A man recently shared how his company wouldn’t pay him for owed overtime, so he engineered a genius plan to make them pay.
Here’s what he had to say.
In the early 2000s, a start-up business hired the young employee. A fairly low salary was offered, with no paid overtime.
Since the work was challenging and enjoyable, with lots of opportunities to learn new skills, it was a good trade-off.
So the contract was signed, and the employee hoped that if the start-up became successful, the company would do the decent thing and the salary would be reviewed.
After three years in the job, and with a growing number of clients, money was rolling in, and the company was doing very well, so talk turned to salary.
The employee felt it would be reasonable to request some back pay for the work that had been done, which contributed to the company’s success. Back pay on overtime was the issue, which at that point, totaled around $50k!
The employee hoped the company would pay a discretionary bonus but was willing to accept some equity in the company instead of the money. But the offer on the table was less than 0.0.1% of the company, with a projected turnover of around $2m.
“To say I was furious was an understatement,” he said and so handed in his one month’s notice. The employee could also leave that day due to unpaid leave entitlement, and the company was left high and dry.
But the employee didn’t want the company to get away with it, so the next day, he sent an official, registered letter to them, requesting that they pay him for overtime and back pay.
Luckily, the employee sought legal advice, and even though his contract signed three years earlier stated that there was no overtime pay, he was told that they “didn’t have a leg to stand on.”
So, the former employee quickly hired an attorney and learned that there was a limitation of 7 years.
So, the man came up with a cunning plan! Instead of filing a lawsuit immediately, he agreed to wait until the time limit reached six years and 11 months. Interest would then be added to the payout! The interest was 9% which, of course, was a huge chunk of money when the back pay for overtime alone added up to over $50k.
However, there was one risk to his plan. If the company folded during that time, the disgruntled employee would have been left with nothing, “but I decided to take that risk,” the man said.
He sent one final letter to the company, confirming the request for “all the owed and accrued amounts to date” to be paid immediately. Of course, nothing happened.
The next few years came and went, and the company grew in size. They became a known player in the area, and there was no risk of folding.
Excellent news for the ex-employee!
When the time came, he found an attorney and started the case. Armed with copies of all communications and responses, the lawsuit demanded back pay for work done, including interest which amounted to a staggering $112k.
However, the employee didn’t know that in addition to this new sum of money, there were also fixed penalties, so the sum totaled a whopping $135k!
Needless to say, the former employee got a verbally abusive phone call from the CEO, which was duly recorded and submitted as evidence.
During the court case, the CEO fought or tried to, but when the judge heard the phone call, he took an immediate dim view.
Reading through all the communication just put more nails in the defense’s coffin. The judge ruled and instructed the company to pay “immediately and without delay.” He also ordered the company to pay all legal costs. Finally, they received a full audit from the department of labor.
The company paid up a week later.
To add insult to injury, the CEO apparently got very drunk on the evening of the court’s decision and crashed his car into another vehicle. He got a DUI conviction and lost his driving license for six months, and his insurance refused to pay for the damages to his brand new Mercedes S-class.
What do you think? Was the employee unreasonable since the contract clearly stated no overtime?
Source: Reddit
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