Is it right for my ex employer to with hold my cheque when they made a verbal agreement to pay me money to sta

Question

They offered 3oo cash to stay with no agreement to pay it back and it was under the table money. When I decided to leave 5 months after they said I was obligated to pay it back. They wanted to pay for me to stay because they were really short staff
Is it fair I pay them back

Answer 1

Let's start with the "under the table" arrangement, which is not legal to begin with. Unless they have something in writing from you stating that you're obligated to repay this $$ upon termination - you aren't obligated to repay the money.

As far as holding back your check, that is illegal any way you cut it. See your local labor board web site for more details - in most states, they only have until the next pay period to get your last check to you, and in some states it is even sooner.

Answer 2

What was the full extent of the $300 offer to stay? Did they discuss with you how long you were to stay? If the length of stay was never mentioned and there is no record the payment then they can not expect you to repay it. They must, by law, pay you for all work you have done and the only way they can withhold payment is if you have not returned all equipment or have caused damage that they are recovering from your final pay cheque. If none of this applies, then contact the local labour board.

Answer 3

No, its not fair. Obviously they must have been a misunderstanding on how long that money would convince you to stay, so its a hard case to argue.
But its also not fair for you to take money under the table.
The conditions of going into a legal dispute on this means that you must have "clean hands", and in this case you dint.
I would appeal to them to pay you back, in a court of law it is unlikely that you will win if you bring up illegal transactions that you agreed upon.

Answer 4

tecnicly yes but if they really dont want to give it to you you can go to small claims court