Experts, Lawyers, Labor activists or other, seeking advice regarding wage theft

[gvstn]

43. I just wanted to clarify a bit on how I have seen these things go.

First thing you have to know is that when someone claims unemployment it costs the business money. They pay insurance and when they have multiple people signing up for unemployment their insurance goes up. So there is a financial interest in them getting you to quit rather than be fired. When you are fired you can still go to unemployment and argue your case that it was really a layoff or unjustified. When you voluntarily quit you don't really qualify for unemployment because you actively quit working there by your own choice. (You may be able to say you were pressured into quitting but for simplicities sake I wouldn't go there. Your employer knows they have a wage and hours problem too.)

Usually, they will try to get you to quit by bringing up a petty offense and then giving you a choice of getting fired because you violated the rules with the condition that you get no references (a big threat) or going ahead and quitting for any reason and they will state that reason to anyone who calls for a reference(an incentive to quit).

ie.
John, you were seen eating at your desk on March 14, 2015. You know that is against the rules. You were given an employee's rule sheet that listed this as an unacceptable act. I don't want to fire you for this but the rules are there for a reason. I'm sorry but I have no choice. If I fire you then I must tell potential employers that you were fired for violation of workplace rules. But, I'll give you the choice of quitting now and you can write your own resignation letter stating that it was for family emergency or something like that and I will give that reason to potential employers.


The above is the simplest way for them to avoid unemployment and terminate your position. Don't quit. Don't argue all your points of contention in this meeting. You will have to go to unemployment office on Monday and say this was an unjust firing. Then unemployment will separately interview you and the employer and then set up a meeting to discuss things. This is a better situation then you giving your employer too much information during a meeting between just you and himself and someone"his witness" who is there to corroborate his side of the story.

****
You have a couple things going for you such as wage theft and a sudden dismissal as far as a lawsuit, but that is later's work.

On Friday, I would try to stay calm. Listen to whatever reason they are saying is the reason for your dismissal. If applicable, say that it isn't true. If it is possibly true, simply say that you are not going to quit. Then let them fire you and say something like, I will see you at the unemployment office (Or better get the exact name in your state of the "unemployment office" and use that ie. Missouri Division of Employment Services or whatever. This lets them know that you will be ready to fight the reason for dismissal.) Remember: the theft of wages hasn't even been discussed that is something you should not bring up in this meeting with your boss--it is your extra leverage to ensure unemployment gets paid.

They have already planned out this meeting and the more you say the more damage you do to yourself. Let them do what they planned to do but don't quit. Let them fire you and then during discussions at unemployment or a lawsuit you can get them to absolutely reverse the threat of a bad reference which is really their only viable threat. They think you want this to go away but you want what is right and will fight for it. They will back down over a fight especially when they know they are wrong.

Edit: One last thing I would do if they are being jerks is give a stern look at the end of the meeteing and say, "What you are doing here is wrong". When they say something else just repeat, "What you are doing right now is wrong". This gives the boss and more importantly the witness a little time to think before they have to be interviewed by someone else. Don't go into details let them stew about what will come next. The less details the better. You know what happened (so do they) save it for a forum where someone will actually be on your side.