Question:
I told an owner what it would take for me to come to work for him. He agreed to the terms verbally (big mistake) and kept to the agreement until I quit. The car often did not generate the percentage that would have covered the amount agreed to.
Well when I quit he went back and deducted all the amounts above the percentage and didn't pay me anything on my last check.
I have pay statements to show where he paid me the amounts. Would I have a good shot in small claims court?
PK

Answer:

Does Missouri have a labor board you can go to? If they do, let the state deal with your ex employer.

Answer:

Yes you would have a very good case in small claims court. You have written documentation of your terms of pay. I suspect that Mo. has a rule allowing you to recover a penalty from this guy as well.

Answer:

I didn't have much luck when I called the State Labor Department.
It seems that Alabama doesn't have a "Labor Board", nor even wage/hour laws. They were of no use to me whatsoever. Their only suggestion was to call the Federal Wage/Hour Department.
So I did.
The Feds also said So Sorry, there's nothing we can do as long as your pay is at least equal to minimum wage.
So much for government help.
Their suggestion was to hire a lawyer or file a small claims suit.
I might. If it gets bad enough personally.
My grievances are three fold: Excessive post-tax escrow withholdings with no arbitration when charges are made against the escrow; Sometimes pay on w-2 and sometimes on 1099; and pre-tax per diem withholdings.
The "escrow withholdings" is my biggest complaint. It is simply a crock of b*!!$#!t. They withhold $20 of taxable income from every trip until the total withholdings equal $2500. Do the math, this is an OTR company where the driver makes, on average, one trip a week. That's 125 weeks or ten and a half years that his "escrow" has to accumulate before he takes his whole paycheck home. In other words, forever.
The fund is held by the company, is co-mingled with company funds, and is not used for the driver's benefit. No driver that I know has received any of his "escrow" money upon termination. There were always "damages" or "fines" that the driver was never advised of that depleted his escrow.
Do some more math. They have 77 cars and something over a hundred drivers (about half of the cars run team). Escrow withholdings apply to both drivers on a team. Thats 100 trips a week at $20 per trip. $2000 a week, or $104,000 a year that the owner pockets at the drivers' expense. AND THE DRIVERS PAID THE TAXES ON IT!! What a scam!!!
So much for "escrow". It's simply a way for the owner to reduce his labor costs and increase his profit margin!
Next comes reporting of pay. For 1999, two of my trips were reported on a W-2. The rest on 1099's. I'm a part time company driver, driving a company car, under the direct supervision of the dispatcher. There were no differences in the trips as far as I know. I, in no way, qualify as "contract labor", yet they report most of my pay on a 1099. No social security match, no unemployment benefits, and no workman's comp credits. And, no payroll deductions for income tax.
(I'm part time, but these issues apply to ALL of their drivers. Call me a crusader.)
Finally, and possibly the least irritating is pre-tax per diem deductions. It gets a bit confusing here.... This only applies to those trips where they withhold taxes (and subsequently reported on a W-2). There are two arguable sides to this issue.... pay the taxes up front, get the social security, workman's comp, and unemployment credits and recover your tax money at refund time, or avoid the taxes altogether and forfiet ss, workman's comp, and unemployment credits. I see both points, but I would like to make the choice myself and not have it dictated.
Those are just the "normal" issues that they do up front in your face. The rest is behind your back.
In the last eight months, I've had four pay checks to bounce.
On average, I have to argue a Com-Check chargeback on one out of three pay checks. I have to prove that the Com-Check was drawn for company expenses. They charge it against my pay check and I have to provide the proof, again, after I've turned in the original receipt. Many times, they admit (or claim) that they lost the receipt and don't know how to account for the Com-Check, so they charge it back against me by default. It'll be at least two pay checks in the future before I get the money. There hasn't been a time in the past six months that there isn't at least one charge back still outstanding. Ironically, to date I've NEVER DRAWN A COM-CHECK FOR PERSONAL EXPENSE!!! Go figure.
They've charged a Com-Check back because the receipt was not STAPLED to the trip sheet! It was in the trip envelope. They knew it. They TOLD me it was charged against me because it WAS NOT STAPLED to the trip sheet!
There are almost always "data entry" errors on cash expense reimbursments. Always to the company's favor. ALWAYS!
There is a steady flow of money from the driver back into the owner's pocket.
I can't prove it (or at least haven't figured out how to YET), but I'm certain that he is not telling the drivers the true amount of the freight bills. I've seen too many pay checks where the reported freight (and subsequently driver pay) is so far below scale as to be absurd.
How does he get away with it?
He hires the sorriest excuse for drivers that he can find. Bad marks on your driving record? No problem. DUI? Drugs? You can still work here. Money problems (there always are)? Thats ok, they LOAN you some money 'til you get "on your feet". With interest and payroll deductions, of course, and severe reminders that you must pay the company back immediately, in full if you leave. Can you say, "loan shark"?
NO CDL?? No problem. A CDL isn't required for team operations. (Really, thats what they say). No lie folks, I WITNESSED a deputy pulling a CDL on a court order IN THE OFFICE. When the deputy left, the driver was dispatched to California! SOLO!! He didn't have enough money to pay back his loans.
He encourages them to drive coast to coast, solo, without sleep. He encourages them to break the speed limit. He encourages them to run overweight and skirt the scales. When they get tickets, he pays them. Then he gets his money back in increments at payroll time, with interest. Can you say, "endentured servitude"?
Sadly the majority of his drivers can't reconcile their own pay check. THEY DON"T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. When they question the amount of their take home pay and insist that it can't be correct, he will give them fifty bucks in cash and tell them how he "appreciates" them.
This fellow is slick. He could tell most of these drivers to go to hell and they'd look forward to the trip. They idolize him.
It is a finely tuned and orchistrated method of getting a lot of freight hauled very cheaply.
And the Alabama State and U.S. Federal labor departments told me TODAY...THIS MORNING, that he isn't breaking any labor laws. There may be IRS issues. There may be DOT issues. But he isn't breaking any labor laws.
Sheesh!!
How do I get by? I keep detailed records of everything I do. And I keep sufficient documentation to PROVE it. I take pictures and record phone calls. I EXPECT errors and I raise enough hell to get them resolved before I leave the office with my checks. I won't let them hose me over. They've come to expect that from me and the errors are occurring less and less. He needs me more than I need him.
Why do I do it? (I knew you'd ask). I like the ride. He owns all brand new W900's with studio sleepers. And he keeps them in good shape. I'm part time and he lets me drive where I want to, when I want to, as often or as seldom as I want to. I never have to lump a load. I can't find any other place that will allow me that flexibility. I don't NEED the job. I WANT the job. But, I won't let him cheat me. We've begun to understand each other. He knows that I will deliver his loads on time, in good shape, and will not break his cars. I trust him like I trust a rattle snake. He WILL bite me if I let him. I keep him where I can see him at all times.

Answer:

Call the IRS re: the 1099's. You may get a finders fee.