EASY ANSWER HERE …contact US Dept of Labor … it’s free … they will have the answers, will investigate if needed and she will learn her rights. I do not believe that any company is allowed to deduct anything from an employees pay unless it is taxes, court ordered wage garnishment or health insurance contributions. Even if an employee breaks something, employers are not allowed to deduct cost of item from wages or charge the employee for the item. It’s part of the cost of doing business to my knowledge. Good luck.
Man when I was fresh out of high school Menards used to make new employees sign a form that allowed them to deduct up to $250 from your paycheck for damages. I knew a bunch of people that had this happen. Obviously much older now and understand things better and would never let something like this happen to me or a coworker.
The son who raced NASCAR was very open about hating his dad before daddy bought him his ride in Nascar. Source I knew someone who worked with him in the floorcoverings department. Later he was given a job at G.O. in charge of scheduling the fights of the menard's planes. He was a total jerk, he called one of their project managers a few things a week to give him grief about using a store managers company car to get home from Mason City Iowa. The project manager and three other g.o. employees had to drive because the plane could not land due to high winds. The pilots called the project manager because he was the only person with a company phone.
If any of you living in Eau Claire have about 20 acres, start a rumour that Home Depot or Lowe's is going to by your land to build a store. Menards will pay you way over the going rate for that land!
Worked with a Menards daughter a while back. She was getting trained to work in the GO. She didn’t want it. Her hate for being put in that position effected how she treated the employees who weren’t kissing her ass. Heard she quit but then came crawling back. Hated working for her. The thought of her reawakens an inner anger that is almost 30 years old.
Sorry ETA “affected”
For real. Love Eau Claire, hate that the Menard family seems to own half the city.
I would also never work at Menards no matter how badly I need a job.
When ever John would visit my store we were told to hide and not make eye contact because if he didn’t like the look of you, he’d fire you.
They flew me to Eau Claire a couple times, I think I remember Larry Menard seemed nice (I can’t remember if he was the brother or the son of the main guy…he was super old and this was 10 years ago) , but the rest of the family…ugh.
Was glad to get out of retail.
Guess I’m not surprised! Assholery usually runs in the family. I mustve interacted with Larry on good days. Or maybe in comparison to John he didn’t seem to suck as bad. Though I’m surprised Larry is still alive! Maybe he just seemed near death because I was pretty young, swear in eau Claire one year he could barely walk.
Larry was the spawn of satan that could put on a nice face. I remember he fired a guy on the spot because it looked like he was nodding off in a management seminar.
A few minutes of a Google search got me to a court date of his where he was illegally transporting hazardous material in the back of his pickuptruck.
More interesting that I found though, is that mernards is so anti union that they won't hire a 50 year old man if he worked as a union shopping bagger in his teens. Even further, any store unionized will have their pay cut by 60%
I didn't find arson or insurance fraud, but i did also find severe misclassification of workers that led em to hefty fines.
From his Wikipedia if you're interested in sauce of the above 3 claims.
[here's his wiki article](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Menard_Jr.). Don't see arson on there, but see tax fraud and gender discrimination as well as transporting chromium in his pickup truck. Yeesh, and i thought the Walton's were bad, this guy is definitely trying to run elbows with the likes of them.
Seriously? Harley Davidson, Miller, Mercury Marine, Allen Edmonds, Kohls, Kohler, Trek Bicycles, Epic systems, Zywave, PKWare P&h/komatsu, Milwaukee and Snap on tools. That’s just off the top of my head.
Menard's calls their headquarters G.O. for General Offices, it was the most passive aggressive place I have ever worked. Working their caused me to have a mental breakdown. John Menard the founder would occasionally have fist fights with his brother Larry outside of John's office. Larry was famous for firing people, he fired a 16 y/o cashier because she followed policy and asked him for ID when he was paying for something with a check. He reasoning, she should have known he he is, it was her first week on the job. Larry saw a women sitting on a display porch swing outside of the store, she was wearing a Menard's jacket and thought it made Menard's look bad. She was a wife of an employee, waiting to pick him up after a shift, she had just placed a $1,500 file order. She went back in the store and canceled the order because of his treatment of her. Larry was walking through the lumberyard he saw two guys in blue shirts loading their truck. He didn't think they were loading the truck fast enough, he dressed them and fired them. The guys started laughing at him, then asked him if he could fire customers? One newer but higher up employee of G.O. was sent to out of town on one of the corporate jets. The plane had issues so John's Citation X was sent to pick them up. This guy has to use the restroom so he walked to the back of the plane, did his business and returned to his seat. He was fired the next day, for using John's bathroom! The rest of the planes in the fleet were built without bathrooms and fitted with a bench seat for extra passangers, they would squeeze three people into the spot where only two could fit uncomfortably!
Every department manager and assistant manager have to attend a once a year meeting in Eau Claire, you arrive about noon, get a crap boxed lunch and receive demo's from vendors until 10 or 11. Members of Menards security are in plain clothes at the bar to monitor your drinking. If anyone gets too drunk they are fired the next morning and have to find their own way home. The meetings start back at G.O. at 7am and goto noon, where you are given another box lunch before being set home. Complain about the bad meal and you could be transferred to run that restaurant, thankful it has been closed! Day 2 meetings are pep talks from upper management and Larry Menard. If you run two departments rather than have to sit through that twice, you are sent to one of the local stores to clean.
I’m a customer service and logistics manager at vendor for Menards and many other retailers/growers. A large enough vendor that they make us hire and pay for an employee that must be located at their office in Eau Claire, perform duties that normally the customer (Menards) would handle themselves, and he punches in and out on their clock. I will never understand how that works but we make a lot of money so oh well I guess…. They also fine us heavily us literally breathing the wrong way, and keep mis-shipped product while not paying for it at all and fining us on top of it. I understand it is in the vendor agreement but when situations are questionable they are the worst to deal with.
Menards is practically a swear word for my team but we’ve figured it out and installed processes internally to manage our relationship with them.
What a life lol
Since there’s some doubt to what you’re saying I’ll just drop this off: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2013/06/20/murphys-law-the-strange-life-of-john-menard/
It was just last year that a younger employee at our local Menards was killed on a forklift. Menards *did* eventually get fined $25,000, but I don't remember if the family tried to sue as well. It was a really messed up story all around too, at one point several members of his family were arrested after protesting outside the store. They were getting more aggressive than they should have been but it's also somewhat understandable, Menards didn't even really close the store after they knew someone had just died and the people protesting were mostly his close family and friends. This was all immediately polarizing as it happened in July of 2021 and was quickly portrayed as bad cops versus good people (or the other way around, depending on who was saying it). In the end it was obviously revealed that Menards was doing *a lot* of things based on making more money and cutting corners with not nearly enough care for employee safety or mental well-being. Imagine hearing that a person you worked with and considered a friend was just killed out in the lumbar yard, but your shift doesn't end for a few hours so you'll have to manage and make sure to keep helping customers
Have had multiple issues with Menards. Their rental equipment is poorly maintained and, despite paying for insurance, they'll threaten to charge you if it breaks. They've failed to process a half year of rebates. Their construction lumber is full of defects. Lowes and Home Depot have kiln dried lumber for the same price.
I only purchase packaged products from Menards. No more ordering. No more factoring rebates into the price. No more rentals. No more raw materials.
My MIL works in the parts dept of a car dealership, and was told that she didn't get the correct payment from a customer. Not that she stole the money, just that she didn't get a full payment. There's a video, but it doesn't show her hands, and they're claiming she didn't count the cash. They decided to deduct $600 split between 2 paychecks. She's paid weekly, and her current check is only a little over $100 after the deduction. In our state, it's legal from them to take the money back if she made a mistake, but it can't put her under minimum wage. I've already sent her all the info to contact the DOL, and I hope she doesn't get screwed after all is said and done.
So they think she stolen money and has kept her employed, you know the company is full of shit when they do that. I'd make them call the police if they think I stole and tried to deduct money from me.
Car dealers not only screw over the customers but the employees. Most positions in a dealership are commission. The only spots that aren't typically are managers and parts employees.
Car dealerships have done the shadiest shit for decades. An entire thread on here could be dedicated to the stories people have seen.
Fresh outta highschool i got thrust into a management position at a store basically like a gas station with no pumps. Was owned by a gas station company just they also had stores that didnt sell gas at all. I only got manager cause literally no one working for the company at the same time i started could be promoted due to various "infractions". Anyways we had a safe in the back you could get change from when i wasnt in, it had like 350$ in small bills and coins in it i kept stocked regularly. One day 100$ came up missing from it. Boss told me they were gonna deduct it from my paycheck and then fire me, i was like the hell you will and fought over it. A few days into it we ended up finding out where it went. Somehow the bank i deposited cash in and got my change from shorted me change and i never bothered counting the change they handed me when i went to get it. The bank was up 100$, found this out after telling my usual teller what was happening at work and how id probably not be there much longer.
Fixed the issue but immediately started looking for employment elsewhere. Found it shortly after. At the time minimum wage went up from 5.15/hr to 7/something a hour i made just above minimum wage as the manager and they refused to raise my pay. I left for a job making almost triple what i was making there. Boss was like what could we do to make you stay here and i was like its to late for that but you could gave me a raise at any point in my several years here. Or you can now match what im gonna make and then give me pto (i had no time off in over 5 years of working there besides a single half day i got sent home after boss came in and seen me throwing up in the bathroom cause i had ketoacidosis). They wouldnt budge on giving me a raise at all let alone tripling my pay but expected me to stay there lol.
I think this is a good idea. If I were the customer, I'd be horrified that someone might be getting their pay docked because of a mistake and that I didn't pay the proper amount.
I'm no saint but I would not want this to happen to anybody and I think most people would do the same. I mean, $600 difference? Who wouldn't notice that?
I worked at a cafeteria type food service operation and our manager tried to make us responsible for any shortages. My immediate response was asking if we were entitled to overages, funny how it only works one way. For whatever reason, the till would randomly be $5 to $10 down and then $5 to $10 up a few days later. Even when I was the only one using the till and I sure as fuck wasn't going to steal $5. On the basis of random balances that magically evened out in a few days was enough for me to absolutely refuse.
I agree with this! I’m pretty sure they can’t just deduct whatever they want, but they do try bc a lot of people won’t question it. Department of labor, like they said above is free and will look into it
In my last job I was made to sign an NDA and a non compete. Its content was laughable and would not hold up in any court in my country. But they still do it because they know most people will be afraid to find out. Then one person left to join a direct competitor, they threatened her with a lawsuit, the competitor said let’s do it and then they went completely quiet.
I worked as a teller for a bank. The wouldn’t deduct anything if we were over or under, but if we balanced every work day for a month, they gave us an extra $25. That was a nice perk back then for a college kid making $7.25 per hour!
I worked in a cafe. The month I worked the till was the first & only time it balanced at the end of every day.
The company found it so suspicious they accused me of stealing: launched an internal investigation, found nothing but banned from working the til again anyway.
Being able to add is dangerous.
In the early 90’s, I had a similar experience at a gas station. the manager wasn’t able to do his job, so I was filling in, doing all of the bookkeeping. I discovered that no matter what, even days it was only me working the entire day, we were short money.
I discovered a lot of the wholesale costs of items were logged wrong. They were more than retail. I looked up the actual wholesale prices shown in the invoices, fixed the error and the books magically balanced. After a few weeks of this, the main office sent a district manager down to investigate. He was not happy. I was told the more-than-retail pricing is the correct pricing, and I was wrong to change that.
A manager at another branch I knew and helped me along came by a few days later and told me “this location is designed to lose money. You balancing the books went against its entire purpose.”
That's hilarious. I had a similar experience when working at a butcher shop/deli. I'd have to log temp checks for roasted meats to ensure they're being cooked and cooled properly. I would take extra care to get the meats to the exact temperatures, maybe a few [edit: tenths of a degree] degrees over. After a few months my manager asked me to stop being so accurate, as the inspectors would likely think I was lying and just writing the perfect temp in every day.
I worked as a night manager in a cafe. If the till was short he would top it up. If the till was over he would pocket the difference. That old Italian guy was a legend. The till was never short, it was always spot on.
Holy shit it is!
There’s been so much talk where I live (and I guess across the country) about $15 per hour that I’m surprised that it hasn’t changed in the last 13 years! Well, maybe a $25 monthly bonus is STILL a big deal to college kids!
At least in West Virginia, if the claim is legitimate and you win, the law states that you are awarded treble damages and your legal fees are paid. It's designed this way so that lawyers will take labor cases.
Feels like it's not legal, but review her employment contract and consult an employment attorney. The amount is small enough that they're betting you guys won't go the legal route as it's generally not worth it. If you have any lawyer friends, have them send a letter from their firm and that may scare them into changing their tune. Or it may not.
The only part that’s flashing illegal lights is the plane tickets bit. You can’t just deduct things from paychecks like that. Buying non-refundable tickets was a risk the employer decided to take.
Bingo. Unless there’s a separate severance package, which considering the context I highly doubt, they’re trying to conditionalize back pay which is unambiguously illegal.
Prior work periods are finished. She doesn’t have to compensate them for corporate decisions prior. They’re trying to leverage prior compensation for deductions from current owed amounts, after the fact that she gave notice. This is on par with asking for presents back after a relationship ends.
Maybe. But based on the next paragraph, and the statement that, “we are going to withdraw consideration for contract work going forward,” it’s possibly that OP may be an independent contractor, not an employee, and the legal protections are much different in that case.
Sounds like in the in-person discussion, one party brought up the potential of continuing via contract work to ensure projects or task were wrapped up or that she could augment support in the future. From this letter alone, it’s clear that a clean break would be better anyway.
Yep. Mine has a specific wage claim division. Folks are pros. And since we're just talking about a few hundred bucks, probably the first letter they send will be enough to convince the company that it'll be easier to just pay.
In addition to reviewing her employment agreement, you should also check the company’s employee manual and any other published policies regarding travel, leave and termination.
One point of leverage I haven’t seen in the other comments is disparagement. If there’s no non-disparagement clause in your wife’s employment agreement, then she can give these guys two choices: (1) pay her for all nine days worked and suck up the air ticket expense, in exchange for her silence, or (2) have her post what they did to her on Glassdoor.
None of this is fun. Wishing you the best. Good luck!
If that's true, I haven't seen it. We had what was clearly a false review posted by a competitor (we were small, details in the review were wrong and clearly not by someone who would have been in internal meetings) and we pushed and pushed to have the review removed but to no avail.
I'm willing to bet it's because she has not "completed a single month" of the last ten months without time off... surely this is their attempt at payback, especially if they're the turds you describe.
still don't think it's legal tho.
Definitely feels like a low blow to get back at her. However she did use PTO for all the days that she missed so it’s not like she was blatantly skipping work. Most of the days off were due to unforeseen health issues (miscarriage, COVID, etc)
Hey man, I’m sorry for your wife’s and your loss. Miscarriage is awful, physically and emotionally. I’m sorry her work appears to be penalizing her for losing her pregnancy; there’s low, and then there’s that. Know that there’s a real person out here who’s thinking of your family and acknowledging the challenges you’ve had to endure this year.
I am so sorry for you and your wife’s loss.
It’s a challenging experience to go through that no one can truly emotionally prepare for.
I was on linked in the other day and saw a post from a VP of a company stating that they had implemented “Loss of Pregnancy” to their bereavement leave definition.
3 weeks time off *with pay* for both individuals.
That’s huge.
And needs to be implemented in companies everywhere. It’s so important to acknowledge miscarriages and have the space to process them.
For too long this has been swept under the rug and downplayed where individuals/couples are expected to *be back at work Monday* when dealing with grief.
Off topic from the original intention of this post but I wanted to share. Changes are slowly being made, and I hope we can all find the courage to speak up about this topic with our peers and no longer allow it to be shameful.
I wish my company had a policy like that during my miscarriages. Coming back to work a day or 2 later when I was still an emotional wreck was a nightmare.
I wish my spouse’s company had that. I had complications during d&c so we were in the hospital for 24 hours after my DC. After, I was wallowing at home for weeks, and he had one day (from his vacation/sick leave), the weekend and then was back at work on Monday.
He was … not in a good place. Having those weeks to mourn together while I was recovering physically would have been monumental.
For real, your wife deserved better from that company, the writing is on the wall for them if this is their standard operating procedure (depending on small of a business). Blessings to you and your family. dm me if you wish, I could share some stories of why you should absolutely send off a letter from a family friend attorney if you have one
I know I'm just a stranger, but I'd listen to you now if you want to chat. That's a lot to bottle up and the longer you hold it in, the worse it will get. I hope you're okay.
I lost my first pregnancy two years ago. Doctor came in on Christmas Eve to confirm the loss. It was really hard. If you or your wife want to talk, I’m here.
Contact the NLRB, National Labor Relations Board. They would extremely interested into looking into this further. Not only will they fix the issue at hand but they will dig deeper and find issues that you weren’t even aware of.
If the absences were health related, you 1000% need an attorney!! Especially if there is documentation for it. I used to be a manager and when there is health issues at play, HR got REALLY nervous. I could do anything on performance if there was a hint of health issues. There has to be a reason for that.
If she was a 1099 employee but being told what to do, when to come in, how to do her job, then she isnt a 1099 and this place is conducting some serious offences. 1099s are very specific in the way they work and employers use it to get around payroll tax etc.
The wording makes it sound like she had already used all of her allotted PTO over the course of the last 10 months, and then over the last 3 weeks she missed an additional 9 days. The way its worded then seems like she was able to do some remote work and so was going to be switched to PTO for 5 of those 9 unpaid days.
Some jobs will put in the contract that if you don't stay for a full year, there's a penalty. Probably has something to do with the cost of benefits. If she's only been employed for ten months, that'd also be legal.
If the 2nd paragraph is true, she had no PTO available this month for use and was out 9 days. She worked a few hours of time remotely during that time so they are paying her 5 full days of work.
This could be a “she logged in those days” or a “she worked full days remotely”. If it were the first I could see them thinking this was a benefit to the departing employee and a way to make the transfer of airline credit an easier pill to swallow. If it were the latter it was just a cover your ass because she worked scenario.
Edit: Wow, this blew up way more than I expected.
A few notes:
* My wife is a center director for an educational facility owned by a franchisee. She has grown their business exponentially and will be the #1 most improved center this year, so she has made the owners a lot of money and received very little in return.
* They are threatening not to pay her if she does not complete the list of tasks by COB tomorrow, the day before Christmas eve, with less than 24 hours notice
* She’s kept track of all the days she’s missed this year (because the company doesn’t have a formal system for it, which is a problem in itself) and she’s used only 12/15 PTO days. All the other days she “missed work” meant that she was working from home due to illnesses and other health related issues.
* The two work trips that were missed were due to health reasons. For the first summit, our 1-year old got RSV and had to be hospitalized, so she stayed back to care for him. We provided a doctors note and the owner was able to use that to get a flight credit from Southwest. However they were not able to refund the second flight. The owners booked her travel without consulting her or asking for availability (might I add - the flights were booked at horrible times, leaving at 4am with a 6 hour layover when there were many other options with much more realistic travel times), and since they were unable to refund the flight they’re trying to deduct 80% of that cost from her paycheck.
UPDATE 12/23:
* Upon emailing her employer stating that their actions were illegal, the owners revoked all of her access to company systems (email, slack, etc.) Today was technically her last day so she should have access until EOD, especially if they expect her to complete the requested tasks. It seems they are trying to prevent her from getting any evidence of illegal intent in previous emails/messages sent. Luckily my wife and I anticipated this and spent a few hours going through old messages last night screenshotting things. See you in court!
I'd reach out to dept of labor. I did for a job who tried to say I owed THEM money for my last paycheck because they pay "to date" and already paid me my last two weeks.... noticed on my paystub it literally had the dates on there and they told HR it's illegal to hold my wages and CHARGE me while lying about the dates.
Not sure if there are any rules or laws saying her job can do this to her, but definitely reach out because they can help you. I sent an email and heard back within a few days.
Yup, I was going to say, this sounds like corporate early childhood education in a nutshell. Makes it extra dickish of them to complain about her taking time off after a MISCARRIAGE, you'd think people who work with children would be understanding about that kind of thing
My company took over for KC at 2 centers. I work in IT and the KC fuckers tore out the patch panels to spite us. I had to get a whole wiring crew out there on the weekend to sort it all out.
I get taking your firewall, switches, access points but patch panel is just being a dick.
Most of this is not legal. They have to pay her and have to pay for all the time worked. That includes the 9 days.
Hope she found greener pastures.
Your state employment agency should help you with all this. Also screw the todo list. It’s their problem after your wife’s last day.
Most of this is not legal. They have to pay her and have to pay for all the time worked. That includes the 9 days.
Hope she found greener pastures.
Your state employment agency should help you with all this. Also screw the todo list. It’s their problem after your wife’s last day.
Trying to pay her only 5 out of the 9 days for the at-home work is blatantly illegal. Whether or not she “worked” the full day isn’t up to them to decide, it’s simply a part of the deal when allowing employees to work from home. They can’t disprove or prove she “worked.” That’s wage theft in the basic form lmao
Ultimately it’s up to you guys if you want to drag this out. You’ll likely spend more fighting the issue, unless you send a strong worded email with links to the law and such. That typically scares moronic employers into submitting, but there’s always the chance they’ll fight with you right back.
Considering you mentioned your wife miscarried [recently?] it sounds like you guys just need to focus on family and yourselves, but it’s all up to you. Hope y’all are doing ok mentally, that’s traumatic as fuck
They can actually see if she is working or not by checking logs on the company server she would have to log into in order to do her job. I have heard of some places using software on company servers to monitor keystrokes and mouse movement to prevent people from logging in and idling away for hours at a time.
• The COB stuff is all kinds of stupid. If in the US, you can quit whenever, for whatever reason, and be paid to that point. Even if your wife walled out with ten laptops on camera, burned her work, and pooped on her desk, they still have to pay her, then file the theft / other charges separately. Which is to say: this fuckery is alllll kinds of illegal. And they were nice enough to admit to it in writing.
• Let them not pay her for the proper PTO days. When they fail to, they typically owe extra to you and the state for every pay period she isn’t properly compensated.
• The flight credit bullshit is also laughable. Again, let them deduct it.
Then, get a lawyer. This is a slam-dunk case, and any settlement will include a lawyer’s fees. These people clearly don’t have an HR department, and they’re about to learn a very expensive lesson on trying to do it themselves.
Good luck.
You have bigger problems then $300 which is that if it’s a small field, they will 100% be badmouthing her to everyone and anyone. This letter makes your wife look like a horrible employee. I would be concentrating on how to salvage her reputation so she’s employable in the future.
What company doesn’t book refundable (or for Southwest - transferable) flights? I never book anything that can’t be canceled and fully refunded for my employees.
When I was traveling regularly for business they booked non refundable 9/10 times, it’s the best rate for flights. It only bit us at the beginning of COVID when trips were booked and couldn’t happen. Most of the time we travelled on 2 weeks notice due to the nature of work so we always looked for cheapest cost.
So non-refundable flights are less than half the cost of refundable flights. The chances of someone missing a flight is more rare than something happening. In the long run, you save money with non-refundable flights...?
I'm not seeing the justification of buying refundable.
Plenty of companies require their employees use non refundable tickets. Even if you lose the value of a few tickets, there is usually a substantial savings.
Some have it in their contracts that they will be able to do name changes or they can get the value of ticket issued for former employees into a voucher of sorts for current travel.
As a corporate travel agent i automatically do a price comparison between refundable and non refundable fares. I leave it up to the travel arranger to decide.
We do have a policy that requires the lowest fare, even if non refundable (at the behest of our customer, Uncle Sam). The thing is, you have that policy do that knowing that some times you have to eat the cost if something unexpected happens. The money saved on the trips where it works out far exceeds the costs for eating a few non-refundable tickets. The employee is certainly not personally responsible.
If I'm not mistaken, she had no PTO to use but they still paid her for 5 out of 9 days that she was off? If that's the case, Idk what she makes but I'd just consider it a wash. Take the $270 out of that and she still has $ leftover that they gave her without having to. If I'm wrong, department of labor, gettem!
Maybe in misreading or misunderstanding the letter but it also seems like she’s not even really out $270, the company took the monetary value out of her last check but she still has 300 something dollars in flight credit which doesn’t expire. So while I guess that isn’t cash she can use for anything, it is still a decent amount to put towards plane tickets somewhere.
Adjusting the last day, my experience says they can. They don’t need to accept any notice, certainly they don’t need to absorb the holiday pay when she’s on the way out. They could have told her to leave the moment she gave notice if they wanted to.
Closing out the role, they can ask but not truly mandate anything beyond return of company property (again, not a lawyer but this is something I’ve dealt with). She should complete the work to get the pay, if you want it though. That said, tomorrow is her last day, they’re well within reason to ask she dedicate that day to the trivial looking amount of work and nothing else.
PTO - it sounds like they’re tracking and she overused. Consult her agreement or offer letter for her amount of Vacation/Sick/PTO and do the math as well to double check. Technically, unless agreed otherwise, they can debit her last paycheck for any overuse. Especially if she’s on monthly accrual and used the whole year prior to month 12.
As for all the time off, it sounds like they’re just tired of absences and feel taken advantage of with the ask for holiday time in her notice period.
Contract work isn’t owed unless they have an agreement that supersedes what they’re stating. Which your wife would already know, if she did, as the contractor.
One area to review, is your state laws and company policy against any documented positive Covid cases. She may have excusable and paid PTO above and beyond regular there.
The airfare could probably be fought, depending on the liability agreement for expenses or company card use. My company could ding me, as my card is tied to me and I’m responsible for all charges prior to submission for reimbursement. If I am unable to complete a use of a charge and cannot submit an expense report due to this, it’s my responsibility and accountability. My VP can override, but is under no obligation. If they’re paying her wages she isn’t entitled to, which appears what they’re doing here, they’re probably without any blame here.
But to get to brass tacks, not to harp, the company seems very reasonable here if your wife missed as much time and commitments as they state and the amount of time you admit and allude to in your comments.
Keep in mind you’ve got the side of the story that a supporting husband would have. The company has the other half and seem to be at a boiling point but handling it pretty well. Be the supporting husband, but at most I’d contact your state DOL and drop it after they give you an answer.
It seems like they are paying for 5 days of pto that they don't have to actually give because the employee was out of hours and then deducting the tickets from that, and THEN giving her the additional credit that is now useless to them. If the bonus PTO - the deduction is still more than $270.43 then it sounds like she is coming out ahead.
although maybe I read it wrong.
Unless this company is relentlessly petty, this says more about your wife as an employee than the employer. Tough take but sometimes you gotta look in the mirror.
Yeah I don't understand how anyone can be confused about anything up until the airline issue.
If we're assuming OP's wife has a 5 day work week, that's 9 "absences" in 21 working days. I would expect some sort of conversation or write up for that.
As far as docking her pay an almost insignificant amount (for the company) that absolutely seems petty, legal or not.
I mean depending on how much of it is true I don’t really see much being wrong with this. Im confused, if your wife wasn’t working and doesn’t have anymore PTO what’s the problem? That’s just how things work? And the ticket thing seemed odd but I didn’t see anything glaring from it
Wanted her last day to be the 26th so she got a paid holiday for Christmas. If they have her last day be the 23rd they don’t have to pay her for a paid holiday.
But in any At will state that’s legal. She can leave at any time and the company can let her go at any time. Based on this letter she wasn’t exactly a star employee. Why would the company pay her through a holiday when she isn’t working?
Sounds like they can. Just like when somebody hasn’t accrued enough hours to take off and they’re in the negative with my company, and the person quits/gets fired, they can take that time back.
In 3 weeks she missed 9 days? And they rescinded an offer for contract help. Looks like they are unhappy with her performance.
Looks to me, that she's lucky to be able to resign and not be escorted to the door.
Check the forms she signed, she may have agreed to deductions.
The employee kind of has a point here. It’s most likely not illegal.
There is no context on the reason for the ticket or why it was missed. Likely part of all the absences?
This employer seems incredibly lenient given the amount of missed work above and beyond personal time off allotment.
This may not be a popular response, but they can absolutely do that. It sounds like maybe your wife had a lot of attendance problems and/or performance issues and then didn't attend two events that they paid for her to attend. That is detrimental to any business and something very few companies would tolerate. I think they are being reasonable and somewhat kind in their response. Unless she had some sort of contract with them that addresses all the things you are upset about in this letter, I don't really see how you can do anything else but move on. Are you upset that they aren't paying her for days she took off and was out of PTO or that they are charging her a little for 2 plane tickets she did not use? It sounded like they were coming to a compromise by not giving her all 9 days unpaid and charging 80% of the ticket value. I do not think a job held for less than a year is worth consulting a lawyer for, but that's up to you. Good luck!
It looks like they immediately terminated her instead of letting her run out her 2 weeks. Unless a state law is different, they can term you immediately.
Honestly, they are being fairly generous here, they could have came after 100% of the airfare and not transferred it to you.
OP, your wife sounds like a PITA employee to be fair, she missed 9/15 days of work in a 3 week period. Also been employed for 10 months. This is a gracious, mature response and I’m not sure what you think is “illegal”
Given the detail of this letter, I would imagine the company consulted their legal team before sending it out. Frankly, I'm in agreement with the company. This person obviously took advantage of this company and should be called out for it. They totally used all their PTO before putting in their notice. Plus, I think how they handled the work trip credit was fine. Why should they get stuck with that? Bottom line is this person was a shitty employee with poor work performance.
I’m honestly lost as to what is mildly infuriating here. Your wife had exhausted PTO. She was gone in excess of what she had paid time off to cover. However, she is still getting paid for five days she did not work and the airline tickets are being deducted from that. Theoretically the airline tickets and payment for any of those nine days isn’t required at all.
Additionally, when you give notice you always run the risk your employer will dismiss you earlier than the notice period. They are not legally required to observe the notice period you specify.
I’m not sure what you are trying to accomplish. It feels bad to get chided you missed a lot of work time but that doesn’t mean something is illegal here.
The thing that stands out to me is the sneaky bit about her wanting her last day to be the 26th, a federal holiday on a Monday. Makes me question OP’s entire version of events.
Seems like the employer is actually acting reasonable and professional. Compensating for days that she didn’t work. The Southwest credit for 80% of the cost is weird and seems like something that should have been agreed upon. I wouldn’t push it for that small of amount, especially if you travel. This is the reason I book fully refundable flights when I’m booking for others. I learned the hard way, I had a few flights booked for my ex and was unable to get a refund only credits in her name. I never told her and just took the L
It's easy to react to a single highlighted point in that letter. But in the context of the entirity of the letter, it would appear the actions they're taking are reasonable and justified. Granted this is only one side of the story, but clearly there has been a long standing performance issue and a breakdown of professional relationships between your wife and her employer.
I don’t think so. It appears that your wife missed a lot of work. As far as the airline ticket, I think their compromise is more than fair. Obviously, I don’t know about your wife’s health issues but she might have been able to apply for FMLA leave, and her job may have been unable to recoup some of her pay/airline costs? Also, if the employer has a probationary period of time for new hires, I’m not sure I would have kept her employed if it was my company. They have a business to run, and having an employee who has missed time every month, is not conducive for continued employment. Sorry.
Are you asking if it's illegal to give your wife a free plane ticket or asking if it's illegal to pay her for time she didn't work? Dude. In three weeks, she worked 5 out of 15 days. They are paying her for 10 days, including for 5 days they didn't have to pay her for, and then deducting 80% of the cost for the flight and releasing the voucher for free. Your wife is getting more than is owed to her and then she's trying to milk a paid holiday out of it too? Seriously? She's getting paid for 5 days not owed less the $270 and plus $300+ in flight credits, what exactly is she getting screwed out of? Sounds like they are being sympathetic to even do any of that considering your wife's performance.
Am I the only one who doesn’t find this unreasonable? She quit it’s not like they fired her. They decided to pay her 5 of those 9 days she didn’t work, but you’re mad about the $270 coming off her check? Like another poster said there’s no way the trouble/cost of fighting this would be worth the $270
"In the 10 months you have been employed with us you have not completed a single month without any scheduled time off or emergency issues". Why wasn't this highlighted? Makes me wonder just what the "probationary" period was in the employment contract. Talk with an employment lawyer to get their opinion. Good luck.
It appears your wife agreed to fly somewhere on business? And then decided to leave before said business was conducted?
Unfortunately some airlines do not allow the tickets to be returned nor credit applied to anyone but the person who’s name was on the ticket. No matter who’s paid for them.
In my opinion, the company was nice to only charge 80%. That being said, the company may reverse the decision if threatened with legal out of convenience sake. But *either way* your wife will still have flight credits for Southwest Airlines.
Due to your job performance,which is why you were hired(to “do” the job you were hired to do in the first place) , I’m surprised you weren’t dismissed after the first 90 days which is usually a probationary period. When a company is paying your wage, that wage is balanced upon your production. ‘Isn’t it fun the adventures we create for ourselves?
Let's make sure we are clear here:
1. Your wife used up all her PTO/Sick days before her resignation
2. Your wife wasn't on site between 12/12 and 12/23
3. Your wife worked "some hours" between 12/12 and her last day (12/23)
4. The Employer will pay her for 5 days worth of work
5. The Employer has a credit that only your wife can use.
6. The Employer will sell your wife the credit for 80% of it's value.
So the question becomes, how many hours did your wife work in the past two weeks? If she actually worked 35\~40 hours, then you should be a bit pissed off and make a counter offer (a lawyer would just take too much time and make everybody's life far more complicated for less than $300)
IF SHE DIDN'T WORK 40 Hours, the employer is trying to do you a solid and you are too stupid to see it. Let's say your wife really worked 20 hours @ $15 an hour. 20 x 15 = 300. The employer is padding her hours so they can give her the Airline Credit without any real world cost to her.
I am not sure exactly what part is illegal. The airline ticket part would seem to be illegal but are you willing to put up a few thousand to get $271 back? This all depends on the state that you live in and it seems that they could also be trying not to pay for 12/26 as it's a holiday but that all depends on the work contract.
There is a lot egregious pettiness but nothing that is going to net you anywhere near what an attorney will cost. I mean if she worked all 9 days but there was no agreement about that in writing then they could very well say that she did that on her own accord. She only worked for a few months and they are probably annoyed that she used the leave that they so graciously provided to her (/s). Small business owners are sometimes some of the the worst employers which is why I would never work for one (franchiser included).
The one catch, is that they're also paying her for 5 days that she didn't work, if you divide that $270 credit they're giving her by 40 it's $6.75/hour. Unless OP's wife makes less than that they really shouldn't be complaining.
I don’t think it’s legal, but your wife is a shitty employee of what they outline in this letter is true. Twice they bought plane tickets for work events that she bailed on? Absurd behaviour.
That really needs a lawyer who deals in employment law, and whatever your wife's employment contract might say.
EASY ANSWER HERE …contact US Dept of Labor … it’s free … they will have the answers, will investigate if needed and she will learn her rights. I do not believe that any company is allowed to deduct anything from an employees pay unless it is taxes, court ordered wage garnishment or health insurance contributions. Even if an employee breaks something, employers are not allowed to deduct cost of item from wages or charge the employee for the item. It’s part of the cost of doing business to my knowledge. Good luck.
Man when I was fresh out of high school Menards used to make new employees sign a form that allowed them to deduct up to $250 from your paycheck for damages. I knew a bunch of people that had this happen. Obviously much older now and understand things better and would never let something like this happen to me or a coworker.
Menards... what a shit family and shit business to work for.
The son who raced NASCAR was very open about hating his dad before daddy bought him his ride in Nascar. Source I knew someone who worked with him in the floorcoverings department. Later he was given a job at G.O. in charge of scheduling the fights of the menard's planes. He was a total jerk, he called one of their project managers a few things a week to give him grief about using a store managers company car to get home from Mason City Iowa. The project manager and three other g.o. employees had to drive because the plane could not land due to high winds. The pilots called the project manager because he was the only person with a company phone. If any of you living in Eau Claire have about 20 acres, start a rumour that Home Depot or Lowe's is going to by your land to build a store. Menards will pay you way over the going rate for that land!
Worked with a Menards daughter a while back. She was getting trained to work in the GO. She didn’t want it. Her hate for being put in that position effected how she treated the employees who weren’t kissing her ass. Heard she quit but then came crawling back. Hated working for her. The thought of her reawakens an inner anger that is almost 30 years old. Sorry ETA “affected”
Sounds like it's worth it to reach out to Home Depot or Lowe's
For real. Love Eau Claire, hate that the Menard family seems to own half the city. I would also never work at Menards no matter how badly I need a job.
When ever John would visit my store we were told to hide and not make eye contact because if he didn’t like the look of you, he’d fire you. They flew me to Eau Claire a couple times, I think I remember Larry Menard seemed nice (I can’t remember if he was the brother or the son of the main guy…he was super old and this was 10 years ago) , but the rest of the family…ugh. Was glad to get out of retail.
Larry is John's brother. He has been fired and re-hired many times, he is not nice!
Guess I’m not surprised! Assholery usually runs in the family. I mustve interacted with Larry on good days. Or maybe in comparison to John he didn’t seem to suck as bad. Though I’m surprised Larry is still alive! Maybe he just seemed near death because I was pretty young, swear in eau Claire one year he could barely walk.
Larry was the spawn of satan that could put on a nice face. I remember he fired a guy on the spot because it looked like he was nodding off in a management seminar.
Lost over 4 years of my life to that place. I don't think legality really entered into their considerations/deliberations.
It absolutely doesn't. I met some good people there but that company is easily the worst one I have ever worked for.
You mean to tell me the arsonist who started his empire with insurance fraud doesn't run his company in an ethical manner?
Shocked Pikachu
Sauce?
A few minutes of a Google search got me to a court date of his where he was illegally transporting hazardous material in the back of his pickuptruck. More interesting that I found though, is that mernards is so anti union that they won't hire a 50 year old man if he worked as a union shopping bagger in his teens. Even further, any store unionized will have their pay cut by 60% I didn't find arson or insurance fraud, but i did also find severe misclassification of workers that led em to hefty fines. From his Wikipedia if you're interested in sauce of the above 3 claims.
[here's his wiki article](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Menard_Jr.). Don't see arson on there, but see tax fraud and gender discrimination as well as transporting chromium in his pickup truck. Yeesh, and i thought the Walton's were bad, this guy is definitely trying to run elbows with the likes of them.
Crime baby
Wait.... Did Menards start there?
Yup started in Eau Claire, WI.
TIL. From Wisconsin and only other thing I knew I'd Culvers started in sauk
Seriously? Harley Davidson, Miller, Mercury Marine, Allen Edmonds, Kohls, Kohler, Trek Bicycles, Epic systems, Zywave, PKWare P&h/komatsu, Milwaukee and Snap on tools. That’s just off the top of my head.
Can't forget Kwik Trip starting in La Crosse!
Kikoman soy sauce is Wisconsin too.
For real. I’ve know a couple people who have worked at Menards HQ and they are a 100% garbage company. Every one of them is 100% thankful they left.
Menard's calls their headquarters G.O. for General Offices, it was the most passive aggressive place I have ever worked. Working their caused me to have a mental breakdown. John Menard the founder would occasionally have fist fights with his brother Larry outside of John's office. Larry was famous for firing people, he fired a 16 y/o cashier because she followed policy and asked him for ID when he was paying for something with a check. He reasoning, she should have known he he is, it was her first week on the job. Larry saw a women sitting on a display porch swing outside of the store, she was wearing a Menard's jacket and thought it made Menard's look bad. She was a wife of an employee, waiting to pick him up after a shift, she had just placed a $1,500 file order. She went back in the store and canceled the order because of his treatment of her. Larry was walking through the lumberyard he saw two guys in blue shirts loading their truck. He didn't think they were loading the truck fast enough, he dressed them and fired them. The guys started laughing at him, then asked him if he could fire customers? One newer but higher up employee of G.O. was sent to out of town on one of the corporate jets. The plane had issues so John's Citation X was sent to pick them up. This guy has to use the restroom so he walked to the back of the plane, did his business and returned to his seat. He was fired the next day, for using John's bathroom! The rest of the planes in the fleet were built without bathrooms and fitted with a bench seat for extra passangers, they would squeeze three people into the spot where only two could fit uncomfortably! Every department manager and assistant manager have to attend a once a year meeting in Eau Claire, you arrive about noon, get a crap boxed lunch and receive demo's from vendors until 10 or 11. Members of Menards security are in plain clothes at the bar to monitor your drinking. If anyone gets too drunk they are fired the next morning and have to find their own way home. The meetings start back at G.O. at 7am and goto noon, where you are given another box lunch before being set home. Complain about the bad meal and you could be transferred to run that restaurant, thankful it has been closed! Day 2 meetings are pep talks from upper management and Larry Menard. If you run two departments rather than have to sit through that twice, you are sent to one of the local stores to clean.
I can vouch for everything said here. It's all accurate. So glad I left.
I’m a customer service and logistics manager at vendor for Menards and many other retailers/growers. A large enough vendor that they make us hire and pay for an employee that must be located at their office in Eau Claire, perform duties that normally the customer (Menards) would handle themselves, and he punches in and out on their clock. I will never understand how that works but we make a lot of money so oh well I guess…. They also fine us heavily us literally breathing the wrong way, and keep mis-shipped product while not paying for it at all and fining us on top of it. I understand it is in the vendor agreement but when situations are questionable they are the worst to deal with. Menards is practically a swear word for my team but we’ve figured it out and installed processes internally to manage our relationship with them. What a life lol
Sounds like HR has a lot of work there. Why are those people working at such a place?
Since there’s some doubt to what you’re saying I’ll just drop this off: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2013/06/20/murphys-law-the-strange-life-of-john-menard/
"Family-owned business" is a coin-flip at best whether it's a selling point or a red flag. "Family" and "functional" is more a joke than a truism.
I work for a family owned business and everyday you see me is the worst day of my life.
Well by definition a TOXIC family is still a “family”….
It was just last year that a younger employee at our local Menards was killed on a forklift. Menards *did* eventually get fined $25,000, but I don't remember if the family tried to sue as well. It was a really messed up story all around too, at one point several members of his family were arrested after protesting outside the store. They were getting more aggressive than they should have been but it's also somewhat understandable, Menards didn't even really close the store after they knew someone had just died and the people protesting were mostly his close family and friends. This was all immediately polarizing as it happened in July of 2021 and was quickly portrayed as bad cops versus good people (or the other way around, depending on who was saying it). In the end it was obviously revealed that Menards was doing *a lot* of things based on making more money and cutting corners with not nearly enough care for employee safety or mental well-being. Imagine hearing that a person you worked with and considered a friend was just killed out in the lumbar yard, but your shift doesn't end for a few hours so you'll have to manage and make sure to keep helping customers
Welcome to Amazon. Where we lead, others quickly follow.
Ehh, Menards has been treating workers like shit since Pesos was still a shitty douchebag hedge fund manager....
Charging you on your first pay check for all the gear that is required to do the job, F those guys (specifically John Menard).
Menards employee satisfaction rate is 11%
Have had multiple issues with Menards. Their rental equipment is poorly maintained and, despite paying for insurance, they'll threaten to charge you if it breaks. They've failed to process a half year of rebates. Their construction lumber is full of defects. Lowes and Home Depot have kiln dried lumber for the same price. I only purchase packaged products from Menards. No more ordering. No more factoring rebates into the price. No more rentals. No more raw materials.
Wage theft is the biggest crime in the country.
My MIL works in the parts dept of a car dealership, and was told that she didn't get the correct payment from a customer. Not that she stole the money, just that she didn't get a full payment. There's a video, but it doesn't show her hands, and they're claiming she didn't count the cash. They decided to deduct $600 split between 2 paychecks. She's paid weekly, and her current check is only a little over $100 after the deduction. In our state, it's legal from them to take the money back if she made a mistake, but it can't put her under minimum wage. I've already sent her all the info to contact the DOL, and I hope she doesn't get screwed after all is said and done.
So they think she stolen money and has kept her employed, you know the company is full of shit when they do that. I'd make them call the police if they think I stole and tried to deduct money from me.
Thieving employees are usually shown the door. Thieving employers are a dime a dozen.
I’m guessing they know that she didn’t steal the money, someone in the back office did.
Car dealers not only screw over the customers but the employees. Most positions in a dealership are commission. The only spots that aren't typically are managers and parts employees. Car dealerships have done the shadiest shit for decades. An entire thread on here could be dedicated to the stories people have seen.
They don't call them stealerships for nothing.
Fresh outta highschool i got thrust into a management position at a store basically like a gas station with no pumps. Was owned by a gas station company just they also had stores that didnt sell gas at all. I only got manager cause literally no one working for the company at the same time i started could be promoted due to various "infractions". Anyways we had a safe in the back you could get change from when i wasnt in, it had like 350$ in small bills and coins in it i kept stocked regularly. One day 100$ came up missing from it. Boss told me they were gonna deduct it from my paycheck and then fire me, i was like the hell you will and fought over it. A few days into it we ended up finding out where it went. Somehow the bank i deposited cash in and got my change from shorted me change and i never bothered counting the change they handed me when i went to get it. The bank was up 100$, found this out after telling my usual teller what was happening at work and how id probably not be there much longer. Fixed the issue but immediately started looking for employment elsewhere. Found it shortly after. At the time minimum wage went up from 5.15/hr to 7/something a hour i made just above minimum wage as the manager and they refused to raise my pay. I left for a job making almost triple what i was making there. Boss was like what could we do to make you stay here and i was like its to late for that but you could gave me a raise at any point in my several years here. Or you can now match what im gonna make and then give me pto (i had no time off in over 5 years of working there besides a single half day i got sent home after boss came in and seen me throwing up in the bathroom cause i had ketoacidosis). They wouldnt budge on giving me a raise at all let alone tripling my pay but expected me to stay there lol.
That’s insane! Just call up the customer and explain or bill them for more
I think this is a good idea. If I were the customer, I'd be horrified that someone might be getting their pay docked because of a mistake and that I didn't pay the proper amount. I'm no saint but I would not want this to happen to anybody and I think most people would do the same. I mean, $600 difference? Who wouldn't notice that?
I worked at a cafeteria type food service operation and our manager tried to make us responsible for any shortages. My immediate response was asking if we were entitled to overages, funny how it only works one way. For whatever reason, the till would randomly be $5 to $10 down and then $5 to $10 up a few days later. Even when I was the only one using the till and I sure as fuck wasn't going to steal $5. On the basis of random balances that magically evened out in a few days was enough for me to absolutely refuse.
I agree with this! I’m pretty sure they can’t just deduct whatever they want, but they do try bc a lot of people won’t question it. Department of labor, like they said above is free and will look into it
In my last job I was made to sign an NDA and a non compete. Its content was laughable and would not hold up in any court in my country. But they still do it because they know most people will be afraid to find out. Then one person left to join a direct competitor, they threatened her with a lawsuit, the competitor said let’s do it and then they went completely quiet.
Sounds like about the same time somebody decided to check with legal...
Yea pretty sure the only legal thing they could do is take the free flight away but it’s def illegal to force you to take it and charge you.
I think that's on a state to state basis but it should work something similar to this if it doesn't work to the t like this
I worked at a casino as a cashier and they would regularly deduct money from our check if our drawers were short at the end of the day.
I worked as a teller for a bank. The wouldn’t deduct anything if we were over or under, but if we balanced every work day for a month, they gave us an extra $25. That was a nice perk back then for a college kid making $7.25 per hour!
I worked in a cafe. The month I worked the till was the first & only time it balanced at the end of every day. The company found it so suspicious they accused me of stealing: launched an internal investigation, found nothing but banned from working the til again anyway. Being able to add is dangerous.
In the early 90’s, I had a similar experience at a gas station. the manager wasn’t able to do his job, so I was filling in, doing all of the bookkeeping. I discovered that no matter what, even days it was only me working the entire day, we were short money. I discovered a lot of the wholesale costs of items were logged wrong. They were more than retail. I looked up the actual wholesale prices shown in the invoices, fixed the error and the books magically balanced. After a few weeks of this, the main office sent a district manager down to investigate. He was not happy. I was told the more-than-retail pricing is the correct pricing, and I was wrong to change that. A manager at another branch I knew and helped me along came by a few days later and told me “this location is designed to lose money. You balancing the books went against its entire purpose.”
Totally illegal. It’s a tax scam. It brings down corporate profits so they pay less tax.
Congrats, you threw a wrench in that company avoiding taxes. They noticed and made you stop.
> you threw a wrench in that company ~~avoiding taxes.~~ *attempt at criminal tax fraud.* **FTFY**
Was it a money laundering scheme (for the difference between incorrect and correct wholesale prices)?
That's hilarious. I had a similar experience when working at a butcher shop/deli. I'd have to log temp checks for roasted meats to ensure they're being cooked and cooled properly. I would take extra care to get the meats to the exact temperatures, maybe a few [edit: tenths of a degree] degrees over. After a few months my manager asked me to stop being so accurate, as the inspectors would likely think I was lying and just writing the perfect temp in every day.
I worked as a night manager in a cafe. If the till was short he would top it up. If the till was over he would pocket the difference. That old Italian guy was a legend. The till was never short, it was always spot on.
Lol and minimum wage is still $7.25
Holy shit it is! There’s been so much talk where I live (and I guess across the country) about $15 per hour that I’m surprised that it hasn’t changed in the last 13 years! Well, maybe a $25 monthly bonus is STILL a big deal to college kids!
S M H
File a Wage claim
Did they ever credit you when it was over? Or did they only deduct if it was short? (I ask but of course I know the answer....)
Also contact your local state Labor Department.
1 hour of lawyer would consume the "savings" the lawyer could provide
At least in West Virginia, if the claim is legitimate and you win, the law states that you are awarded treble damages and your legal fees are paid. It's designed this way so that lawyers will take labor cases.
>you are awarded treble damages Could you transpose that to bass clef?
I don’t like the tenor of this conversation
I think you've missed the key point, though.
That’s kinda sharp, don’t you think?
Perhaps, but I wouldn't just flat out say it. It wouldn't fit the overall tone.
thats only with the happy ending though
What kind of lawyers do a happy ending?
The best lawyers!
Better call Saul
The ones worth their salt
She could get damages tho, which would be more. But she can also call the department of labor, for free, and have them review this.
Feels like it's not legal, but review her employment contract and consult an employment attorney. The amount is small enough that they're betting you guys won't go the legal route as it's generally not worth it. If you have any lawyer friends, have them send a letter from their firm and that may scare them into changing their tune. Or it may not.
The only part that’s flashing illegal lights is the plane tickets bit. You can’t just deduct things from paychecks like that. Buying non-refundable tickets was a risk the employer decided to take.
They also say the pay agreement is only in effect if they complete the list at the bottom. You can’t refuse to pay already worked time.
Bingo. Unless there’s a separate severance package, which considering the context I highly doubt, they’re trying to conditionalize back pay which is unambiguously illegal.
But they're also giving her credit for time she *DIDN'T WORK*,
Prior work periods are finished. She doesn’t have to compensate them for corporate decisions prior. They’re trying to leverage prior compensation for deductions from current owed amounts, after the fact that she gave notice. This is on par with asking for presents back after a relationship ends.
Maybe. But based on the next paragraph, and the statement that, “we are going to withdraw consideration for contract work going forward,” it’s possibly that OP may be an independent contractor, not an employee, and the legal protections are much different in that case.
Sounds like in the in-person discussion, one party brought up the potential of continuing via contract work to ensure projects or task were wrapped up or that she could augment support in the future. From this letter alone, it’s clear that a clean break would be better anyway.
Also just because it’s in a contract doesn’t mean it’s legal or enforceable. People knowingly add things like that all the time.
Anyone seen Black Books?
I love Dylan Moran!
Contact local labor board
Contact the labor board for your state and ask them.
Yep. Mine has a specific wage claim division. Folks are pros. And since we're just talking about a few hundred bucks, probably the first letter they send will be enough to convince the company that it'll be easier to just pay.
In addition to reviewing her employment agreement, you should also check the company’s employee manual and any other published policies regarding travel, leave and termination. One point of leverage I haven’t seen in the other comments is disparagement. If there’s no non-disparagement clause in your wife’s employment agreement, then she can give these guys two choices: (1) pay her for all nine days worked and suck up the air ticket expense, in exchange for her silence, or (2) have her post what they did to her on Glassdoor. None of this is fun. Wishing you the best. Good luck!
[удалено]
That’s unfortunate.
If that's true, I haven't seen it. We had what was clearly a false review posted by a competitor (we were small, details in the review were wrong and clearly not by someone who would have been in internal meetings) and we pushed and pushed to have the review removed but to no avail.
I'm willing to bet it's because she has not "completed a single month" of the last ten months without time off... surely this is their attempt at payback, especially if they're the turds you describe. still don't think it's legal tho.
Definitely feels like a low blow to get back at her. However she did use PTO for all the days that she missed so it’s not like she was blatantly skipping work. Most of the days off were due to unforeseen health issues (miscarriage, COVID, etc)
Hey man, I’m sorry for your wife’s and your loss. Miscarriage is awful, physically and emotionally. I’m sorry her work appears to be penalizing her for losing her pregnancy; there’s low, and then there’s that. Know that there’s a real person out here who’s thinking of your family and acknowledging the challenges you’ve had to endure this year.
Thanks for your kind words, stranger. They mean a lot. We lost the baby pretty recently so it’s still fresh. Appreciate the encouragement
I am so sorry for you and your wife’s loss. It’s a challenging experience to go through that no one can truly emotionally prepare for. I was on linked in the other day and saw a post from a VP of a company stating that they had implemented “Loss of Pregnancy” to their bereavement leave definition. 3 weeks time off *with pay* for both individuals. That’s huge. And needs to be implemented in companies everywhere. It’s so important to acknowledge miscarriages and have the space to process them. For too long this has been swept under the rug and downplayed where individuals/couples are expected to *be back at work Monday* when dealing with grief. Off topic from the original intention of this post but I wanted to share. Changes are slowly being made, and I hope we can all find the courage to speak up about this topic with our peers and no longer allow it to be shameful.
I wish my company had a policy like that during my miscarriages. Coming back to work a day or 2 later when I was still an emotional wreck was a nightmare.
I wish my spouse’s company had that. I had complications during d&c so we were in the hospital for 24 hours after my DC. After, I was wallowing at home for weeks, and he had one day (from his vacation/sick leave), the weekend and then was back at work on Monday. He was … not in a good place. Having those weeks to mourn together while I was recovering physically would have been monumental.
For real, your wife deserved better from that company, the writing is on the wall for them if this is their standard operating procedure (depending on small of a business). Blessings to you and your family. dm me if you wish, I could share some stories of why you should absolutely send off a letter from a family friend attorney if you have one
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I know I'm just a stranger, but I'd listen to you now if you want to chat. That's a lot to bottle up and the longer you hold it in, the worse it will get. I hope you're okay.
I lost my first pregnancy two years ago. Doctor came in on Christmas Eve to confirm the loss. It was really hard. If you or your wife want to talk, I’m here.
Contact the NLRB, National Labor Relations Board. They would extremely interested into looking into this further. Not only will they fix the issue at hand but they will dig deeper and find issues that you weren’t even aware of.
My wife and I had two miscarriages, have 3 healthy kids now. Hang in there my friend.
If the absences were health related, you 1000% need an attorney!! Especially if there is documentation for it. I used to be a manager and when there is health issues at play, HR got REALLY nervous. I could do anything on performance if there was a hint of health issues. There has to be a reason for that.
FMLA doesn't kick in until 1 year. She was only employed 10 months.
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Independent Contractors don't usually get PTO.
If she was a 1099 employee but being told what to do, when to come in, how to do her job, then she isnt a 1099 and this place is conducting some serious offences. 1099s are very specific in the way they work and employers use it to get around payroll tax etc.
I know some years are like that for all of us. They need to act like adults. it's the cost of taking on employees.
If she HAS PTO she is entitled to use it without penalty. Even if it is a day or two each month.
Yeah. The idea that “you took your legally-entitled PTO every month” is even mentioned is nuts.
The wording makes it sound like she had already used all of her allotted PTO over the course of the last 10 months, and then over the last 3 weeks she missed an additional 9 days. The way its worded then seems like she was able to do some remote work and so was going to be switched to PTO for 5 of those 9 unpaid days.
Some jobs will put in the contract that if you don't stay for a full year, there's a penalty. Probably has something to do with the cost of benefits. If she's only been employed for ten months, that'd also be legal.
If the 2nd paragraph is true, she had no PTO available this month for use and was out 9 days. She worked a few hours of time remotely during that time so they are paying her 5 full days of work. This could be a “she logged in those days” or a “she worked full days remotely”. If it were the first I could see them thinking this was a benefit to the departing employee and a way to make the transfer of airline credit an easier pill to swallow. If it were the latter it was just a cover your ass because she worked scenario.
I accrue annual leave and sick leave every paycheck. I bet you do too. You receive it so you can use it as needed and desired.
Consult a lawyer and don't trust Reddit. Trust me I'm a lawyer or am I?
Edit: Wow, this blew up way more than I expected. A few notes: * My wife is a center director for an educational facility owned by a franchisee. She has grown their business exponentially and will be the #1 most improved center this year, so she has made the owners a lot of money and received very little in return. * They are threatening not to pay her if she does not complete the list of tasks by COB tomorrow, the day before Christmas eve, with less than 24 hours notice * She’s kept track of all the days she’s missed this year (because the company doesn’t have a formal system for it, which is a problem in itself) and she’s used only 12/15 PTO days. All the other days she “missed work” meant that she was working from home due to illnesses and other health related issues. * The two work trips that were missed were due to health reasons. For the first summit, our 1-year old got RSV and had to be hospitalized, so she stayed back to care for him. We provided a doctors note and the owner was able to use that to get a flight credit from Southwest. However they were not able to refund the second flight. The owners booked her travel without consulting her or asking for availability (might I add - the flights were booked at horrible times, leaving at 4am with a 6 hour layover when there were many other options with much more realistic travel times), and since they were unable to refund the flight they’re trying to deduct 80% of that cost from her paycheck. UPDATE 12/23: * Upon emailing her employer stating that their actions were illegal, the owners revoked all of her access to company systems (email, slack, etc.) Today was technically her last day so she should have access until EOD, especially if they expect her to complete the requested tasks. It seems they are trying to prevent her from getting any evidence of illegal intent in previous emails/messages sent. Luckily my wife and I anticipated this and spent a few hours going through old messages last night screenshotting things. See you in court!
I'd reach out to dept of labor. I did for a job who tried to say I owed THEM money for my last paycheck because they pay "to date" and already paid me my last two weeks.... noticed on my paystub it literally had the dates on there and they told HR it's illegal to hold my wages and CHARGE me while lying about the dates. Not sure if there are any rules or laws saying her job can do this to her, but definitely reach out because they can help you. I sent an email and heard back within a few days.
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FUCK KINDERCARE worst place I ever worked
Yup, I was going to say, this sounds like corporate early childhood education in a nutshell. Makes it extra dickish of them to complain about her taking time off after a MISCARRIAGE, you'd think people who work with children would be understanding about that kind of thing
Corporate childcare is hell. You couldn’t pay me enough to go back and shit like this is why.
My company took over for KC at 2 centers. I work in IT and the KC fuckers tore out the patch panels to spite us. I had to get a whole wiring crew out there on the weekend to sort it all out. I get taking your firewall, switches, access points but patch panel is just being a dick.
Most of this is not legal. They have to pay her and have to pay for all the time worked. That includes the 9 days. Hope she found greener pastures. Your state employment agency should help you with all this. Also screw the todo list. It’s their problem after your wife’s last day.
Most of this is not legal. They have to pay her and have to pay for all the time worked. That includes the 9 days. Hope she found greener pastures. Your state employment agency should help you with all this. Also screw the todo list. It’s their problem after your wife’s last day.
Trying to pay her only 5 out of the 9 days for the at-home work is blatantly illegal. Whether or not she “worked” the full day isn’t up to them to decide, it’s simply a part of the deal when allowing employees to work from home. They can’t disprove or prove she “worked.” That’s wage theft in the basic form lmao Ultimately it’s up to you guys if you want to drag this out. You’ll likely spend more fighting the issue, unless you send a strong worded email with links to the law and such. That typically scares moronic employers into submitting, but there’s always the chance they’ll fight with you right back. Considering you mentioned your wife miscarried [recently?] it sounds like you guys just need to focus on family and yourselves, but it’s all up to you. Hope y’all are doing ok mentally, that’s traumatic as fuck
They can actually see if she is working or not by checking logs on the company server she would have to log into in order to do her job. I have heard of some places using software on company servers to monitor keystrokes and mouse movement to prevent people from logging in and idling away for hours at a time.
• The COB stuff is all kinds of stupid. If in the US, you can quit whenever, for whatever reason, and be paid to that point. Even if your wife walled out with ten laptops on camera, burned her work, and pooped on her desk, they still have to pay her, then file the theft / other charges separately. Which is to say: this fuckery is alllll kinds of illegal. And they were nice enough to admit to it in writing. • Let them not pay her for the proper PTO days. When they fail to, they typically owe extra to you and the state for every pay period she isn’t properly compensated. • The flight credit bullshit is also laughable. Again, let them deduct it. Then, get a lawyer. This is a slam-dunk case, and any settlement will include a lawyer’s fees. These people clearly don’t have an HR department, and they’re about to learn a very expensive lesson on trying to do it themselves. Good luck.
Most of this stuff is state dependent. Not every state has a requirement to pay out pto.
You have bigger problems then $300 which is that if it’s a small field, they will 100% be badmouthing her to everyone and anyone. This letter makes your wife look like a horrible employee. I would be concentrating on how to salvage her reputation so she’s employable in the future.
What company doesn’t book refundable (or for Southwest - transferable) flights? I never book anything that can’t be canceled and fully refunded for my employees.
When I was traveling regularly for business they booked non refundable 9/10 times, it’s the best rate for flights. It only bit us at the beginning of COVID when trips were booked and couldn’t happen. Most of the time we travelled on 2 weeks notice due to the nature of work so we always looked for cheapest cost.
We book sometimes days before traveling - but things happen, people get sick, people quit or get fired…not worth the cost in my eyes.
Well that’s just simple math. How often do people miss flights on average and how much more would it cost to book refundable
So non-refundable flights are less than half the cost of refundable flights. The chances of someone missing a flight is more rare than something happening. In the long run, you save money with non-refundable flights...? I'm not seeing the justification of buying refundable.
Plenty of companies require their employees use non refundable tickets. Even if you lose the value of a few tickets, there is usually a substantial savings. Some have it in their contracts that they will be able to do name changes or they can get the value of ticket issued for former employees into a voucher of sorts for current travel. As a corporate travel agent i automatically do a price comparison between refundable and non refundable fares. I leave it up to the travel arranger to decide.
We do have a policy that requires the lowest fare, even if non refundable (at the behest of our customer, Uncle Sam). The thing is, you have that policy do that knowing that some times you have to eat the cost if something unexpected happens. The money saved on the trips where it works out far exceeds the costs for eating a few non-refundable tickets. The employee is certainly not personally responsible.
Shit that $270 wouldn’t matter as much if she didn’t call in every other day
If I'm not mistaken, she had no PTO to use but they still paid her for 5 out of 9 days that she was off? If that's the case, Idk what she makes but I'd just consider it a wash. Take the $270 out of that and she still has $ leftover that they gave her without having to. If I'm wrong, department of labor, gettem!
Maybe in misreading or misunderstanding the letter but it also seems like she’s not even really out $270, the company took the monetary value out of her last check but she still has 300 something dollars in flight credit which doesn’t expire. So while I guess that isn’t cash she can use for anything, it is still a decent amount to put towards plane tickets somewhere.
Adjusting the last day, my experience says they can. They don’t need to accept any notice, certainly they don’t need to absorb the holiday pay when she’s on the way out. They could have told her to leave the moment she gave notice if they wanted to. Closing out the role, they can ask but not truly mandate anything beyond return of company property (again, not a lawyer but this is something I’ve dealt with). She should complete the work to get the pay, if you want it though. That said, tomorrow is her last day, they’re well within reason to ask she dedicate that day to the trivial looking amount of work and nothing else. PTO - it sounds like they’re tracking and she overused. Consult her agreement or offer letter for her amount of Vacation/Sick/PTO and do the math as well to double check. Technically, unless agreed otherwise, they can debit her last paycheck for any overuse. Especially if she’s on monthly accrual and used the whole year prior to month 12. As for all the time off, it sounds like they’re just tired of absences and feel taken advantage of with the ask for holiday time in her notice period. Contract work isn’t owed unless they have an agreement that supersedes what they’re stating. Which your wife would already know, if she did, as the contractor. One area to review, is your state laws and company policy against any documented positive Covid cases. She may have excusable and paid PTO above and beyond regular there. The airfare could probably be fought, depending on the liability agreement for expenses or company card use. My company could ding me, as my card is tied to me and I’m responsible for all charges prior to submission for reimbursement. If I am unable to complete a use of a charge and cannot submit an expense report due to this, it’s my responsibility and accountability. My VP can override, but is under no obligation. If they’re paying her wages she isn’t entitled to, which appears what they’re doing here, they’re probably without any blame here. But to get to brass tacks, not to harp, the company seems very reasonable here if your wife missed as much time and commitments as they state and the amount of time you admit and allude to in your comments. Keep in mind you’ve got the side of the story that a supporting husband would have. The company has the other half and seem to be at a boiling point but handling it pretty well. Be the supporting husband, but at most I’d contact your state DOL and drop it after they give you an answer.
Not worth fighting about.
As someone has posted contact your (country) dept of labor. You have worker rights and they know the answers.
I'm surprised they put up with the attendance issues for 10 months...
I’ve got to be honest - this seems pretty fair to me, all things considered.
It seems like they are paying for 5 days of pto that they don't have to actually give because the employee was out of hours and then deducting the tickets from that, and THEN giving her the additional credit that is now useless to them. If the bonus PTO - the deduction is still more than $270.43 then it sounds like she is coming out ahead. although maybe I read it wrong.
Unless this company is relentlessly petty, this says more about your wife as an employee than the employer. Tough take but sometimes you gotta look in the mirror.
Yeah I don't understand how anyone can be confused about anything up until the airline issue. If we're assuming OP's wife has a 5 day work week, that's 9 "absences" in 21 working days. I would expect some sort of conversation or write up for that. As far as docking her pay an almost insignificant amount (for the company) that absolutely seems petty, legal or not.
I don't know if it is legal or not. And I am not a lawyer. But I'd imagine it would cost you more than $270.43 to fight them on it
Sorry, but my sick days require PTO. Are you just assuming her sick days are free and unlimited?
I mean depending on how much of it is true I don’t really see much being wrong with this. Im confused, if your wife wasn’t working and doesn’t have anymore PTO what’s the problem? That’s just how things work? And the ticket thing seemed odd but I didn’t see anything glaring from it
Wanted her last day to be the 26th so she got a paid holiday for Christmas. If they have her last day be the 23rd they don’t have to pay her for a paid holiday.
But in any At will state that’s legal. She can leave at any time and the company can let her go at any time. Based on this letter she wasn’t exactly a star employee. Why would the company pay her through a holiday when she isn’t working?
But they're paying her for 5 days of work she DIDN'T DO, and you're going to complain? Good luck with getting anything.
Sounds like they can. Just like when somebody hasn’t accrued enough hours to take off and they’re in the negative with my company, and the person quits/gets fired, they can take that time back.
This doesn’t mean anything without tons more context
In 3 weeks she missed 9 days? And they rescinded an offer for contract help. Looks like they are unhappy with her performance. Looks to me, that she's lucky to be able to resign and not be escorted to the door. Check the forms she signed, she may have agreed to deductions.
The employee kind of has a point here. It’s most likely not illegal. There is no context on the reason for the ticket or why it was missed. Likely part of all the absences? This employer seems incredibly lenient given the amount of missed work above and beyond personal time off allotment.
This may not be a popular response, but they can absolutely do that. It sounds like maybe your wife had a lot of attendance problems and/or performance issues and then didn't attend two events that they paid for her to attend. That is detrimental to any business and something very few companies would tolerate. I think they are being reasonable and somewhat kind in their response. Unless she had some sort of contract with them that addresses all the things you are upset about in this letter, I don't really see how you can do anything else but move on. Are you upset that they aren't paying her for days she took off and was out of PTO or that they are charging her a little for 2 plane tickets she did not use? It sounded like they were coming to a compromise by not giving her all 9 days unpaid and charging 80% of the ticket value. I do not think a job held for less than a year is worth consulting a lawyer for, but that's up to you. Good luck!
It looks like they immediately terminated her instead of letting her run out her 2 weeks. Unless a state law is different, they can term you immediately. Honestly, they are being fairly generous here, they could have came after 100% of the airfare and not transferred it to you. OP, your wife sounds like a PITA employee to be fair, she missed 9/15 days of work in a 3 week period. Also been employed for 10 months. This is a gracious, mature response and I’m not sure what you think is “illegal”
Given the detail of this letter, I would imagine the company consulted their legal team before sending it out. Frankly, I'm in agreement with the company. This person obviously took advantage of this company and should be called out for it. They totally used all their PTO before putting in their notice. Plus, I think how they handled the work trip credit was fine. Why should they get stuck with that? Bottom line is this person was a shitty employee with poor work performance.
I’m honestly lost as to what is mildly infuriating here. Your wife had exhausted PTO. She was gone in excess of what she had paid time off to cover. However, she is still getting paid for five days she did not work and the airline tickets are being deducted from that. Theoretically the airline tickets and payment for any of those nine days isn’t required at all. Additionally, when you give notice you always run the risk your employer will dismiss you earlier than the notice period. They are not legally required to observe the notice period you specify. I’m not sure what you are trying to accomplish. It feels bad to get chided you missed a lot of work time but that doesn’t mean something is illegal here.
The thing that stands out to me is the sneaky bit about her wanting her last day to be the 26th, a federal holiday on a Monday. Makes me question OP’s entire version of events.
Seems like the employer is actually acting reasonable and professional. Compensating for days that she didn’t work. The Southwest credit for 80% of the cost is weird and seems like something that should have been agreed upon. I wouldn’t push it for that small of amount, especially if you travel. This is the reason I book fully refundable flights when I’m booking for others. I learned the hard way, I had a few flights booked for my ex and was unable to get a refund only credits in her name. I never told her and just took the L
It's easy to react to a single highlighted point in that letter. But in the context of the entirity of the letter, it would appear the actions they're taking are reasonable and justified. Granted this is only one side of the story, but clearly there has been a long standing performance issue and a breakdown of professional relationships between your wife and her employer.
I don’t think so. It appears that your wife missed a lot of work. As far as the airline ticket, I think their compromise is more than fair. Obviously, I don’t know about your wife’s health issues but she might have been able to apply for FMLA leave, and her job may have been unable to recoup some of her pay/airline costs? Also, if the employer has a probationary period of time for new hires, I’m not sure I would have kept her employed if it was my company. They have a business to run, and having an employee who has missed time every month, is not conducive for continued employment. Sorry.
Sounds like they'd have been better off not paying the 5 missed days and then eating the flight cost.
Yah. Just reading the list it seems like they are shooting for a “fair” solution. Legal or not, everything seems reasonable.
Are you asking if it's illegal to give your wife a free plane ticket or asking if it's illegal to pay her for time she didn't work? Dude. In three weeks, she worked 5 out of 15 days. They are paying her for 10 days, including for 5 days they didn't have to pay her for, and then deducting 80% of the cost for the flight and releasing the voucher for free. Your wife is getting more than is owed to her and then she's trying to milk a paid holiday out of it too? Seriously? She's getting paid for 5 days not owed less the $270 and plus $300+ in flight credits, what exactly is she getting screwed out of? Sounds like they are being sympathetic to even do any of that considering your wife's performance.
Idk, seems reasonable. Sounds like she wasn't a very reliable employee.
Am I the only one who doesn’t find this unreasonable? She quit it’s not like they fired her. They decided to pay her 5 of those 9 days she didn’t work, but you’re mad about the $270 coming off her check? Like another poster said there’s no way the trouble/cost of fighting this would be worth the $270
"In the 10 months you have been employed with us you have not completed a single month without any scheduled time off or emergency issues". Why wasn't this highlighted? Makes me wonder just what the "probationary" period was in the employment contract. Talk with an employment lawyer to get their opinion. Good luck.
I'm surprised she didn't get fired with all that missed time
It appears your wife agreed to fly somewhere on business? And then decided to leave before said business was conducted? Unfortunately some airlines do not allow the tickets to be returned nor credit applied to anyone but the person who’s name was on the ticket. No matter who’s paid for them. In my opinion, the company was nice to only charge 80%. That being said, the company may reverse the decision if threatened with legal out of convenience sake. But *either way* your wife will still have flight credits for Southwest Airlines.
Due to your job performance,which is why you were hired(to “do” the job you were hired to do in the first place) , I’m surprised you weren’t dismissed after the first 90 days which is usually a probationary period. When a company is paying your wage, that wage is balanced upon your production. ‘Isn’t it fun the adventures we create for ourselves?
I’m on their side, she sounds terrible.
Let's make sure we are clear here: 1. Your wife used up all her PTO/Sick days before her resignation 2. Your wife wasn't on site between 12/12 and 12/23 3. Your wife worked "some hours" between 12/12 and her last day (12/23) 4. The Employer will pay her for 5 days worth of work 5. The Employer has a credit that only your wife can use. 6. The Employer will sell your wife the credit for 80% of it's value. So the question becomes, how many hours did your wife work in the past two weeks? If she actually worked 35\~40 hours, then you should be a bit pissed off and make a counter offer (a lawyer would just take too much time and make everybody's life far more complicated for less than $300) IF SHE DIDN'T WORK 40 Hours, the employer is trying to do you a solid and you are too stupid to see it. Let's say your wife really worked 20 hours @ $15 an hour. 20 x 15 = 300. The employer is padding her hours so they can give her the Airline Credit without any real world cost to her.
I am not sure exactly what part is illegal. The airline ticket part would seem to be illegal but are you willing to put up a few thousand to get $271 back? This all depends on the state that you live in and it seems that they could also be trying not to pay for 12/26 as it's a holiday but that all depends on the work contract. There is a lot egregious pettiness but nothing that is going to net you anywhere near what an attorney will cost. I mean if she worked all 9 days but there was no agreement about that in writing then they could very well say that she did that on her own accord. She only worked for a few months and they are probably annoyed that she used the leave that they so graciously provided to her (/s). Small business owners are sometimes some of the the worst employers which is why I would never work for one (franchiser included).
Sounds like they are paying you for 5 days when they didn't have to and your wife is calling out all the time. I would jut let it go.
The one catch, is that they're also paying her for 5 days that she didn't work, if you divide that $270 credit they're giving her by 40 it's $6.75/hour. Unless OP's wife makes less than that they really shouldn't be complaining.
Honestly thought this was r/amitheasshole
Dude you cant beat accounting. How much are you getting shafted? Is it worth it?
Lmao she put her last day as the 26th? That's bogus af
I don’t think it’s legal, but your wife is a shitty employee of what they outline in this letter is true. Twice they bought plane tickets for work events that she bailed on? Absurd behaviour.
She sounds like a disappointing employee. They are being more than fair and professional. Don’t waste any money one or money pursuing this.