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Unsure of legality


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Hi I hope as many people see this over the weekend that it will give me a better feeling of what I think.

 

I got an email from a quilt shop offing a job as a long arm employee.  It said you could be trained, and would do work for the shop.

 

I got the position, it was for a couple of days a week, then take over the department.  Then the owner had her nose in everything.

 

Then there were complaints about my quilting, but I never received training or assistance, just my pay check cut.

 

Then Oh you also teach people how to use the long arm .  And there was a student to teach with their quilt.  I have been doing this for a couple of weeks.  

 

Then I was told they are being audited and I need to more or less put on my time slip that I am paying the owner 40 percent of the earnings and I am just a contract person using the stores equipment

 

I found complaints from customers were lies from some people and others were told that the quilt was not don right and to bring it back.

 

I KNOW I am not qualified to teach, I feel tremendous liability,  and I do not know if it is legal to cut wages, if there is a complaint.  

 

The last part was I was told to take things home and do them since it is a very long drive to the store and back and only come when there are students.  

 

I have not been paid in three weeks and they have not even had me sign papers or taken info from me.  I was told I would get a 1099 at the end of the year.  Is this legal, any of it and I wonder how to get my pay if it is not.  I do not think I should stay.  Thank you for any help

 

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Seriously, I think I would look elsewere for work. Everything you have had happen to you with this job is wrong. However, that being said, you probably don't have a legal recourse because it sounds as if you were paid for work done while you were actually in the store working. Pay cuts are done all the time in any business, and it is up to the employee to accept it or not. If not, then work elsewhere. 

 

They have treated you badly, but probably not illegally. I once had to wait 6 months for a final paycheck when the business went bust. The state board of labor, said if I wanted my money I could sue them, but it was expensive. 

 

One thing you can be sure of, is that if you were paid as an employee, or contract labor, then they will need to get your information from you to give you a 1099 and they will have had to pay taxes on your salary and you will have to do that too,iIf they did not withold any monies from your paycheck to pay your portion. At the end of the year, you need to claim the income from them and pay tax on it and if the govt. doesn't get the taxes they owe on you from them, they will be fined, not you.

 

This is just my opinion, and others will certainly give much better counsel.  If the money owed to you is a lot, call the labor board for help, if not let it go, count yourself lucky to get away as soon as you did. Have a chocloate bar and celebrate your escape. ^_^

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It sounds like you are in a bad working relationship that will not get better. If you control your time and what you do, then you could be a contractor (1099). If they tell you what to do and when to work, you are an employee and they should be withholding taxes and matching FICA (W-2). Run away and run fast.   

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You are not a contract laborer just because they say so.  If they dictate work schedule, telling you what days and hours to work, you are an employee and they should  be withholding and paying social security taxes.  If they are fielding complaints and accepting liability, you are an employee.  If they are telling you to teach, you are an employee.  They must already be in trouble.  I would NOT lie to an auditor about wages or an employment agreement.  These people are bad news.  I agree..get out.  If you have done what you agreed to do to the best of your ability, you are not liable. The employer is liable.  If they were not happy with your work, termination is their remedy, and dealing with the unhappy customer is their problem.  Sorry this is happening to you.  Apparently this business is not doing well, and they are taking advantage of you out of desperation.  

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Itemize all your completed work and document conversations you've had with the owner (whether it is in person or by email). Note, where possible, time and dates when you were instructed to perform certain tasks. By keeping a good record of these interactions you will be able to challenge the owner later if you are not paid for your work.

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Another thing that differentiates someone from being an employee versus a contractor is if you are using their equipment. A contractor uses their own equipment and supplies, makes their own hours, usually works at their own location, and bill for their services that are performed. It sounds like you are working in their store, on their equipment and are not billing the store for your hours and they are paying you - this sounds like you are an employee to me. Do you set the quilting fees or does the store? I would suggest you stop working their immediately.

 

Here are a couple of links to sites that explain the difference between and employee and a contractor ...

 

http://www.legalzoom.com/everyday-law/workplace/employee-vs-independent-contractor-differences

 

Here is one from the business owner's point of view ...

 

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Employee-vs.-Independent-Contractor-–-Seven-Tips-for-Business-Owners

 

I think you will find them helpful.

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You are not a contract laborer just because they say so.  If they dictate work schedule, telling you what days and hours to work, you are an employee and they should  be withholding and paying social security taxes.  If they are fielding complaints and accepting liability, you are an employee.  If they are telling you to teach, you are an employee.  They must already be in trouble.  I would NOT lie to an auditor about wages or an employment agreement.  These people are bad news.  I agree..get out.  If you have done what you agreed to do to the best of your ability, you are not liable. The employer is liable.  If they were not happy with your work, termination is their remedy, and dealing with the unhappy customer is their problem.  Sorry this is happening to you.  Apparently this business is not doing well, and they are taking advantage of you out of desperation.

As a business owner, I so agree with everything Lynn (and others) have said here, and I suspect you know already that you have been treated badly.

Get away from these people and do not cover for them with auditors!

So sorry you have had this bad experience, but just remember you have learned a lot!!

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They still need to file out forms on you to give you an 1099 at the end of the year.  Not the same forms as they would an employee, but forms none the less.   Here is the other part that you may not have thought of, they are saying that you are a business providing them with a service.  That means that when you pay yourself you may need to take out both sides of FICA.   Depending on how you plan on declaring the money that they are paying you, since they have not actually hired you as an employee.  Plus if you were to get hurt on their machine, that is a different can of worms.  

 

I do have someone that I pay and do a 1099 for, but I am paying her commissions, not in lieu of a paycheck.  The checks are written to her business and not to her personally.   And my CPA has made sure that I got the correct tax forms from her.   She carries her own liability insurance and had to give me a certificate of insurance so that I know she is insured.   

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Signing a contract after the fact doesn't make it legal during the period you were working without a contract.  They can certainly give you a 1099 and make you more or less a self-employed employee.  This is used often for teachers at shops and such but they are still legally accountable for providing you a 1099 by Jan. 30th for the year before.  This will become earned income for you and you will pay the taxes on that.  I would NOT sign any documents after the fact and run for the hills.  It sounds like they are not running their business appropriately.  

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If they owe you money and you can prove it you can take them to small claims court.  Proving it will be the tricky part.  Looks for emails, customer receipts, student logs, customers who could testify you quilted their quilt, does the store have cameras? Get a copy of the video.  Send a certified letter requesting the paid you earned and document every quilt, client and student you served during this time  - anything that says you were there doing your job and your earnings did not make it to your pocket.  Evil can be found under a variety of pretty rocks.  I think you found one.

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It's hard to get your unpaid money from employers when it's small amounts even if you go to the Labor Board. My first job as a designer was with a small company. On my first day they didn't have me fill out the usual employee paperwork but wanted me to get to work ASAP. They needed their Spring womenswear line designed by the end of that week so that they could show them to their bankers etc. So I worked and worked and got them a line done in just one week. On that Friday they said that they were going to NYC so that I could take the next few days off. Yep, you guessed it, on the following Monday they told me that I didn't need to come back at all. So when I asked for my one week's paycheck they blew me off. The Labor Board didn't have much sympathy. So it turned out to be a lesson learned.

 

I hope you disengage from any association with this quilt shop. It sounds like they are in over their heads and are willing to use anyone to further themselves. Good luck!

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I would like to thank everyone that made suggestions and shared information.  I went this morning returned the things I was told to do at home, and left.  I did not get a check and was not able to get copies of the three last pay cards I turned in. I have left though.   THANK YOU AGAIN

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I too am sorry that this happened to you but you did the right thing by leaving....if you want to make money in the quilting field and it is not possible to get your own machine at this time, there are other ways to get your feet wet as your own business...get involved in a guild, take something for show and tell and let folks know that you are willing to do bindings, sleeves, etc....there are many folks out there who make quilt tops but don't like to do the finishing things they need....

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:wub:  :D Thank you so much, It will be very hard but I will leave Monday.  I need the money so much, but sanity is probably much more important

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving any job when you really need the money is hard.  I'll say a prayer that something good comes your way. I'm so sorry this happened to you....I hate to see people taken advantage of.

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Good Morning Everyone!  Last post on this subject.  

The owner of the store called me, tried to put me down many times, I was as ready as much as possible.  She will pay me the money she owes me. and send it.  They funniest part I found that I had to share was that she said  all of the long arms are the same, you thread it, put in a needle adjust the tension and then it is a sewing machine!  Thank you everyone fore your help I am VERY GRATEFUL

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Wow, so sorry this has happened to you!  I agree with others that it sounds like they are USING you!  I think leaving was the right decision.

 

    Once I got a job at a veterinary hospital.  I was in the middle of vet tech college and they said I could do my internship there.  At the end of the summer, they just dumped me.  I was pretty upset.  I found out later that they do that every summer to veterinarians as well as technicians.  They give them a job that appears permanent, then after the summer, when things slow down, they tell you your work is great, but they don't need you anymore.  Pretty rotten if you ask me

 

 .  As I continued to work in this field, I found a lot of crazy stuff.  For example, vets tend to run their small business as a family business.  Their wife is the manager, and their kids and their friends work there.  These kids know NOTHING about vet medicine, and were even filling prescriptions!!  When they screwed up, the technician was blamed because, well, she should have caught it.  My boss would schedule his wife and daughter to work all day with me, then they would decide to not come in that day, because they had to go shopping for prom dresses, leaving me holding the entire bag!  Now I had to run the front of the hospital, as well as the back, answer phones, set up scheduled patients for the doctor in the exam rooms, fill prescriptions, do all the lab work, do laundry, do anesthesia for scheduled surgeries with the doctor, care for any sick animals in the hospital, front desk walk-ins, everything!!!  It was impossible.  Those were some rough days.  Then he started giving my hours to his kids.  Now I was working only one day per week.  He wanted cheap labor over skilled labor.  Finally, I left. 

 

  One job I got at a vet hospital was really strange.  When I went in for the interview, the girl at the desk ignored me completely.  I got the job.  On my first day, that same girl would not talk to me.  I was told she had health problems, was moody, etc.  And she was the girl who was supposed to train me.   We were slow that day and I asked questions about the computer program, which the vet had designed himself.  I was told to just sit down and figure it out myself.  Then the ENTIRE office, including the woman vet working that day, went in the back and started working on a pet scrapbook.  I was left up at the front desk completely alone to take care of scheduling and walk ins.  I knew where nothing was, not even the money drawer.  I did not know the computer system.  I had only been there a couple of hours.  We got in a patient, a dying hamster, that I put into an exam room for the vet.  She would not come up to see it, too busy.  The owners were complaining because they felt their pet was suffering and needed to be put down.  People were coming in to buy food, and I was wandering around trying to find it.  It was pretty bad.  After that day, I called and said I was NOT coming back and they were stunned that I thought their behavior was inappropriate.

 

     Another time I got a job to do my internship at.  The person who had just quit that job was also a student and she approached me and said that NO ONE at the office will talk to me.  I took the job anyway.  She was right.  Only the owner would talk to me.  The others acted like I was not there, even the vet.  If I asked a question or said something, I was completely ignored.  The door was shut in my face!  When I went up front to watch how patients were put into rooms, their system, I was told to get in the back.  I finally went to the owner and asked her what in the heck was going on.  She said, well, she had heard her team was unfriendly!!  It turns out that none of them were registered technicians so they did not want one in their midst, to take away from their importance.  I found this issue in several places that I worked.  Weird!  Needless to say, I could not stay there.  It was hopeless.

 

    One place I worked at was pretty far away from me.  They had 2 offices.  I would go in, and about 2 hours later I would be sent home if the day was slow.  This happened pretty much every single day, giving me about 10 hours a week total.  When I asked about this, I was offered another day, another day I would just be sent home.  Needless to say, they were not happy with my complaints and I was fired.  The other ladies said this happens to everyone they hire, and no one is happy about it, then they get fired or quit.  It seems that some employers just don't care how they use people.  It just does not seem right, but it is commonplace.  Then they wonder why people leave and have no loyal feelings towards them.  I have never understood why an employer would not want to keep a person who is honest, won't steal, shows up on time, takes pride in their work, doesn't steal drugs, has a brain and phone skills, etc, as these are the things they complain about..  They just don't seem to care at all.  I could go on but I will shut up now.   lol   I hope you find a much better position, or are able to start your own business where you can control you hours and work.

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