Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts
Salary to full commission pay
I recently quit a job after the owner wanted to reduce my salary from $525.00 pr week plus comm. to $200.00 pr week plus comm. When I told him he had to pay at least minimum wage,He decided to put me on straight commission,This plan was first mentioned on 1-2-07 and to be effective on 2-1-07 but was not finalized until 2-13-07 and was to be retro-active to 2-1-07. I put in for my 2 weeks vacation so I could look for a new job, but was denied by my employer, so I quit and applied for unemployment benefits. Now my former employer is fighting my benefits. And I have to take time off my new job to go to hearings to prove why I should not have to pay the money I collected back to Unemployment fund, Can you please give me any advise. Thank you
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Salary to full commission pay
because u quit u have an uphill battle. to prevail u need to show that the employer materially changed the nature of your compensation - to your detriment - for the same work u were hired to perform (i.e., he didn't require less from you as an employee). you need to claim that in these circumstances, it was insufficient compensation for the same work, resulting in a "constructive termination." in other words, the pay change was so detrimental that you had no choice but to leave in order to receive adequate compensation for your services.
bring whatever proof you have to the hearing and focus on arguing u didn't really quit - his changes effectively forced you out. leaving voluntarily is ur obstacle to overcome though.
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