QUESTION
How binding is an initial offer letter, when an employee is terminated?
Asked on Jul 29th, 2015 on Employment Contracts - Florida
More details to this question:
I worked for a NYC based employer for over three years. My offer letter said that I was only entitled to "payroll" upon leaving. I was terminated or laid off on 5/15/2015 for no cause. The employer is holding back thousands in due commissions, calling this amount erroneously 'severance' and tying it to a punitive severance agreement I won't sign. It wouldn't allow me to work in my area of expertise for two years, etc. Thank you for any guidance. I am thinking about launching an action in NY Civil Court. However, I now live in FL, complicating this.
1 ANSWER
If the commissions have been earned, you are entitled to them and are not required to sign any other agreement. Withholding someone's pay is a crime in New York. Moreover, where an employer refuses to pay earned commissions, Article 6 of the New York labor law provides for the recovery of additional penalties beyond just the commissions owed.
Answered on Jul 29th, 2015 at 12:32 PM