Manipulative Boss won't pay me

[amixa]

ok. I'm not quite sure if this is the right section but its do to with work.

basically i was a naive university student who, after hearing my boss saying 'nobody knows about us' several times about our workplace.. i suggested a project (event) which would act as promotion for the place. she is using the tactic that because i don't have experience yet in putting something like this together she has the abillity to make me do it for free just because it advances my career. yet she didn't tell me i was 'working for free' when she first said 'great! this is definitely a good idea, you can put it on your resume!' i thought she actually cared about me pursuing something in my own genre -- not translation: you use it on your resume therefore you are doing this for free while other people who work on other aspects of the project get paid. this was a few months ago. now a month before the event she tells me i'm not to be paid for the next month because i wasn't initially hired to do this.
at first i was shocked and didn't say anything. i was told to go to the labour office immediately but realized i didn't even put up a fight so i went back today to see if i could negotiate. for a few seconds i had her.. her face was full of fear that she would have to pay me..
i know what you're probably thinking -- should have signed a contract. i was not aware that she had a history of labour issues and totally blindly walked into a room of poisonous snakes.

i've always been terrible at dealing with manipulative people because i am not one.

[OnionJack]

What is this project's value to you? How well would it succeed without you?

Couple of options...

A) Get contract signed tomorrow for X amount of dollars.(Current Value)

B) Get letter of recommendation signed tomorrow and undated from said boss.(Possible future value?)

C) Keep going ahead and screw over entire project.(Do I need to explain value?)

D) Any combination of above!! Feel free to be creative.(See C for value)

[Alfonso Crawford]

I vote for option C, preferrably with actual poisonous snakes.

[Brutha]

Explain to your boss that you will tell everyone involved in the project that his treatment to you is unfair and that the negative publicity he will get from you explain it to everyone is a greater harm to him then paying you the money.

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Explain to your boss that you will tell everyone involved in the project that his treatment to you is unfair and that the negative publicity he will get from you explain it to everyone is a greater harm to him then paying you the money.

I copmletely agree.

Your boss is basically f**king you over, and treating you like a door-mat.

Sitting back, and allowing people to do this to you, is very damaging for you, and you must demonstrate that you will not be f**ked with in this manner.

There are 2 reasons for this:

1. It sets a precident, and forms your reputation (do you want a reputation of being a door-mat, or, of someone who will do damage back if people f**k with you).

2. It sends a message to yourself, and it's you telling yourself, what kind of a person you are.

Take care.

[Alfonso Crawford]

And you've always wanted to handle asps: admit it.

[Doku]

Did you work overtime on it? In every state that I have worked, employers are required by law to pay you overtime unless you are an "exempt salaried employee".

If you want to play hard ball, I think something that has already been said would work well... with a bit of a twist.

"Look, I have done the work, and am doing the work. All I am asking is to be properly paid for that work. If I need to play hard ball, and go to the unemployment office, and complain about not getting overtime pay, wrongfully terminated, etc, I will, but I would rather come to an understanding. And just so we're clear, I will not accept waiting until after the event. I will be paid in full at least one week in advance."

If they balk at that... "The second stage of hard ball will be to exercise my legal right of protest, and create a flier to hand out to every single person that attends before they get onto your property. I'll also contact local media so that I have witnesses as I hand the fliers out, and you don't try anything funny."

Heh. I'm the king of hardball where I come from, and I'm batting nearly 1000.

[Holistic Star]

How about putting it to your boss in the terms of the value you have added.

How many people do you think will become paying customers of the business right now and in the future due to your action plan.

What is the lifetime potential for each of those customers.
e.g. not just what will they order now, but if they stay committed customers and have repeat business, what would the value to the business be over their lifetime.

Show your boss the figures. Show her exactly how much you have added to the business long term. Tell her that if you did more projects of the same you could add even more value.

Work out what it would have cost to have a professional consultant come in and do the work you have. (Some consultants charge $1000s for a days' work).

So given how much value you have added to the bottom line of the business, and compared to what it would have cost for outside consultancy, really the amount you are asking is only reasonably and potentially would lead to many more projects helping to grow the business.

Good luck!

[shakra]

I like Doku's style!



Does this boss have someone senior in the company that they report to? Take it further up the food chain..

[dwixi]

Your boss is really your client... Sometimes clients are more trouble than their worth.

[SomebodySomewhere]

This is going to sound harsh.

I put the blame on you. You brought up this project in the first place and basically pitched the idea to your boss. Your boss said OK and to go ahead with it. The mistake you made was that nowhere in that period did you talk about the monetary compensation you were to receive (if any). You let your rights, the rights to compensation for your time and value you create, to slip through your hands.

Your boss did nothing wrong.
Everyone goes this through this harsh learning step when they're first starting out in the business world. It teaches a great lesson about business and negotiation though doesn't it

You can still try and negotiate with him though for compensation, it's not too late. You always have the option of backing out of the project if it doesn't meet your terms, that's your right to exercise if you want.

Good luck.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by amixa

now a month before the event she tells me i'm not to be paid for the next month because i wasn't initially hired to do this.

Are you saying you won't even be paid your normal salary, since she says you haven't been doing your job? I could see that being a problem, but if you simply aren't being paid MORE than your usual pay, I'd see no problem with that, since as you mentioned compensation was never discussed beyond having something to put on your resume.