Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

From Employee to Contractor...am I getting stiffed?

I worked for a recruiting firm in Florida for 2 1/2 years and had an employment contract in place in which I was paid and hourly wage (no overtime) and bonuses that were paid when I closed a deal. I was laid off due to the economic downturn, but they asked me to stay on as an independent contractor and I signed a new ind. contractor agreement.

The agreement stated that I would be paid a comission of 35% for every deal that I closed.

I had just started a new assignment during my last week of employment. I was laid off Jan. 15th, Signed the contractor agreement on Jan. 18th and continued to work on that same assignment. The deal closed last week, and the company told me that since I initially started the assignment while still employed, they owe me based on my old bonus agreement, not my new ind. contractor agreement. This comes out to a difference of about $10,000 dollars.

Can you please advise me what I am legally entitled to?

Thank you,

J.G.


Asked on 3/19/09, 8:44 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

Re: From Employee to Contractor...am I getting stiffed?

I would need to see the wording of both contracts. If contract #1 pays you a salary based on the time you work on a deal whether it closes or not and contract #2 pays you a commission only when and if a deal closes, I would think that you would be owed the commission on deal #2 even though you began work on it under contract #1.

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Answered on 3/19/09, 10:19 pm
Hunter Chamberlin Chamberlin Butler & Crowe, P.A.

Re: From Employee to Contractor...am I getting stiffed?

It really depends on the different agreements you signed, in particular the independent contractor agreement. I would be happy to take a look at it for you and give you some additional information.

Please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

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Answered on 3/20/09, 9:20 am


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