It is worse still when employers or contractors refuse to pay, especially for non-contract labor.. That is: I f and when an employer in the US fails to pay a fully (written) contracted worker, state and federal laws allow worker who have a written contract to quickly go to court--and there are lawyers who will help out (for a fee or future fee). However, the person who agrees to work simply based on a gentleman's agreement,--i.e. for a day or a few weeks, as occurs with harvest workers in my home state of Kansas--, really need to pray for a very honest employer.
This issue comes up a lot during harvest time in the Midwest, but it also is an all-year-round issue in most Right-to-Work-States (like Kansas), where employers have an even stronger position over employers than elsewhere.
ANECDOTES, WALNUTS & CORNFIELDS
When one is a young high school student (and short of cash), one is quite happy to get job offers, i.e. to mow lawns, to work fields, clean houses and garages, or to help with construction The first harvesting effort (which I went unpaid for) was at the age of 15 or 16. That month, my dad had mentioned that there was a woman living catty-corner to our house (down across the main street in town) who was looking for help. That lady had many walnut trees, but she did not harvest walnuts or use them for any purpose. When I approached her, she said she would pay me so much per bag and the job would take a few hours. I should note that it was made clear to me that I would not get paid until my job of walnut harvesting was completed.
Well, the first Saturday and Sunday, I worked for about 4 hours in this backbreaking effort of gleaning the woman's property of fallen walnuts. I had to rest and I started over the next day afternoon after school. Even then, I was still nowhere near being finished Moreover, filling the bags among autumn leaves and tall grass was not as easy (nor as quick) as I had been led to believe..
I went a fourth day and the walnuts continued to fall. Since, I practiced football after school most nights, I arrived exhausted on Tuesday. My back continued to ache. I needed to take a break on the fifth day. By the next weekend, although there were 4 or 5 bags of walnuts collected, the job was taking far longer than the few hours I had been promised.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
