Florida Employment Legal Questions

No, that is not legal. However, that kind of statement will not promote good employee relations and will build up resentment where employees will look for a reason to retaliate. Such retaliation may take the form of poor work, work slow downs, baseless discrimination claims, stirring up employee strife, bringing in a union, or other methods. It is not very diplomatic.... Read More

Yes, you still have to pay him for the time he did in fact work.  Of course, without a track record of his typical hours and his failure to submit a time record, determining the amount may prove tricky.  Nevertheless, he is still entitled to be paid.  I would recommend speaking to those who worked with him or supervised him to determine the number of hours he worked and then send the check to the employee's last known address by certified mail, or send him a letter that you have his paycheck and asking where to mail it.  Alternatively, you could send him a letter asking that he provide you the the hours he worked so you can process his pay check.  You can then compare that to the hours that other employees confirm he worked.... Read More

You are entitled to be paid for your accrued and unused vacation time by the next pay period following your terminination.   This must be paid to you to the extent you acrrued this vacation before your termination.   Normally, the sick time is not paid out when you are termination unless the company has a specific policy that provides for this. If you are not paid, you should consider a charge with the State Department of Labor... Read More

Depending on how your agreement is written, it might still be possible for the employer to change your salary going forward.  He must tell you he is doing this BEFORE he puts the new rate into effect.  Technically, you can agree to the new rate by continuing to work there at the new rate, provided you knew of the new rate.  The wording of your agreement, however, may make this a little more complicated for the employer to change the rate. You should speak to an attorney who practices employment law as soon as possible to review your agreement and give you the appropriate advice after learning more about your case... Read More

Yes, that is correct in general. An appeal is based only on the record of the proceedings at the trial level. If there is evidence outside of th record and not presented (i.e. a witness who was not called to testify), then at the appellate level the attorney cannot use this non-testified witness to base his appeal. There is only one exception to this rule and that is if the attorney could not have with the excerise of due diligence discovered the evidence (ie. witness) prior to trial, then he MAY have a chance to argue that the a new trial should be conducted due to this failure. Even if this true, the appellate court will likely not allow a new trial because the appellate court will engage in a "harmless error/predudicial error" analysis. That is, if the error by the attorney (not using the witness) was an excusable error, the uncalled witness's testimony will have to have a substantial probability that the outcome would have been different if such witness was called to the stand. Thus, it is very difficult to win on the argument that the unpresented witness is the reason why the appeal should have been granted.... Read More

Normally, the entire point of a non-compete agreement is to limit you from certain employment and activities after you leave employment.  So, I would be rather surprised if there was something in your agreement that allowed the non-compete provison to have to expired back in Feb 2012 though you are still employed.  You may have an employment agreement that refers to your terms and conditions of employment which may have expired, and can then be renewed simply by continuing to work for the company, even without a new written agreement.   To be safe, you should meet with an attorney who can review your agreement to verify whether it is still valid.... Read More

Justin The issue is whether the company can retroactively adjust your commissions.  You don't say whether the company is correct in its conclusion that the $343.00 was overpaid to you in 2012.  You only ask whether it can be done legally.  Assuming the $343.00 figure is justified, in all probability the answer is yes.   While you did pay taxes on the 343 in 2012, as the adjustment is not happening until 2013, the taxes for 2012 are correct.  However, your income should be 343.00 less in 2013 and you should be income taxes only on your income after it is reduced by the 343 adjustment.  I hope this answers your question   Jay Levy  ... Read More