I guess I'm posting in this forum because I don't want it to get a lot of publicity. I have mentioned that I started working part-time back in February. It is a very flexible job and the pay is supposedly decent (more on that later). I am able to set my own hours, and I also have a lot of control over how much work I take. Basically I am covering some geographic areas that full-time employees covered in the past, but because of the commute, it was using up a lot of the company's man-hours to do these remote jobs. I live pretty close to most of them, and not so close to others (but still closer than the company's headquarters).
Here is my dilemma. I am paid entirely on commission. I know what my percentage is, and how much each job site pays. So I know what I am supposed to get. I also know that I have turned in all the necessary paperwork, and received delivery confirmation for it. However, I have been working for two months and have not received any pay.
I have spoken to my boss about this three times. For the first three jobs, I worked with another employee who trained me on techniques. So I asked how having two people on the job affected pay, and he told me, "We take the hit for training." I assumed that means the company is paying double (40% of the job revenue, instead of 20%) during training. I certainly didn't volunteer to train for free, as it involves my time, paying a babysitter, and actually performing the work. Anyway, the second time I talked to my boss about it, I asked about the pay schedule. He said we get paid on the first day of each month. Well I didn't get anything March 1, but I figured there might be some paperwork delays regarding new hires. Well I didn't get my April 1 paycheck either. So I called the company again and they said they were mailing checks out Friday (not the first of the month). Well it is Monday and still nothing. So I'm getting really annoyed.
Please note that I live in Alaska, so many of the jobs involve long commutes, and I am not compensated for mileage. They also required me to get some licensing which I did not already have, and that was an additional cost. So I have invested a lot of money and some time (60 hours) into this job, and would like to see some returns. They have no trouble mailing me supplies for the job, but for some reason there is always an excuse about why pay is delayed. I've never run into this problem with any employer before, so I'm not sure how to approach it.
I did some research and the company has never been involved in a lawsuit, nor have any of its owners. They have many corporate clients, which they have serviced for over a decade, so I'm sure they're a legitimate business. I don't understand why there are such obstacles to my getting paid. So what I want to do is give them an ultimatum, and refuse to perform any more job orders until I receive my paycheck (and its amount is satisfactory). My boss is flying to my area next week for my additional training, and I am tempted to tell him when he arrives, that I expect my paycheck or else he might as well just fly right back because I'm done. But I don't know if that is very professional. I certainly don't want to create hostility if they really do intend to follow through with paying my commission, because it's a great job. Then again, I'm not really willing to invest any more travel or time into the company until I start seeing some compensation. How should I handle this?
Here is my dilemma. I am paid entirely on commission. I know what my percentage is, and how much each job site pays. So I know what I am supposed to get. I also know that I have turned in all the necessary paperwork, and received delivery confirmation for it. However, I have been working for two months and have not received any pay.
I have spoken to my boss about this three times. For the first three jobs, I worked with another employee who trained me on techniques. So I asked how having two people on the job affected pay, and he told me, "We take the hit for training." I assumed that means the company is paying double (40% of the job revenue, instead of 20%) during training. I certainly didn't volunteer to train for free, as it involves my time, paying a babysitter, and actually performing the work. Anyway, the second time I talked to my boss about it, I asked about the pay schedule. He said we get paid on the first day of each month. Well I didn't get anything March 1, but I figured there might be some paperwork delays regarding new hires. Well I didn't get my April 1 paycheck either. So I called the company again and they said they were mailing checks out Friday (not the first of the month). Well it is Monday and still nothing. So I'm getting really annoyed.
Please note that I live in Alaska, so many of the jobs involve long commutes, and I am not compensated for mileage. They also required me to get some licensing which I did not already have, and that was an additional cost. So I have invested a lot of money and some time (60 hours) into this job, and would like to see some returns. They have no trouble mailing me supplies for the job, but for some reason there is always an excuse about why pay is delayed. I've never run into this problem with any employer before, so I'm not sure how to approach it.
I did some research and the company has never been involved in a lawsuit, nor have any of its owners. They have many corporate clients, which they have serviced for over a decade, so I'm sure they're a legitimate business. I don't understand why there are such obstacles to my getting paid. So what I want to do is give them an ultimatum, and refuse to perform any more job orders until I receive my paycheck (and its amount is satisfactory). My boss is flying to my area next week for my additional training, and I am tempted to tell him when he arrives, that I expect my paycheck or else he might as well just fly right back because I'm done. But I don't know if that is very professional. I certainly don't want to create hostility if they really do intend to follow through with paying my commission, because it's a great job. Then again, I'm not really willing to invest any more travel or time into the company until I start seeing some compensation. How should I handle this?