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Anyone out there get paid under the table and the employer refuses to pay you?

I have a friend, "Joe", a carpenter by trade. For three months he had been working for a contractor that only pays under the table. The employer has paid some wages, but also owes Joe 3,000 dollars and is not paying my friend. The employer just doesn't have the money due to "not being paid by clients". My friend has now found a better , legitimate employer. Has anyone been successful retrieving wages through the state in this type of situation? Or is my friend out of luck?

Public Comments

1. Your friend is probably out of luck. He was working illegally, and there is no way to "prove" this man owes him money...
2. Nope. He can just pop in to this guys world once in a while and see if he has any morals and will pay when he can.
3. It would depend under what type of arrangement he was hired. If he earns a straight hourly wage, contact the state. The employer may have slipped some conditions into his hiring paperwork though, so that may need to be researched.
4. your friend might be able to say in court that he had a verbal agreement with the contractor. maybe, just maybe that might work. he should call a lawyer and just ask what his options are. otherwise just let it go and dont do business with that contractor anymore. if he cant pay his people, he won't be in business for long.
5. This is something that happens all too often. My uncle also works under the table, and he's owed a couple hundred dollars (he only works small jobs). He's never found a way to collect that money. What he does now is he asks for half the money up front, and the other when he's done. People actually pay him up front because he's good at what he does. You may want to take it to court, but unless you hire a really good lawyer, you may not get anything back. Hope it helps!
6. That is a real problem when working under the table - no documentation, and it is illegal - they would both be in trouble if he attempted to reclaim the wages.