Refusing to pay Commissions

I resently resigned from a company and they are typically months late on paying out commissions. There are 2 issues, one is that they made a mistake on my Q1 commissions and agreed verbally to correct and pay me on my Q2 check in the sum of $6,000, second, They are refusing to pay me Q2 commissions. I have a 2004 Compensation agreement that does not state that you must be employed at the time of payment and they have informed me of the following "It is the company's position that we will not modify your Q1 payout. As for Q2 commissions, we also are required to adhere to company policy which states you must be employed at time of payment in order to receive compensation." The problem is that they never posted a date of payment and you never were given any information of what your commissions might be.

I also have an issue that another person resigned and continued to get paid after leaving the company under the same contract.

They owe me approx. $20,000.

1 answer  |  asked May 5, 2004 6:21 PM [EST]  |  applies to Texas

Answers (1)

Margaret A. Harris
Unpaid Commissions

You may be able to get this resolved through the Texas Workforce Commission, which investigates claims of unpaid wages. Since you earned the commissions, and since there is nothing in writing stating that "one must be present to win," I'd say you would have a fair chance to convince the TWC that you are correct. If the TWC rules in your favor, it will go after the employer for your money.

If it does not rule in your favor, you could go to a lawyer.

The statute of limitations in Texas for breach of contract is four years.

But, if you want to hire a lawyer and go directly to court, you can do that too. You just need to understand from the get-go that the lawyer will need to be paid --somehow or another. Whether you have to pay by the hour, or the lawyer takes a percentage of what she or he collects for you. If a lawsuit becomes necessary and you win in court, then the company might be ordered to pay the attorney's reasonable hourly rate.

Good luck! I really detest those scumbags who don't pay their employees as promised!

posted by Margaret A. Harris  |  May 5, 2004 6:49 PM [EST]

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