Slavery At Work!

[DinoDoc]

How much do you get paid an hour? If it is a decent amount I'd still go to the responsible agencies to find out if this is legal. You might be able to get paid anyway if this crap isn't legal.

[snoopy369]

I'm with rah here mostly, but it depends on your specific working relationship with this company.

If you are a contractor TO this company, then they can do whatever they want, within your contract's terms.

If you are a regular, hourly worker employed by this company, and then contracted out TO other companies, then they probably have to pay you.

If you are a regular hourly worker employed by somebody else, and this company is the company you are contracted to that's having the meeting, then I suspect YOUR company has to pay you.

But definitely go to the department of labor for clarification.

[snoopy369]

The main question I guess is, are you "at will" with this company, or is there a contract with this company? If you're at will they pretty much have to pay you, if there's a contract then they may not have to.

[snoopy369]

Hmm, hunting around DoL (federal) it's not just 'at will' but also has to do with whether you move around much (from company to company), whether you have any power in the relationship, etc. (Which is probably good for you.) Basically, there are some 'contractors' who are also defined as 'employees' due to the fact that their relationship is closer to 'employee' than true contractor. But at the federal level it seems to matter what industry you're in, also (things like lumber and such are quite heavily legislated and protected).

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Lorizael
Thanks for the advice, guys. Off to my mandatory, unpaid meeting now!

If they make you do stuff...you get paid for it...end of story.

If you're in the U.S., your state probably has a Department of Labor. Call them.

If you're in California, a plaintiff suit for unpaid wages also awards attorney fees. So we're seeing a lot of these now.

[snoopy369]

Zk, if you're a true contractor then there's no employer-employee relationship and thus no pay unless it's in the contract... but I have my doubts as to whether he qualifies as not an employee

[Zkribbler]

It sounds to me like he's a employee of a company who then contracts his services out to others. So vis-a-vis the company, he's a employee; vis-a-vis the entity from whom he actually performs services, he probably a contractor (altho he might be a co-employee )

I still recommend calling the Dept. of Labor. They're the experts in this kind of matter.

[snoopy369]

Zk, I pretty much agree with you, but that wasn't entirely clear ... either way DoL is a good call

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by snoopy369
If you are a regular, hourly worker employed by this company, and then contracted out TO other companies, then they probably have to pay you.

This is my situation. Though I'm not contracted out to other companies, but the federal government.

[chequita guevara]

The Feds have exempted themselves to a lot of rules.

[Lorizael]

But this isn't really about the federal government. I work for a company. I was going to a meeting for that company. The company didn't want to pay me for that meeting.

It just so happens that my job for this company is to do for the federal government what the company wants me to do.

[chequita guevara]

I'm pretty sure they have to pay you. You should raise a stink with your contracting company, since they were also cheated. The problem for you is, if you're the only contractor that complains, guess whose contract is gonna get dropped?

[Tuberski]

I wouldn't have gone to the meeting, or I would have gone in shorts and flip flops, eating a bag of Doritos.

Also interupt the meeting a lot. Keep asking why you aren't getting paid.

or not.

ACK!

[snoopy369]

Always go to the meeting ... just expect to be paid for it, put it on your timesheet or whatever. If they object, suggest that they discuss it with _______ (insert name of labor law attorney in your area here).

Then if they fire you it's retaliation and not just cause

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Then if they fire you it's retaliation and not just cause

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will