Employer deducted
Currently, I am a salaried commercial real estate broker who signed a contract that stated I am due a "salary" that includes a bonus if earned. Recently, all the "salaried" employees in the office noticed a deduction in pay on their paychecks and were unaware of why. After attempting to contact HR and speaking with one of our mananging directors, one of our bosses sent an email that he personally held back pay due to the fact that he believed the "salaried" employees were not working hard enough and hadn't earned their salaries. His email stated it was an "injustice" that we are still salaried and not working on commissions yet the contract we signed stated we have one year until we become "non-salary" empoyees and become "commission based" employees. Is this legal for a employer to deduct pay?
2 answers | asked Jan 15, 2007 10:01 AM [EST] | applies to Illinois
Answers (2)
....The contract really does provide for you to morph off of salary and onto commission for a year and you have been there more of a year.
Aaron's essential advice to have prompt consultation with a lawyer who has and an opportunity to review all of your papers is right on the mark.
I have seen exactly your situation with a broker-owner who was foreign born. Once we raised the issue, he went to his own lawyer and found out we were correct and he abandoned the salary/bonus review conduct. It turned out it was more of a cultural thing than actual dishonesty.
If there are a bunch of people in the same boat, you could join together and share some atty. fees.
I doubt you can fix this yourself.
posted by Anthony Cameron | Jan 20, 2007 2:56 PM [EST]
The short answer is that salary is owed pursuant to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. Failure to pay the salary may also implicate overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. You should contact an attorney immediately. Please call us or one of the other fine lawyers here at MEL.
Aaron Maduff
posted by Aaron Maduff | Jan 15, 2007 2:50 PM [EST]
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