contract work and not being paid

Continue hounding them for money, and then file a lien against the company for not paying.
 
Do they have an office you could physically go to and speak to someone?

Lay it out to them. And make it clear that if it’s not resolved you’ll pursue legal action, call the BBB, write a one star Google review, etc.
 
I'm guessing because you were contract the government sees it as a business to business fight and it has to go to court instead of an employee rights thing. One big factor is whether they have the money or not. Court is great but you can't get blood from a stone.

I don't know the HR thing very well so are there new laws governing contract workers. It seems like every business wants to go contract.
 
last message from the company was "didn't realize you weren't paid for those hours, will send the cheque." that was two weeks ago.
Small trucking company, doing well. Moving mostly steel. Hopefully its just an oversight but I had a problem with them when I left. Told them I couldn't drive their truck because it had a cupped front tire with an area of bald tire that wasn't safe. He told me to "shut the **** up and get in the truck and drive - I will pay any mto fine you get". I waited 5 minutes and called him back to tell him I was leaving the truck at home base and he will have to find someone else to drive it. I told him this isn't right. He calmed down and later asked when I would be returning to work. I couldn't return to work after the way he talked to me and I never returned. I never so much as raised my voice or got into any sort of argument with him. Was stunned actually. I was not contract required to any specified time period of work - I was simply paid a fixed hourly rate by contract. His loss in my opinion. I'll keep politely hounding within reason. just don't know if the 5-600 is worth the effort of pursuing this...or where I should start.
 
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$500 is $500 bucks. keep all correspondents. and secure contacts ie certified. small claims... put a lien on the company? Consider it as learning opportunity when the stakes gets much higher.
 
It's pretty cheap and easy to open a small claims court case. That's usually enough wake up call to get someone to answer your calls

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boyoboy said:
last message from the company was "didn't realize you weren't paid for those hours, will send the cheque." that was two weeks ago.
Small trucking company, doing well. Moving mostly steel. Hopefully its just an oversight but I had a problem with them when I left. Told them I couldn't drive their truck because it had a cupped front tire with an area of bald tire that wasn't safe. He told me to "shut the **** up and get in the truck and drive - I will pay any mto fine you get". I waited 5 minutes and called him back to tell him I was leaving the truck at home base and he will have to find someone else to drive it. I told him this isn't right. He calmed down and later asked when I would be returning to work. I couldn't return to work after the way he talked to me and I never returned. I never so much as raised my voice or got into any sort of argument with him. Was stunned actually. I was not contract required to any specified time period of work - I was simply paid a fixed hourly rate by contract. His loss in my opinion. I'll keep politely hounding within reason. just don't know if the 5-600 is worth the effort of pursuing this...or where I should start.
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Depending on their accounting system it can take weeks to get a cheque approved, printed, and signed by two people. On the other and I refused to work for a huge developer because of an outstanding invoice. I got a hand written cheque in the mail a day later. It depends on how badly they want to fix the problem.

I admire your stance. Yeah they could pay for any MTO ticket but what about the dead bodies on your conscience?
 
small loss, takes time to figure out the d-bags
can't lien a company over a contract dispute
sounds like you would win a judgment in small claims court
that doesn't get you one cent, the court does not collect for you
you can take that judgment and assign to a collector
maybe get 50 cents on the dollar
this is a dilemma for sole proprietorships
how much time do you waste chasing $500?
not earning squat while doing that
 
I would spend an hour to start a small claims case. Most cases get settled in mediation anyway and if the company is doing well, they'll probably just pay up.
I'd spend an hour to recover $500. Or even 250.
I wouldn't walk away from that amount of money just on principle
JavaFan said:
small loss, takes time to figure out the d-bags
can't lien a company over a contract dispute
sounds like you would win a judgment in small claims court
that doesn't get you one cent, the court does not collect for you
you can take that judgment and assign to a collector
maybe get 50 cents on the dollar
this is a dilemma for sole proprietorships
how much time do you waste chasing $500?
not earning squat while doing that
Click to expand...

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jeff96 said:
I would spend an hour to start a small claims case. Most cases get settled in mediation anyway and if the company is doing well, they'll probably just pay up.
I'd spend an hour to recover $500. Or even 250.
I wouldn't walk away from that amount of money just on principle

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not a principle thing, a time thing
up to OP if he wants to try this
but the process you laid out is going to eat up a lot more than an hour

what some guys do is have their lawyer fire off a letter threatening court action
this usually works as the other party realizes they need a lawyer to deal with it
and they pay up to avoid that

if you can find a lawyer to fire off a letter cheaply this may be quicker
and eat up much less time than trying to do small claims yourself
 
I get what you're saying about time. Initiating a claim should take less than an hour. It can be done online. You only have to leave the house to serve the papers.

My one and only experience is that the person/company getting served takes this seriously and find it easier to pay up rather than respond to the court. Not responding means that the court can make a judgement against them and you win a judgement with only about that hour invested. Sell that to a collections agency for 50 cents on the dollar and you've recovered half with about two hours invested.

In my case, it got the other party to answer the phone and arrange to meet me where we came to an agreement.

I think the lawyer's letter is a poor bluff. Everyone knows it will cost at least $500 to get anything substantial processed with a lawyer. A lawyer will tell you otherwise I'm sure

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Not sure who at the company you are contacting, is it the person who hired you for the job? If so I would contact the payroll person instead. See if they have your billing info, invoice, hours and amount owing etc. If not then give it to them. Find out what their typical turnaround time is for paying contractors etc. Lastly you could just "show up" and find out the status of the payment. Talk to them in person would be a good indicator if they are trying to fcuk with you.

If none of this satisfies you then go to small claims the process is easy enough as others have mentioned. At the small claims office there is a self-help free lawyer service. You can get some consultation time with them and go over your case. They should be able to advise you.
 
I'm not sure this is a clear/cut as you think it is... as far as you being a "contractor".
There is a difference between being a contractor and just being paid cash.
It is possible you were 'an employee' as far the gov and law is concerned. If that's the case... The MOL will gladly straighten this out for you.
If you are a contractor... don't spend too much effort trying to collect. Write it off and move on. The time you spend trying to collect is better spent on doing other business or finding new.
 
boyoboy said:
last message from the company was "didn't realize you weren't paid for those hours, will send the cheque." that was two weeks ago.
Small trucking company, doing well. Moving mostly steel. Hopefully its just an oversight but I had a problem with them when I left. Told them I couldn't drive their truck because it had a cupped front tire with an area of bald tire that wasn't safe. He told me to "shut the **** up and get in the truck and drive - I will pay any mto fine you get". I waited 5 minutes and called him back to tell him I was leaving the truck at home base and he will have to find someone else to drive it. I told him this isn't right. He calmed down and later asked when I would be returning to work. I couldn't return to work after the way he talked to me and I never returned. I never so much as raised my voice or got into any sort of argument with him. Was stunned actually. I was not contract required to any specified time period of work - I was simply paid a fixed hourly rate by contract. His loss in my opinion. I'll keep politely hounding within reason. just don't know if the 5-600 is worth the effort of pursuing this...or where I should start.
Click to expand...

Their truck, their work schedule.
You were an employee.
That was part time employment, not contract work.
 
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