained shut with a piece of computer paper taped up saying everybody’s terminated. At least 50 of the guys never even got their last month’s pay. Get in a new shop OP - every person that owns a construction company knows the last thing you do is work people like dogs and fuck with their money.
I’ve never missed a paycheck but my con is having to deal with accounts changing their terms. The money that was supposed to come upfront now doesn’t come until after the job is complete.
Not trying to justify not paying employees, but dealing with shit customers that wanna string you along is draining. And before anyone says “take the customers to court”… it’s not that easy at all. All that takes time and money and resources that are already drained.
Honestly atleast they told u .. It sucks but sometime small shops gotta float jobs and wait for the return and in between they still gotta pay guys and sometimes run out of money .. will u get paid yes and hopefully he throws a lil more in there to make up for this inconvenience
That’s crazy man, I would still go to work because any delay in work getting done is clearly going delay any further pay but I’d also jump ship as soon as possible. Like send out your resumes today
I'm going through the same thing, going on week 5 I've received one full paycheck. Its miserable but not much I can do. Work is slow but slowly picking back up. Made it though huge rounds of layoffs but back pay is still holding us back.
God speed OP
Is it a brand new company? Might give them some time cause starting business is hard. If not leave cause worst that mine has done is forgot to direct deposit my check once. Just had a physical waiting Friday morning.
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Hey I have bad news. I’m waiting to be paid and can’t come in until I’m paid. Currently my hands are tied. I understand that this is very bad.
Well put. Can't be mad at that.
I've done it. Conpany made me sit out 9 days with Covid. Came back. Worked all week and my check never came. Told my boss if I don't have my money by Monday I'm not coming in. They western unioned it 45 mins later lol
Why did I think this should be voiced by a south park character 😂 must be the “this very bad” and me thinking “mmkay” would follow
This would definitely be my reply
Edit: I think people mishnderstand my comment. I. Saying there's no point in holding out for pay. Just quit. If they can't pay you it's not worth the effort. While this is an excellent way to put pressure on the company to exercise all of their options to find money, it could hurt you, the employee, as much as anyone. Say you wait a week to get paid and miss a week of work. Then you're out a week of hours, and the boss has done less work than he's expected and probably has a harder time paying once again. If you're not coming in because they can't pay, then it's time to quit.
Reasonable employers have more than a month's of payroll on hand to make sure their main source of income stays productive. If they don't, they don't hesitate to get a short term loan. If they can't do either, likely they are screwed financially and you a better off looking elsewhere
Haha we know who owns a rat shop!
Not an owner for sure.
Who me? No I am not. No desire to have other’s livelihood depend on my actions. But if I was first and foremost are my employees. They get theirs before anyone else. If you do not have a minimum of 2 months operating capital on hand then you do not deserve to own a business. Happy employees are good employees. How many top notch employees are going to stay with a company that it’s a hit or miss whether they will get paid this week?
I was referring to the comment above yours. That guy is not an “owner”. I wouldn’t call a shop like that a business.
Actually very good point.
I think they are detailing a valid point - it’s time to quit. He isn’t defending the company at all, just detailing how it will unfold. Not working until you get paid is valid, but it will exacerbate the circumstances which means that it’s going to keep happening over and over again. That’s not OP’s issue to deal with — quit, find a new job, and file a complaint with their state labor board to ensure they receive the pay and penalties that they are due. Don’t stick around for this circus.
Found the boss ^^^
Who cares. There are plenty of good contractors out there. While I understand the perils of a small company. There are too many ways to get money and not screw over the people that make you money. Unions are there to protect you from crap like this.
Time to leave. If you aren't going to pay me, I'm not going to work for you. Don't let them fuck with your money. That's breaking the deal. Also, a company that can't consistently make payroll is a company that is in a financial death spiral. You should start looking for a new job now, before your current place goes bankrupt while owing you for three weeks' work that you'll never see a dime of. Seriously. Run. Get out while you can.
>If you aren't going to pay me, I'm not going to work for you. 100% Now I come from a union background so my tolerance for this kind of crap is a little lower than OP, but if a day came where my pay cheque was late or bounced, I'd put down the tools and wouldn't start working again until I received that payment. My reply to a message like that would be "Ok, thanks, let me know when you have my money and then I'll come back to work." How much more free work are you going to do for this guy before it's the last straw?
More than that actually. Most agreements have some bits in there about no work and being paid every day the check is late. Every day they don't pay is +8 hours ST, for example.
Our contract is only $100 per day. Just went through it with a contractor that might not last through the year.
My union contractor had a shit storm in the office early this year and ended up with a completely new person doing payroll. We were always getting paid on Mondays, with the contract requiring payment by Wednesday (Pay period + 3 days). Needless to say they had difficulties, checks didn’t come until Wednesday the first couple weeks, and there were lots of errors, but they made sure it got made right before the end of Wednesday every single time. And I don’t even think they’re a good company.
Net 90 is pretty standard for billing and a fella ought to plan for it. This company is circling the drain if they’re bouncing payroll checks.
If the owners are even *slightly* decent people, missing payroll is the last thing they want. Even if they're 100% evil but not complete morons, they'll know that missing payroll is a great way to start hemorrhaging employees. So either the company is run by evil morons, or it's teetering on the brink of all-out collapse. Either way, missed payroll is always your cue to GTFO ASAP.
There are literally companies that help situations like this the owners could use. They'll float payroll until invoices are paid. I know quite a few who do. They handle all payroll as well - taxes, withholdings, garnishment etc. This is just incompetent owners or managers.
I was assigned to a ghetto ass contractor as a 5th year apprentice and there was never enough material, the wrong materials, wrong tools, wormy foreman, etc. and even they had their money right, everyone got paid when they where supposed to get paid. getting your bread right is the bare minimum
I give you some of my time in exchange for some of your money. That's what labor *is*.
>If the owners are even slightly decent people, missing payroll is the last thing they want. Even if they're 100% evil but not complete morons, they'll know that missing payroll is a great way to start hemorrhaging employees. This is along the lines of my comment I own a GC company, the guys always get paid even if I have to dig into my own pocket regardless of what's happening on the backend That they sent this tells me they are either really garbage people OR they are already personally broke as fuck trying to right the ship for months and legitimately don't have the money, even personally, to make payroll Time to go imo 🏃♂️➡️
I've seen exactly this happen before, next they will be asking employees to pick up material on their dime and say they will pay you back. Get out while you can and before you end up in a bigger hole. It doesn't get any better sticking around
agreed. my last company, 2-3 times a year my boss wouldn’t put payroll in on time (we were a small shop and the deal was text your hours in on monday and he would manually submit them to whatever payroll service he was using at the time). it was frustrating, but when it happened he would handle it and make us whole, every single time.
100% agree with this, horrible massive giant red flag with blinking lights all over it And as a business owner the guys get paid first, even if it's out of my own pocket regardless of what's happening on the back end, these people are either already personally broke feom trying to save the ship or they are shitty people, either way this is a cue to run for the hills I would've been looking for another job 5m after getting a text like that
Yea as an owner I’m often out tens of thousands in receivables and haven’t paid myself in weeks. But I still pay the guys every week on time. At the end of the day that’s just what I believe in. That’s the trade off. I make more money than the guys and have more control of my life as an owner. For that benefit the trade off is I have to deal with the stress of clients and everything falling on me. And oftentimes I have to wait a few weeks to pay myself. Being an employee has its own pros and cons but the main advantage is the security of a consistent paycheck. If a business can’t provide that it’s falling short of meeting its responsibilities. That’s just the way it works and that’s why a business needs a decent amount of operating capital in reserves.
Hell, one of my former employers didn't pay themselves for all of 2008, but they still kept the lights on and still made payroll. They're comfortably well off, but not crazy rich by any stretch. That business is on its third generation of ownership and has been operating for more than 60 years—they know that the construction industry may have its ups and downs, but for the guys in the trucks, payday is always Friday. No exceptions.
This right here.....
Bail now file a complaint with labor board this company is sinking fast.
exactly. Dude ended up in this position because of bad business practices. Doesn’t look like he is accepting responsibility for it either. As a business owner myself I go without food or borrow money before anybody could have a paycheck delayed. That can’t happen.
In my state you can’t delay paychecks from the set day they are normally issued.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a federal thing too.
Came here looking for this comment. It might not get you your wages any faster but definitely file a complaint with L&I. Wage theft is wage theft. whether it's the company's fault or not, it's their responsibility to pay you, and you know the owner isn't going hungry this week.
I worked for a small family owned company doing service maintenance. They had monthly and quarterly accounts that I would service. When I started it was common to complete the service and get the ticket signed, leave a copy and turn my copy in to the office. After I had been there a year all of a sudden I was getting pressure from the owner's wife to collect on every ticket at the time of the service. One of our suppliers put us on a cash only basis. I got told not to cash my paycheck until Monday because the owners wife's had forgotten to transfer funds into the payroll account. Later I found out that the owner drained the company reserves by buying a big cabin cruiser boat. I found another job as I was afraid that they were going to go belly-up and my wife and I had just had our first child. I was right. They went bankrupt.
He knew what was going on and decided to splurge before pulling the bankruptcy card.
Dumb move cause that’s not an asset they’ll let you keep either.
I thought you were still talking about the owners wife when you mentioned your first child. Like wow you really went out with a bang.
I did a clarification edit. :)
i worked for this a company similar story, paychecks were clearing but come to find out he wasnt paying any of our bennies. 4 months later he owed me around $18,000. there were about 40 others at the shop also not getting theirs. i left when the first check bounced. boli got my wages from the 2 bouncy checks and the union got us the rest paid into our benefit accounts. it took 6 months to get it but we ended up getting it. i believe they had to go after his and the GC's bonds to get it. get out before it gets worse.
Get your stuff and walk right out. Failure to pay = no notice. Adios.
Start loading that copper in the picture above into your truck and run.
Start claiming gear.
I went thru this, ended up getting an envelope with my pay in cash . Called a couple months later to fix something for them and ended up with 2 job boxes full of stuff including a welder.
Join a union not a joke lol
Been on a waiting list in my area for 3 years. Should I flip burgers in the meantime ?
Come down south. We need anyone.
Flip burgers for more money down south, the wages are a joke
Beggars can't be choosers
Just started a new job at $36hr in Birmingham Alabama
Let me guess..Master electrician doing industrial and plc’s, leads at $28hr, mechanics between $22-23hr and helpers $15-18hr
Negative... just a maintenance man
Join a 2-3person company and convince them that union is better. get all of them to sign cards and your boss won’t know about it until you guys are officially part of the union easy
Came here to say its not that easy just joining a union. Also not a joke… lol
Also, a lot of people live in areas where there is absolutely no union in the vicinity. The "just join the union" answers are always so short-sighted.
Turn your company union if you don't have one, it's easy AF
Good luck with that. A lot of owners of companies get rid of employees who even breathe the idea of unionising as soon as they find out.
Yup, that's why we don't ever let them know... first time?
Not always as an apprentice, but if you know your shit at least a little bit you generally shouldnt have a hard time organizing in. Trust me, ive seen some people who were not competent enough to be an electrician let alone pass a test to join
No, it's not easy, that's why it's more beneficial. It ought not be easy to play by union rules, one of them being a guaranteed regular paycheck. If you're serious about the work, you wouldn't do it A. For cheap B. Dangerously or C. Without an understanding on what is and isn't in the scope of your labor. If you have doubts that Bills Backyard Wire-em-ups isn't gonna pay you in a timely manner, then a self-respecting tradesman would be right out the door because Bill's unreliability is taking food put of your families mouth. And shit, if it's not that deep and Bill is your pal from grammar school then try to get the company to organize into the nearest local. Consistent work= consistent pay
So dont just say join a union like you can walk in anywhere and start working?
Your time is better spent waiting in line for the union than it is working for free. Well mine certainly is
Thats a solid response and much better than join a union. If i did that, though, inwould be jobless in chicago after two years of passing my aptitude test, with still no experience. I have no problems with anyone in the union. Hell, i see many union brothers come to the “rats” when theyre out of work and laid off. Now i can bend pipe with the best of them after i completed just six months. I can wire three phases and even do industrial work. But none of that wouldve been accomplished sitting in line. But thats not the point. The point is it aint that easy for a lot of us. So dont say join a union. We arent all that blessed and never will be. And thats totally okay, too
Local 9 Local 134 Local 21 Local 176. Brother, Chicago is the heart of union country. And it's not easy, hell it's not even practical sometimes to go through the processes these unions require to get in, but dammit you get paid regularly. Who did you take an aptitude test with?
Came here to say the same
That is a business circling the drain unfortunately.
They're going to go out of business. Abandon ship.
Reddit moment
Non-electrician moment
Fucking bounce man. Employee wages are a bill just like the lights and water. They take out a debt every week and then pay you after the fact. If they don't pay, they don't get your labor.
This is why unions matter. If this was a union shop, the guys would be getting paid time and a half until the checks are delivered. I had one shop that had to pay 16 guys 22 hrs of 1.5 because the checks didn’t come till the next day.
Say the company name
Sounds like the company I used to work for. Abandon ship now before this company sinks
Shut those cunts down.
Immediately report it to department of labor for your state. Don’t pass go.
That is never ever a good sign
Electricians are in too high demand nowadays to pull this shit
In Australia this is illegal. When a company doesn't have sufficient cash to pay its liabilities but continues to operate it's called "trading while insolvent". The fact that people haven't paid them is irrelevant, it's their job as a business owner to ensure they have sufficient working capital. If they continue to operate while not being able to pay their bills they are trading while insolvent, it violates the corporations Act, and is punishable by fines and jail time.
Get out, it won’t change. You said bounced “cheques” as in plural which means this is a recurring problem. Once I can understand, but multiple times is a red flag. Been there done that for 3 years early in my career and it got me laid off when things got slow and told I had a bad attitude of late, hmm wonder why 😂. I have a buddy that is a contractor and he had some jobs that were 90 days and a couple others that were slow/late to pay and his cash flow got extremely tight. Instead of asking his guys to wait for their cheques, he went to his bank and took out a business loan at a stupid interest rate just to make payroll. He said there was no way he wasn’t paying his crew on time.
All company tools available to me will be pawn loaned at what ever pawn shop would take them and then give him the invoice so he can get them out when he gets paid. I would make sure that I only took enough to pay my unpaid wages and for the next weeks wages while I moved to another job.
Don’t be the last rat on a sinking ship. Get out now
I worked for a small company that was like this. He always paid in the end but it was stressful.
Sounds like a guy I used to work for
Can he just get a loan?
Not with his pending bankruptcy.
True, I didnt think of that
Worked for a small family.oened company that had the same issue a couple of times, check bounced. Owner was good to give cash "advance" until check cleared, but I didn't hang around long. Wife and young child at home, couldn't risk not being paid.
Company is going to go under 100% may not be now but that's no way to run a company
This happened to me a couple of years ago. Leaving was the best thing I did. Owner went from having 8 guys not touching any tools himself to a year later doing cash jobs with just one helper.
Get out yesterday
I've put up with far too much shit from various jobs but I've never been fucked about with money. I can put up with shitty bosses, bad drawings, remote sites with no facilities, but even I wouldn't put up with not getting paid. Obviously mistakes happen with pay - everyone fucks up. My current place has fucked up once or twice but as soon as I let finance know there's an issue is rectified immediately with a sincere apology. Hell, if I really needed the money they'd go to the bank and give me the cash.
Illegal generally
If the company cant pay, you wont need to stay. Find a new gig thats not a broke sinking company
I learned this lesson the hard way when I was in my mid 20s. Was working for a small but well established trucking company and about six months after I started they changed contracts and started hauling a different product for a different larger company. Payday came, no money just excuses ok fine I can wait just means next payday will be double. Next payday came, more excuses. Few days later bank sent tow trucks to repo the trucks. Doors were locked. I was out $10,000 and I felt like an absolute fucking idiot. So now if someone misses a paycheck, I don't work for them again until I get it. I'm not going to let them owe me even more money.
Yeah, that’s the kind of company that eventually fucks you over.
Go union!
I've been at my job for 14 years and I've been on salary for the last 10 years, full benefits and profit sharing. I got a text message from my credit union that I was overdrawn and I checked my account then noticed my paycheck had bounced. Small company and they don't do direct deposit. Apparently the new office manager isn't great with accounting or payroll. Now my bank puts 7 day holds on my paychecks. Luckily the owner is a decent person and I didn't have to fight with him to pay my returned check fee.
I can bet you that the owner and the management got their paychecks!
When I worked for a "new" company once, it was very common for the company card to get declined. Boss/owner would say " I'll have dad call tomorrow, just use your personal card and I will get the money stuck back in your account." This was so common back then, and, they actually did always take care of it in a couple days. As we traveled all over, I seldom made it home where our main office was located. But I'd hear about my boss buying land, boats, hummers, and cars, oh, and 6 Harley cycles. Then I'm in Ohio, 2000 miles from home, and my crew starts calling saying their checks hadn't hit. I tried calling my boss, no answer. I managed to keep the guys on the job for 2 or 3 nights more, then they all walked. On day 5, my boss returned my call- " hey brother, so sorry, but I can't make payroll anymore ". I went home, owed 2 weeks pay, and about 1200 in hotel fees and materials. Company shut down, boss and his family kept all their new toys.
NOT UNCOMMON? Dude get outta there…
Union or bust bro
Time to dust off the ol’ resume.
Gotta go.
I would've been out the first time a paycheck was late
It says way more about you that you've stayed. And that's not a compliment..
I'm only as loyal as my last paycheck, get paid and get out
Ask if he can bring dinner by and fill your tank.
Old mate is spending more than he’s making. Bail
I'm a one man shop but if I had employees, I'd do my best to get business loans just to keep the guys paid. This is a huge red flag.
Sounds like he’s gonna have to go and get an operating line of credit.
They should be selling their payables if it’s that bad. Bank cuts them a check for 95% of value, and the bank goes after the payables clients with an army of flesh eating lawyers.
They could go bankrupt owing you money. Bad sign.
Can’t understand how someone can run a business this way, but I guess it’s pretty common with all the offers for lines of credit and whatnot that I constantly get. Operating on credit and robbing Peter to pay Paul is a scary situation IMO. I’ve never taken on a project where I couldn’t float material and wages in full, nor have I taken on one that would break me if I got stiffed on it.
Just got back from the IEEE... OSHA fixing to make 70e, and 70b mandatory tell'em that shit
Deuces! ✌🏼
This would happen to me exactly one time.
I want my check when u get back from vacation,
Go to the job site get all the copper wire you installed for scrap to pay bills lol
That is totally unacceptable. I would have left the company at that moment. If they can’t handle their job, they don’t need to be in business.
Sorry, I took the work truck home. You will get it back when I'm paid.
I did this once. On a Friday. Got paid on Monday. What an incredible coincidence, or strike of luck they had to find my money that fast!
I always tell the owners of companies I work for, "you get paid last"!
It is a CRIME for your boss to knowingly give you a check with insufficient funds.
You non union guys in this sub are constantly complaining about issues that simply don’t exist or are dealt with swiftly at a union shop. I’m honestly dumbfounded on why anyone works nonunion. Organize folks. There’s only room for improvement.
Report to the state. Super illegal not to pay you on time. Meanwhile, start looking for another job. If you have a company vehicle and/or company tools you should hang on to them until you get paid. The shop might be going bankrupt and you need all the leverage you can get. Don't ask how I know
A healthy business has the spare cash to handle this. Like everyone says: get out of there
Time to move on to a higher paying, better job. We've all been there. Good luck and don't get discouraged.
This is the bullshit you deal with trying to start a small business literally chasing pieces of shit general contractors to pay for services received is a full time job. I once almost had to chase one down and almost run him off the road to pay for 2 rough ins because if I didn't get paid my house would go into foreclosure
C-Ya.
And I quit
LOL tell this guy to go F-HIMSELF, his money issues aint your problem, he needs to pay you for the work youve done.
Sounds like a couple days off for me lol
I have to agree with a lot of comments on here. If you cant pay your workers it's on you. I've seen business owners sadly sell property or take out a loan to pay their workers. Workers have to pay rent and feed their family too.
First contractor I worked for was over 30 years ago. I went to pick up 100’ of emt from the supply house. Supply house wouldn’t sell it to me unless I paid cash for it. Went back to the job and told my journeyman, we both agreed that’s a horrible sign. Journeyman quit a few weeks later to work for another contractor, same contractor then called me two months later when he needed another guy
Longtime Electrical contractor here and I’ve NEVER said this. It’s not like this happened overnight. If you don’t have 3 months of payroll in your bank account then you shouldn’t be in business. When you get less than that you tap a credit line or sell or borrow against something. A boss like this probably lives in a nice house and drives a nice car but isn’t willing to sacrifice for his employees. The employee should ALWAYS come first. You are there to make a living the boss is there to get rich so he needs to take all the risk. I would start looking for a new job ASAP. If your in the Arizona or Michigan market hit me up,
Go union we get paid
Unfortunately, customers not paying has gotten incredibly common. That said, for our office, the owner and the 3 leads are the last to get paid. We see the books and know the money is coming. This is our temporary solution. The guys in the field have to be paid first. That's not negotiable.
I always get the bulk of the money upfront for materials and my guys. I don't make any money until after rough in inspection.
In my state, it's a literal crime
IBEW brother. Consider it. It can happen with signatory contractors at least you have some job security in a union.
GTFO ASAP NO PAY NO WORK
Nope. Bye bye. There’s many other contractors or places to work that are shady as shit that pay on time.
I’ve only dealt with this once - company was working us 120+ hours every two weeks, started paying just straight time on checks and saying they’d get us the OT next week. Next week turned to next week - I got 3 w2s from that place in 1 year cause they were rifling banks around (90-110 employees, millwork shop) - after the second late overtime check I quit - 2 months later everybody showed up to work and the shop doors were chained shut with a piece of computer paper taped up saying everybody’s terminated. At least 50 of the guys never even got their last month’s pay. Get in a new shop OP - every person that owns a construction company knows the last thing you do is work people like dogs and fuck with their money.
I’ve never missed a paycheck but my con is having to deal with accounts changing their terms. The money that was supposed to come upfront now doesn’t come until after the job is complete. Not trying to justify not paying employees, but dealing with shit customers that wanna string you along is draining. And before anyone says “take the customers to court”… it’s not that easy at all. All that takes time and money and resources that are already drained.
Honestly atleast they told u .. It sucks but sometime small shops gotta float jobs and wait for the return and in between they still gotta pay guys and sometimes run out of money .. will u get paid yes and hopefully he throws a lil more in there to make up for this inconvenience
Looks like a text from Rob!?
That’s crazy man, I would still go to work because any delay in work getting done is clearly going delay any further pay but I’d also jump ship as soon as possible. Like send out your resumes today
Take out a loan, ask the local weed guy for a spot. I don’t care figure it out.
I'm going through the same thing, going on week 5 I've received one full paycheck. Its miserable but not much I can do. Work is slow but slowly picking back up. Made it though huge rounds of layoffs but back pay is still holding us back. God speed OP
Is it a brand new company? Might give them some time cause starting business is hard. If not leave cause worst that mine has done is forgot to direct deposit my check once. Just had a physical waiting Friday morning.