As an employee, you have a right to receive every penny you earn. Money earned includes commissions and bonuses. When you join to work with a company, your contract may provide provisions to receive commissions and bonuses based on milestones and sales.
Sometimes, your employer may refuse to pay you the commissions and bonuses you deserve. They may say that you did not earn this money, it was never promised to you, or attempt to withhold it beyond a reasonable time as your employment agreement allows. No matter how your employer withholds or delays your commissions and bonuses, they are committing an act of wage theft. You have the right to fight your employer to get the fair compensation you deserve. The top wage and hour lawyers at the Derek Smith Law Group in New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New Jersey can help.
Commissions are a part of an employee’s compensation. They are monies paid to an employee based on the total sales for the company. Sales employees may work on commission (their total income is based on the money they bring into the company not their worked hours). Sometimes, they work on commissions and a base salary. Commissions are defined clearly within an employment contract or commission agreement between the employee and the company. This definition includes the percentage of the sale the employee receives and when the commission will be paid to the employee (when the sale is completed, when the job is installed, when the final payment gets paid, etc.).
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Commissioned employees may be entitled to overtime pay. Employees who conduct outside sales for a company and earn commissions on their sales are exempt from overtime pay. However, an employee receiving base pay and commissions as an internal sales employee is rarely exempt. In these cases, these employees will be entitled to overtime pay when they work over 40 hours a week. If your employer refuses to pay you overtime pay and the commission you earned, they are violating wage and hour laws. A top wage and hour lawyer from the Derek Smith Law Group can help.
Bonuses are typically unexpected and undefined payments made to employees at the employer’s discretion. They are usually voluntary. However, sometimes, an employment contract will provide a provision for a bonus based on milestones at work. For instance, your employer may promise you a bonus after you have been with the company for six months. In other situations, employees may have enough history with an employer to know that a bonus is received yearly at a specific time. Therefore, even though bonuses are discretionary, employees may have grounds for unpaid bonuses. The top wage and hour lawyers can help you get the bonus compensation you were promised.
Verbal agreements are enforceable. However, they are not always reliable and can be challenged. While a verbal agreement regarding commissions and bonuses is legal, they are difficult to prove. The best practice for employees and employers is to put any compensation agreements, including the agreement regarding commissions and bonuses.
Commissions are part of your compensation. They are considered wages. As a result, they cannot be withheld under any circumstances. Withholding any wages is a form of wage theft and a violation of wage and hour laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act.In contrast, bonuses are not wages unless specified in your employment contract. They are voluntary and discretionary payments that can be denied or withheld. In most cases, bonuses are not guaranteed and are not wages. Therefore, an employer can withhold bonuses from employees.
Commissions are the fair compensation employees earn while working. If employers withhold these commissions, employees can inquire as to why. Employers cannot punish an employee for asking about unpaid commissions (or bonuses they feel they earned). If an employer retaliates against you for asking about your commissions, they are committing an act of wrongful termination. A top wage and hour lawyer from the Derek Smith Law Group can help you fight against these acts.
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An employer and employee’s employment and compensation agreement will determine when compensation is earned. In many cases, they are earned when the sale is completed. However, in some cases, the commissions are earned when a job is completed, or the final payment is submitted. Any earned commissions must be paid to all employees, even after they are terminated. However, if a commission is not earned, but the sale was completed before termination, the courts may determine whether the employer must pay the employee the remaining commission.
Most bonuses are discretionary. Therefore, bonuses usually do not need to be paid to an employee after termination. However, in some instances, the bonuses are expected based on milestones or actions while employed. In these cases, the bonuses must be paid to employees upon termination.
Unpaid commissions and bonuses are a form of unpaid wages and wage theft. Employees should file a wage theft claim for unpaid commissions and bonuses as soon as possible. The law provides employees with a two-year time limit (three years if employers withheld commissions and bonuses intentionally) to file a wage theft claim.
Employers will attempt to withhold commissions and bonuses if it will save them money. Many times, they will attempt to convince you that you are not promised those wages, and they have the right to keep them at their discretion.
Therefore, you need a wage and hour lawyer who knows the law and will stand up for what is rightfully yours. They will help you gather the evidence you need to ensure you get paid the money you earned (and more).
If your employer refuses to pay you the commission and bonuses you earned and deserve, you need the best wage and hour laws to ensure you get the money you earned and deserve.
The top wage and hour lawyers at the Derek Smith Law group in New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New Jersey can help you fight wage theft and get the commissions and bonuses owed to you.
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also t…
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also t…
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also t…
Commissions are wages you earn. If you earned your commission before termination, your employer owes you that money. Withholding that money is a form of wage theft.
Usually, a bonus is a discretionary income voluntarily paid by your employer. Therefore, unless it is outlined in your contract that you should receive a bonus, your employer does not need to pay you any bonuses upon termination of employment.
Unpaid commissions and bonuses are a form of unpaid wages and wage theft. Unpaid wages and wage theft claims must be filed within two years (three years if the wages are intentionally withheld).
A copy of your employment contract, commissions agreement, bonus agreements, and past bonus or commission payments can help prove that your employer should pay you commission and bonuses. Your payroll records and sales records can help prove these commissions and bonuses were not paid.
You could recover the money your employer owes you. You can also receive liquidated damages (double what your employer owes you) and punitive damages (damages ordered by the court to prevent employees from committing illegal wage theft in the future).
If your employment contract promises a based pay for work completed and sales, and you are not an outside salesperson, your employer can include in their contract a waiver of commissions or bonuses.
Your employer must pay you commissions and bonuses as promised. If they withhold this money, you have the right to file a lawsuit against your employer for wage theft and wage and hour violations.
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