Q: Can you get fired for wanting to be sent home after requesting payment that was never received?
I am a traveling worker & I was sent to work at a site. They have trouble paying people. So I told the site manager & regional manager that I haven't been paid. The site manager eventually quit so all I had was the regional one to deal with. He told me that he already paid me on a card that I didn't have at the time & a the company that owns the card I wasn't even registered in at all. He tells me to call the company & they say that they have received no funds. So I am missing pay in addition to my hours they keep getting wrong. So I tell him that since it's this way they can send me back to my site in my state. I've been here 4 weeks dealing with this. He tells me that if he sends me home that it will be to the couch. So he is threatening to fire me from road crew & my original site just because I haven't been paid all of my money & I want to leave.
A: You have a right to complain about unpaid wages but you may not be allowed to choose your worksite unless you have an employment contract that says otherwise. You can complain through your company's formal channels about the unpaid wages and the worksite's timekeeping issues. If that is unsuccessful then you may file a complaint with the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. It is illegal for a company to fire you for complaining about unpaid wages. If that happens you may need to speak to an employment attorney.
A: There is a lot going on here. Wage and Hour Act appears to have been violated in addition to REDA, retaliation claim. You should contact an attorney.
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