My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Virginia
I recently "left" from a start-up where I worked as a software engineer. I worked there as a full time employee and agreed to an annual pay of some amount. A part of that compensation was to be paid out monthly, and a part of that compensation was deferred, to be paid out in installments after a year.
In the last 3 months of working at this company they failed to pay the agreed upon monthly portion. They finally told me that they could not pay the agreed upon amount and wanted to reduce my monthly salary. I also had technical disagreements with the CTO regarding the technology being used. I left the company after 9 months, both for compensation and technical reasons.
Shortly after leaving, the company sent a separation letter indicating they would only pay the "missed paychecks" within 60 days time. I retained a lawyer regarding getting my deferred compensation.
I received a settlement offer from the company recently (today), where they agreed to pay the back wages and deferred compensation. However, they added some terms to the settlement agreement which seem unreasonable:
- I am owed back pay (due from previous 3 months), AND deferred compensation (which is supposed to start paying out in April). The settlement combines both the back pay and deferred compensation into one amount, to be paid out over a 12 month period.
- The company did not take out payroll taxes from my monthly paycheck when I was working there. Now they propose to take out the payroll taxes for the previous (2014) year from the settlement amount. They calculate the monthly payout from this reduced amount, from which they will again subtract payroll taxes (for 2015).
- They attach several clauses: "general release" clause, "non-disparagement" and a "confidentiality" clause
As I see it, they violated their agreement (and possibly state and federal law) and now want me to sign an agreement that is only to their advantage:
- They violated federal and local wage and hour laws when they did not pay me for three months
- They failed to provide W2 in a timely fashion (I have not received them yet)
- They committed other non-wage/compensation related violations which I do not want to get into here
The penalty for not paying wages include liquidated damages, interest payments (at an 8% annual rate) and criminal prosecution (class 1 misdemeanor or class 6 felony depending on the amount). The non-wage related violation might be criminal as well.
They basically want me to not go after them (i.e. file criminal or civil complaints) and in return they will pay me what they had already agreed to pay me. I want to propose a counter offer:
I agree to sign a general release and not go after them in court and in return:
- The company pays all attorneys fees
- The company agrees to a non-disparagement clause
- The company releases me from any non-compete clause
- The company removes any confidentiality clause related to discussing the agreement
- The company pays all back pay (less payroll taxes) within the next x days (x=15? 30? 45?)
- The company pays deferred compensation (less payroll taxes) as agreed upon
Is this something I can ask my lawyer to propose, or am I in the wrong here?
I recently "left" from a start-up where I worked as a software engineer. I worked there as a full time employee and agreed to an annual pay of some amount. A part of that compensation was to be paid out monthly, and a part of that compensation was deferred, to be paid out in installments after a year.
In the last 3 months of working at this company they failed to pay the agreed upon monthly portion. They finally told me that they could not pay the agreed upon amount and wanted to reduce my monthly salary. I also had technical disagreements with the CTO regarding the technology being used. I left the company after 9 months, both for compensation and technical reasons.
Shortly after leaving, the company sent a separation letter indicating they would only pay the "missed paychecks" within 60 days time. I retained a lawyer regarding getting my deferred compensation.
I received a settlement offer from the company recently (today), where they agreed to pay the back wages and deferred compensation. However, they added some terms to the settlement agreement which seem unreasonable:
- I am owed back pay (due from previous 3 months), AND deferred compensation (which is supposed to start paying out in April). The settlement combines both the back pay and deferred compensation into one amount, to be paid out over a 12 month period.
- The company did not take out payroll taxes from my monthly paycheck when I was working there. Now they propose to take out the payroll taxes for the previous (2014) year from the settlement amount. They calculate the monthly payout from this reduced amount, from which they will again subtract payroll taxes (for 2015).
- They attach several clauses: "general release" clause, "non-disparagement" and a "confidentiality" clause
As I see it, they violated their agreement (and possibly state and federal law) and now want me to sign an agreement that is only to their advantage:
- They violated federal and local wage and hour laws when they did not pay me for three months
- They failed to provide W2 in a timely fashion (I have not received them yet)
- They committed other non-wage/compensation related violations which I do not want to get into here
The penalty for not paying wages include liquidated damages, interest payments (at an 8% annual rate) and criminal prosecution (class 1 misdemeanor or class 6 felony depending on the amount). The non-wage related violation might be criminal as well.
They basically want me to not go after them (i.e. file criminal or civil complaints) and in return they will pay me what they had already agreed to pay me. I want to propose a counter offer:
I agree to sign a general release and not go after them in court and in return:
- The company pays all attorneys fees
- The company agrees to a non-disparagement clause
- The company releases me from any non-compete clause
- The company removes any confidentiality clause related to discussing the agreement
- The company pays all back pay (less payroll taxes) within the next x days (x=15? 30? 45?)
- The company pays deferred compensation (less payroll taxes) as agreed upon
Is this something I can ask my lawyer to propose, or am I in the wrong here?
Termination: Separation, Back Pay and Deferred Compensation
