Employee Has Been Working For Free For Months While Company Goes Through 'A Rough Patch'—'How Do I Tell My Boss I Can't Do It Anymore?'
The answer could not be clearer: Quit, file a complaint, and hire a lawyer.
SHOTPRIME | Canva Pro When it comes to the workplace, there is perhaps no truer statement than "no good deed goes unpunished." Except for maybe, "Give an inch, and they'll take a mile."
A woman on Reddit who has been working at her company for free for way too long is getting an up close and personal crash course in these truisms at her job, which is so brazenly taking advantage of her that even America's paltry labor laws are almost certainly on her side.
The employee has been working for free for months to help her company through a 'rough patch.'
Yeah, we're pretty much done here just on this basis alone, right? Who would ever do this?! Well, someone very dedicated to their job and who has a really good heart, for starters — one far too pure for the business world, it turns out.
"Our company is going through a rough patch right now," she wrote in her Reddit post. "We do not have any revenue coming in so we laid off a lot of people." Luckily, as the most senior employee, her job was spared.
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But is it really lucky? Because a closer reading reveals why exactly her job was spared in the first place. "They have kept me on since I have been with the company for almost 13 years, and I run everything," she wrote. "But I, too, have been working without a paycheck."
Translation: Nobody in charge of this place has the first clue how to actually run the office so they made sure to keep the lady who keeps the lights on so they don't have to try to figure it out. And because she's a good-hearted team player, they were able to manipulate her into free labor.
The employee's back pay has now reached 25% of her annual salary, and she doesn't know how to tell her boss that enough is enough.
"The stress on my family and the extra work I'm doing since there is no one else employed anymore has finally come to a head," she wrote.
It's been six entire weeks since she received so much as "a penny," and the full tally of all the pay she's owed totals up to a quarter of her entire annual salary. Suffice to say, it's time for her boss to pay up.
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But she is conflicted. "We are trying to come up with new products to bring in revenue," she wrote. "I want to stay to help keep the dream alive but I can't work for free any longer."
While she's been assured her bosses are "doing all they can to get some investor capital," for her, it's "too little, too late. " She knows it's time to stand up to her boss, but as is so often the case, she's not sure how.
Not paying an employee is highly illegal, and she needs to stand up for herself.
If you're reading this thinking, "Lady, what is the matter with you?" You're not alone. People on Reddit were mystified that she was tolerating a clear case of wage theft. Of course, when you've worked for someone as long as she has, the working relationship can feel more like a friendship.
But that doesn't change the simple fact of the wild inequity of this situation — and the danger she's putting herself in should her employer end up filing bankruptcy and taking all her pay and benefits with it.
Her fellow Redditors were unequivocal about what she needed to do next. "Quit. Immediately," one wrote. "And tell them you're going to report them to the Department of Labor. Then report them to the Department of Labor."
This is what employment lawyers recommend as well. An employer failing to pay you is a violation of federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Department of Labor's Wage and Hours Division works to enforce this law on workers' behalf.
Each state has a Department of Labor or equivalent agency, with its own laws and reporting processes. In both cases, officials will often compel your employer to pay you when you file a complaint and conduct an investigation if deemed necessary.
What exactly you're entitled to between the state- and federal-level agencies can be difficult to navigate, however, so it's also a good idea to contact a labor attorney, most of whom will provide a free consultation.
Failure to pay you may also be grounds for a lawsuit and damages, so it's good to get all the advice you can.
But the bottom line is: Never, ever do your employer this kind of favor, no matter how attached or friendly you may feel. You are setting yourself up for disaster — and if and when the you-know-what hits the fan, nobody is going to stick up for you but you.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.