by Lisa Brown
(West Milford NJ)
A month ago I was offered another job elsewhere for 4 dollars more an hour my boss told me they would match it so I decided to stay. Two weeks ago I received my check and it was short 2 dollars an hour. They claim that it was a misunderstanding and would give me the additional 2 dollars. I received my paycheck today and it is still short the 2 dollars an hour my boss claims to have forgotten and said it will be in the next check which again is 2 weeks away. I feel I can no longer trust this employer and would like to leave can I do so and collect un-employment until I find another job.
Hi Lisa,
Did you get it in writing that you would receive a 4 dollar raise? I don’t know if this would be good cause for quitting in New Jersey because quite frankly New Jersey doesn’t provide (like many states) a resource containing precedent decisions for questions concerning unemployment or anything else .. that I can find.
Your question is really a wage question and New Jersey does have a process for wage disputes http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/wagehour/content/hearings_conferences.html
Without the ability to access information to back me up, I think if you quit without trying harder to get the additional money owed you and if you can’t prove it you’d be risking a denial.
If you have already got some sort of documentation that states, implies or suggest the employer knows they promised you a 4 dollar wage check out the webpage above. If you don’t, make an effort to get something .. like an email.
I do understand why you might be feeling some distrust for the employer because if this was intentional .. it was a dirty sneaky tactic.
Another thing you might consider doing is going back to the employer who offered you the job and see what you might be able to get from them to help.
Lisa, you may have good cause but if you quit you will be the one that will have to prove it. In most states if a person quits for a better job or more pay and then gets laid off, the quit from the previous job is generally found to be with good cause because it wasn’t a lateral move, but quitting because your employer gave you a 2 dollar raise instead of what was promised need some documentation to show that the employer’s actions were deceitful and underhanded and basically detrimental to your interests. At least that’s what I would feel like I needed to prove .. if it were me.