[Violet31]

I need strength more than anything and probably some ideas.

I was unemployed and riddled with debt for a long time, but I started a small project that grew steadily from 2010 until now in collaboration with a larger company. The company gets fundings that pays my salary, but they are always late with the payments.

I work several other jobs and I have been able to pay so much towards my debts, I will be mostly debt-free in 3-4 years. I´m trying to build up funds as I have no credit rating for 4 years and have been able to scrape a bit together, but not nearly enough.

The problem is the new boss who pays the salaries. My old boss was late with the payments, but she always let me know and apologized. Now she is on maternity leave and the woman replacing her is a challenge.

She started in September and I got my salary on the 7th of the month. I called and emailed. In October she didn´t pay until the 13th, but it was a mis misunderstanding on her part - she forgot she was supposed to pay me. In November it was on the 6th. I sent a tough email and she answered saying she would pay before 5 o´clock. Now she seems completely shameless. I was in a board meeting with her yesterday at noon, and she had not paid me. This morning I sent her an email requesting my salary but no reply.

I will get it eventually, but the fatigue and stress of having to deal with this is hard. If I go over her head, working there will be almost impossible and the project is too good to let go off. I´ve started developing it internationally and got a collaboration grant from Europe.

I´m thinking about writing her an email but I´m at loss what to say. She pays everyone else late as well, it´s not just me, but I´m wondering if I should talk to one of the directors on the boards and tell him about this situation. I don´t know how to get through to her.

Any advice would be great.

[paraclete]

You can't personalise this. Perhaps the company has cash flow problems. This sort of behaviour is common where there are cash flow problems. Do you have a contract with the company? Is there a contract for the funding? Are they getting revenue from the project other than your funding? You need to see where your leverage might lie and where the intellectual property rights lie. You say you started the project. Can you receive the funding in your own right?

You could try having a frank discussion with her explaining that you have commitments that have to be met at a certain time. Certainly you need to get your relationship beyond email

[ScottGem]

First, are you actually on salary? Do you get a W2 each year or a 1099? If you are on salary, the law requires that you be paid on a schedule. If pay is late the company can be fined.

As noted you need to treat this as a business relationship. I assume you have deadlines to me and so does your employer.

[Violet31]

You can't personalise this. Perhaps the company has cash flow problems. This sort of behaviour is common where there are cash flow problems. Do you have a contract with the company? Is there a contract for the funding? Are they getting revenue from the project other than your funding? You need to see where your leverage might lie and where the intellectual property rights lie. You say you started the project. Can you receive the funding in your own right?

You could try having a frank discussion with her explaining that you have commitments that have to be met at a certain time. Certainly you need to get your relationship beyond email

Hi paraclete and thanks for the reply.

I know the company has really bad cash flow problems as it almost went bankrupt in 2012 and went through some specific kind of treatment where some debts were written off. The bank won´t even give it overdraft for salaries, so I knew all this well.

This company does a few projects, funded by the government, but it gets also money from direct income. My project is among the ones that is funded by the government. I do another job for them as a supplement, but payments for that are always behind as well, so I have other small jobs elsewhere who are paid on time.

I was in such a bad situation not long ago, all because I had no idea how to manage my money, was depressed, lost my job and was on welfare. Now I have got a good thing going and I don´t want to lose it, because I´m expanding and have more than tripled my income in two years. I will for sure get funding later for the European grant expansion.

I wished I had started sooner, but I´m 56 and it is what it is. I need to start from here. I´m going to sleep on it, but just getting your reply makes me hopeful. It´s true I must not get personal on this. That is key.

I could talk to the division in the government who pays for my project and in fact I´m meeting them on Monday to finalize the spring project. They would be very angry if they knew I had not been paid. My boss knows this, but complaining to them would make the situation even worse.

This is teaching me to manage my stress better and get more money saved.

Thanks so much!

[Violet31]

First, are you actually on salary? Do you get a W2 each year or a 1099? If you are on salary, the law requires that you be paid on a schedule. If pay is late the company can be fined.

As noted you need to treat this as a business relationship. I assume you have deadlines to me and so does your employer.

Hi ScottGem,

I´m not in the States but in Scandinavia, so I don´t understand W2 or 1099. I´m hired as a contractor. The government funds this company a certain amount and the company is supposed to pay me each month a certain sum from that funding. Failure to do so could stop my project and as it is funded through 2016, it´s the company´s duty to pay me each month. The problem is that I need to request the money every single month and it´s making me stressful, angry and resentful. I don´t want to be that way.

Before my old boss went on a maternity leave, I sat down with the new boss and explained to her that I knew the company has cash flow problems and it´s OK to divide the sum like my old boss did, but to please let me know if she would be late with payment.

She does not let me know, she hardly responds to emails so I feel more resentful. I don´t know how to deal with this. I know she treats the other people at the workplace the same way and those are people I really like, but there is nothing we can do about it.

I sat down with one of the other project managers and he told me that she is so stressed she can barely function.

[Fr_Chuck]

Are you an employee, or is your company a contractor and this is a payment to your company from their company?

There is a big difference.

If this is merely a debt, to your company for services, it is not a paycheck, but a payment to your company for services.

This are often late, sometimes as much as 2 to 4 weeks by many companies, and people in business have to understand this.

If this is a payment for services, your contract with them, should discuss terms of late payment, and any penalty that should be made.

[Violet31]

It is a payment to my company from their company for my services.

My former boss understood I needed the money at the beginning of each month and payed every time.

I´m thinking about talking to my lawyer about this and then I might talk to a member of the board of directors. But I won´t do anything unless I know what I´m doing.

The problem is also that I keep digging into my small emergency fund and I have all the Christmas presents to buy, plus the food for Christmas day. My mother and some other family members will be spending Christmas dinner at my place.

I want to be professional about every step I make, but after so many years of unemployment with heavy debt payment right now, I feel insecure and stressed out until I get the money. I have difficulties working on the projects until the money is there and I have crazy deadlines to meet.

[talaniman]

Are you the only worker experiencing this slow payment dilemma? I can understand the stress of not getting paid on time, but wonder is this the boss or the problems with the management of the company you are contracted too. Your own personal budgeting and debt problems are adding to your stress and that's something that YOU should better address, but every worker needs to know when they will be paid.

Maybe an inquiry with your own company can help clarify things if indeed this happens to many, but if this is something entirely with the company you are contracted too, then you do need to speak with first your boss, and have an arrangement or understanding, or if your boss is as helpless as you are in this matter, then you have little choice but to do your job, and put up with this condition, or seek work elsewhere.

Maybe you can gain insights from your co workers as how they deal with this situation, and that would be the place to start and to learn, and figure out what your next step would be as I would imagine you are not alone with trying to manage your life with slow wage payments.

You must first know your options and consider best how to explore them. But little can be done when you work for a poorly managed company, or one that is cash strapped and struggling, except endure the tough times, or leave for a better more reliable company.

[DoulaLC]

Since this appears to be the way it is with the business setting that you are in perhaps, in your own mind, set your "pay dates" back further in the month. If your pay happens to show up sooner great, but if it come closer to the date you keep in your mind as the new expected time, it won't be as stressful. Organize your debt responsibilities to fall later in the month, if possible, and put some away to be a month ahead on something like rent, or have it saved aside by the 25th of each month for being due on the first of the next month.

With finances being stressful, it might also be wise to plan a smaller Christmas celebration. Maybe have people share in bringing food and drink for Christmas day for example. Or have them bring all of it since you are providing the location to have it.

[Violet31]

No, all of us get payed late, but I´m among the ones who get payed the latest.

You´re absolutely right about my own personal finances. Five years ago I was so depressed I could not get out of bed and thought I would be bankrupt. I started this project in 2010 and it´s been taking off since then, but I have not been smart with my money and saved little. I have turned it around and each month a certain sum goes towards emergency fund and various savings. It was stupid of me to start so late, but that´s the way it is.

I haven´t thought of anything else but keep writing her emails and requesting my pay and endure. Thankfully I get paid from another job on the 9th, we´ll see what happens in the meantime.

[Violet31]

Since this appears to be the way it is with the business setting that you are in perhaps, in your own mind, set your "pay dates" back further in the month. If your pay happens to show up sooner great, but if it come closer to the date you keep in your mind as the new expected time, it won't be as stressful. Organize your debt responsibilities to fall later in the month, if possible, and put some away to be a month ahead on something like rent, or have it saved aside by the 25th of each month for being due on the first of the next month.

With finances being stressful, it might also be wise to plan a smaller Christmas celebration. Maybe have people share in bringing food and drink for Christmas day for example. Or have them bring all of it since you are providing the location to have it.

This is great advice! I need to call my creditors and set the date towards the middle of the month. Good idea about having the mortgage money one month ahead, I´m working towards that.

This has made me realize how necessary it is to have a larger emergency funds. The truth is, I´m 56 years old and the recession of 2008 wiped me out. I did not opt for IVA or becoming bankrupt as all would fall on my mother and sister, but I have been digging myself out of that hole ever since. At first I was so depressed I could barely function, but I´m getting better.

I probably have some kind of trauma that makes me feel insecure around money and this is making the problem of getting payed late worse.

[ScottGem]

Sorry, while this is an international site, the majority of posts are from the US. That's why its is important to indicate a locale. In the US, there are two basic types of workers; salaried and contractors. Salaried employees get a W2 at year end to report tax withholding, contractors don't have withholding and get a 1099 to report income. You said it is payment to your company for your services. So this sounds like contractual payments and not salary. I believe there is probably a difference even in your country (and you need to specify the country so we can try and review the laws). This is really a legal issue, not a personal issue (I'm going to move to the proper forum). So I suggest that you contact your country's agency for labor to determine whether you are a salaried worker or not and if there is a difference.

Do you have any sort of contract with this company that details the work you do and your compensation? If not, you need to be more business like about this. You need documentation that states what tasks you will perform and what compensation you will get. Also when that compensation will be due. You are running a business and you need to run it as a business.

As far as your personal expenses are concerned, you should work with your creditors about adjusting due dates or paying ahead to avoid late fees and delinquency.

[J_9]

Does this "boss" of yours have a boss herself? If so, it's time to invoke your chain of command. You have discussed this with her, albeit via email, to no avail. It's now time to go above her head in attempt to get a resolution.

[Violet31]

Sorry, while this is an international site, the majority of posts are from the US. That's why its is important to indicate a locale. In the US, there are two basic types of workers; salaried and contractors. Salaried employees get a W2 at year end to report tax withholding, contractors don't have withholding and get a 1099 to report income. You said it is payment to your company for your services. So this sounds like contractual payments and not salary. I believe there is probably a difference even in your country (and you need to specify the country so we can try and review the laws). This is really a legal issue, not a personal issue (I'm going to move to the proper forum). So I suggest that you contact your country's agency for labor to determine whether you are a salaried worker or not and if there is a difference.

Do you have any sort of contract with this company that details the work you do and your compensation? If not, you need to be more business like about this. You need documentation that states what tasks you will perform and what compensation you will get. Also when that compensation will be due. You are running a business and you need to run it as a business.

As far as your personal expenses are concerned, you should work with your creditors about adjusting due dates or paying ahead to avoid late fees and delinquency.

My country is in Scandinavia, but I will rather not name it here. I´ll send you a PM to tell you where it is. In most places in Scandinavia we have smaller cities and everybody is always into other people´s business.

I don´t have an actual contract but a written agreement from the board of directors. I do know I have to get my lawyer to set it up. The Ministry of Culture and the City both pay this company fundings, but they are earmarked in my name, so the company is obligated to pay me salary as a contractor for my project. I am the project´s manager and I work with both the City and the Ministry of Culture and there is funding until 2016 approved by the government.

In the meantime, I´m expanding the project to other countries in Europe, but in my company´s name so I will be paid for that from Brussels.

Does this "boss" of yours have a boss herself? If so, it's time to invoke your chain of command. You have discussed this with her, albeit via email, to no avail. It's now time to go above her head in attempt to get a resolution.

My boss has bosses as well, the board of directors. I have been thinking of talking to one of them, but I would like to avoid worse feeling at the workplace. I´m thinking about all of this now with all the good advice I´m getting here.

[ScottGem]

A written agreement is a contract. The elements of a contract are provisions that one party does something and another party does something in return. So as long as this written agreement states what services you perform and what compensation you get it's a contract.. But you should have an attorney familiar with local law look it over. Future agreements may need to be spelled out in more detail. In the US most contracts have terms that specify when payment is due and the penalties for late payments.

[Violet31]

Thanks for that Scott.

I´m still waiting for my salary plus more than 2000 dollars worth of payment for the extra job for them. My boss payed me 183 dollars this morning, which is a joke. I guess she has nothing to pay me with. I´m owed 4378,00 total.

The stress is taking it´s toll and I need to take some action. I met a friend at the meeting this afternoon and she suggested I run some seminars with her in January and February. I´m going to do that and then I´m taking some low payed weekend work as well. I better start looking.

In the meantime, I haven´t got a clue what to say to her about the small payment. I just don´t know what to do right now.

[ScottGem]

The word salary in English refers to wages paid to a worker by an employer for a specified period on a regular schedule. I'm not sure how its used in your language, but it does not sound like you are paid a salary. It sounds more like you are compensated for project work. And, we have no clue how your compensation is calculated.

What I suggest you do right now, is to send a letter to the company specifying how and when you are to be compensated for your work. Tell them, you expect the arrears to be paid ASAP and any further payments to be made on schedule. Otherwise you will be forced to take further action.

The next step is to discuss the situation with the govt rep handling the work and see if you can be compensated directly by the agency.

[joypulv]

'I sat down with the new boss and explained to her that I knew the company has cash flow problems and it´s OK to divide the sum like my old boss did, but to please let me know if she would be late with payment.'

Very wimpy in my opinion. No wonder she pays you last. You aren't demanding enough.
On one hand, you need to be paid and not have this stress. On the other hand, she is temporary, and under a lot of stress too.
So you can sit down with her, sympathize with her stress, but tell her that you must be paid by a set date each month, with just one sentence about your finances.
What would I do? Take her out to lunch. You can share your stresses. If she pays those who scream the loudest first, and everyone is screaming, then maybe being friendly will put you at the top of the list.
Or you can wait til the woman on leave comes back.
I would NEVER go over someone's head to people like board members. They don't like it, ever. Neither party does. A letter outlining your payment demands, yes. Add interest for penalty of late payment.

[DoulaLC]

Just to add... now would be a good time to start looking at more reliable employment. The stress just isn't worth it, and you don't want to ruin your finances when you are trying to get them back on track. It is wise that you are considering running some seminars. Even if jobs are hard to come by right now, stay aware of any opportunities that may come up. Let your friends and family members know that you might be interested should they know of anything that opens up elsewhere. It may be awhile, but sooner or later something will become available, or hopefully your company will get itself sorted in the meantime.

[Fr_Chuck]

And if they have this much cash flow issues, there are some management or company issues. What happens if they go out of business owing you 8000 or more after another month of work?

It is time, to take a harder stand about getting paid, and time to find other contracts.