Owed Wages by Former Employer, a Federal Subcontractor

[majorpia]

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Pennsylvania

I was terminated from my employer on the claim of "economic conditions". I was a full time W2 employee. X-Employer was engaged as a second tier subcontractor i.e.two levels below federal agency DOD. All payments from gov. to prime contractor and next up subcontractor/our customer have been on time.

X-Employer still owes me more than $10,000.00 in hourly wages (roughly 3 months). Hours are documented with time sheets. Employer has been paid on invoices that include my work and continues to do work on contract/project.

I have made a formal request for payment and it has been ignored. I have more than a years time of experience with this employer and working on this contract/project.

Are there any particular federal laws I can reference that protect me and force the employer to pay up?

If I have to hire a lawyer do I have recourse against the employer for my legal fee's?



Thank you!!

[PattyPA]

Something you said is contradictory.

Employees do NOT submit invoices for compensation, they submit time sheets.

Were you a independent contractor or an employee?

[majorpia]

Sorry if what I stated appeared contradictory.

My employer (The Company I worked for) submitted its invoice to the customer, which includes my hours as represented in my time sheets and they, my X-employer, have been paid but I haven't. I was a full time W2 employee not a independent contractor or contract employee.

I submitted time sheets to X-employer, X-employer submitted invoices.


For the record my termination letter stated I was a "good employee" and my termination was not a reflection of the quality of my work.

Trying to see through some of the fog in my opinion there is a political element to this termination being driven by someone in the payroll dept. Owner is weak and bends easily without realizing what I think can be serious consequences.

I need a hammer that can be heard i.e. I need to know what my rights are and channels for recovery.

[PattyPA]

OK. Although you could file a wage claim with the state Dept. of Labor, for that amount of money, I would get an attorney. With the state's financial situation, claims are backed up like crazy, and staff has decreased. Who knows, it may just take a "pay or we will file suit" letter from an attorney to shake the money free. And yes, the suit could include attorney's fees.

So, you haven't been paid in three MONTHS?

http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Ti...9CFR785.13.htm

[majorpia]

Yes I hadn't been paid for 3 months in this income category. I had several income streams and this was just one of them. I didn't have a problem working in arrears as long as it didn't stretch out to far and so the sudden termination certainly brings this to the forefront.

The core of my question here is that this is a federally funded DOD project and I'm trying to source any federal law that protects employees for unpaid wages from a subcontractor on a federally funded DOD project. Something that states timely payment, possible penalties, reimbursement of legal fee's, interest, disbarment, audit of company financial records etc, etc.. This is what I'm looking for.

[PattyPA]

The FLSA requires that employees be paid for all time worked. PA law addresses how often those payments must occur. Your attorney will know all this. And if you decide not to use and attorney and file a claim with the DOLI in Pennsylvania, they're going to know the laws, too; you don't need to tell them what they are--that's their job.

The fact that the contract on which you worked was a government contract makes no difference as to getting paid for all time worked in the time frames required by PA law. PA and federal law already cover these issues generally.

[ArmyRetCW3]

I think the FLSA is not applicable here, as stated by the poster, his employer is a sub-contractor to a federal agency (DOD), therefore the Service Contract Act (SCA), is the one that is applicable. A lawyer would not help, either, under the SCA, there is no right to sue the contractor, as in the FLSA. The only option is to contact the local Wage Hour Division office nearest the to the poster. Wage Hour is the agency with enforcement authority over the SCA.