used and fooled by an American employer

HI Attorney!

I actually applied in a call center agency last October 2010 and saw this company IXXI online who's in need of a call center agent. It was my first time to apply in a call center.

To cut the long story short, I got hired and got a package of Php15,000 basic salary with Php3,000 allowance. The company was new (as in just opened and started when we got hired and was owned by two Americans). Unfortunately, it didn't last long as it wasn't able to generate sales as they expected. Many where already retrenched from the group during first month and retained just around 15 employees including me on succeeding month. Last 20th of December, the owner and President by the name of Mr Raxxxxxll xxxxxr, announced that we will not be getting our salary then until we generate sales for the company. It was our salary day and few days before Christmas. A lot of employees cried as they were expecting their salaries that day to celebrate for the Holidays and felt fooled to work for him for amonth without salary at the end.

There was chaos that day as we pleaded to give us our pay then but all that they gave was a PDC amounting the supposedly salary without the allowance that we should have gotten that day and dated after one month. So we all went home so down and hopeless and humanly degraded but what the President did to us.

Up to now, he still owe us the allowances based on December working hours we made and all the taxes, philhealth, SSS and Pag-ibig that he deducted from our previous payroll. He's giving us a lot of excuses for not paying us. Even saying that we must blame our government as they are the ones who's delaying all necessary documents for him not to release our pay.

I, ofcourse, threatened him of talking to an attorney or even going on media but he just laughed as he said that he didn't do any wrong thing to us and that I would not spend money and all the effort just for a small cheque.

I feel soo humiliated that in my own country an allien like this americans fooled us and are still laughing at us Filipinos in our own native land.

We even came to know that he was able to pay a couple of employees and let them signed a waiver that they shouldn't tell anybody that they were able to get their cheques coz when they do they will file case against them.

I'd like to file a case against him .. Do you think Attorney I have a case against him?

I would appreciate your advice and whom can I talk to regarding my case. Hoping for your reply the soonest ...


Thanks and God bless
Shawie b.a.

are you already considered terminated?

if yes, you can consider the filing of an illegal termination case because there was no 30 day notice to the employees or to the DOLE.

or a simple money claim. either way, the complaint is to the dole or nlrc

I was forced to leave the company because of his condition that we will not be getting any salary until we get sales. He wanted us to sign a termination paper then but we didnot sign it.

So I can file case against him both DOLE and NLRC? What would be the best case that we could file against him. And now we came to know that he is hiring again and might do the same thing to the new batch of employees. So, ironic, how could he pay salaries for this batch where in he couldn't keep us then? The company should be closed.

as i said, the proper complaint is a money claim