My husband is an "employee", working for my brother in law. We have struggled the entire 8 months of 2010 because he was not paid on time nor ever up to date. Plus he kept changing his rate of pay. In the beginning he was being paid 25.00 per hour. Money became tight and my husband got paid sparatically. Then my brother in law tell my husband he is going to make him a partner, (that way if HE didnt have any money, my husband wouldnt have to be paid) however no papers were ever filed and even after repeated request to see the books, my brother in law never showed him anyhing. He was completely in the dark. Then one day he decides he is going to just pay him 750.00 a week salary. At this time my husband was working 50 - 60 hours per week. One week my husband got sick and in order to jusify not paying him for the days he took off, he told him upon his return to work that he was not going to 18.75 an hour (which by the way comes to 750.00 per week for 40 hours). Is any of this leagal? Its been very frustrting. Now, yesterday we received a 1099 in the mail stating that my husband was paid 31,154.50 during the 8 months he worked for his brother. My records indicate he has only received 13,950.00. Big difference!!!! My husband is talking to his brother today to tell him that we do not agree with his figures. I also see that I need to send a certified letter to him stating such discrepency. Do you have a sample letter I can use to construct my letter to him? Also how do we get him to prove what he says he paid, if he argues the point. My husband was paid in money orders and cash. Each time I wrote it on the calender and how much he actually receieved. What is the best way to handle this?

Thank You

Very Frustrated!!!!!!

“Is any of this leagal?”----->Is there an official employment ( or labor) contract between your husband and BIL? If yes, you need to check it. Laws like the FLSA are designed to protect the rights of the workers, some unscrupulous employers take advantage of interpretations of the law in order to take advantage of their employees. For instance, The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that overtime be paid over 40 hours worked in a week, at the rate of 1 1/2 times. For example, if the employee's hourly rate is $10, any hours worked over 40 in a week would be paid at $15.I recommend you contact local EDD, employment development department, office or U.S. Department of Labor in your area.1-866-4-USWAGE
(1-866-487-9243) TTY: 1-877-889-5627.The Department of Labor may recover back wages either administratively or through
court action, for the employees that have been underpaid in violation of the law.Violations may result in civil or criminal action.

"Now, yesterday we received a 1099 in the mail stating that my husband was paid 31,154.50 during the 8 months he worked for his brother. My records indicate he has only received 13,950.00. Big difference!!!! "---> this is really serious violation of FLSA; your BIL may go bankrupt due to labor exploitation.Violations may result in civil or criminal action.

No there is nothing in writing. In fact yesterday they had him fill out paperwork to start deducting taxes, like a real business should do. However.......On Friday they told him that th pay week started on Monday and ended on Friday. Then they had him work on Saturday. He turned in a time card for 47.0 hours. They made him take off Tuesday to offset the hours on Saturday and NOW tell them that Time starts on Saturday and ends on Friday. Again, benefits to them. When he asked why he wasn't paid for January 1 and 2 (Saturday and Sunday, of the first week they canged him to hourly, they said "because you were on salary". Well, if time starts on Saturday, they would classify these days as a new work week and not only SHOULD have been paid but should have been. He missed 3 days that week and these two days would have helped offset the days he missed, and not even been at OT. There is also about 2 thousand dollars that he is still owed and yet they dispute it over and over.

I will contact the labor board here but still need to know if there is any type of letter example you can give me as to the letter I need to write for the corrected 1099. One more question: In regards to the erroneous 1099, whose responsible for proof? Does he have to prove every penny he shows he paid us. Or do we have to prove every penny we received. Like I said it was mostly money orders and cash now and again. Thank You for your response it helps knowing that I am not going crazy for thinking the way do about what he is doing to him. By the way, my husband has a heart condition and Dr said he really needs to cut out the stress. As you can see with these types of business tatics, its been hard to do that. How about unemployment benefits should he quit. Will quitting keep him from collecting?

" but still need to know if there is any type of letter example you can give me as to the letter I need to write for the corrected 1099."--->I get confused; please let me clarify this; is your husband an employee getting W-2 or an indepedent contractor getting a 1099-MISC???

Your husband is an independent contractor if he provides services to other businesses, your BIL, and gets 1099-misc from your BIL, then your husband is generally considered self-employed.

If your husband prforms services(work) in a covered employment( for example, your BIL has the right to control both what work will be done and ho it will bedone), then your husband is an employee getting W2. Then your husband doesn't get 1099-misc from your BIL.

Is your husband an emolyee or an independent contractor???

The FLSA's minimum wage and overtime requirements don't apply to independent contractors if your husband is an independnet contractor, then he is not covered by the FLSA, the Federal Wage and Hour law.

My husband is an employee. He is told where to go, when to be there, what to do while there etc. The company did not take taxes out of my husbands pay this past year (which is why he receive a 1099.) but told us they would start doing so beginning with the check he receives today. He worked last Saturday and they told him take off on Tuesday after sending him home early on Monay. Now he doesn't even have a full 40 hours for the week. But not too upset about that. Mostly just the changes they continue to impose with no notice etc. I also think that because this is my husbands older brother, he likes to push his weight around (as always) and he is the type of person that looks out only for himself. If it benefits him, he makes the changes. I can't think of any changes that were made to benefit my husband. Also we are showing that he still owes my husband 1788.00 in past payroll never received. They say they only owe him 190.00. Big difference.

Again I ask who has to prove this. Is it us that have to prove what he received (and if so how do we prove what he didn't) or is it the employer that has to prove what they say they paid? Now, how about the letter. Im just loking for some type of form letter so I know how to word this.

Thanks

" My husband is an employee. He is told where to go, when to be there, what to do while there etc. The company did not take taxes out of my husbands pay this past year (which is why he receive a 1099.)"--->As you can see, employers are required by law(mandatorily) to withhold taxes, i.e., FICA taxes, federal and state or even FUTA taxes from employees' paychecks in each period whenever employees get paid .Employers must report income and employment taxes withheld from their employees on an Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return (Form 941) and deposit these taxes in full to an authorized bank or financial institution pursuant to Federal Tax Deposit Requirements. Employers who do not comply with the employment tax laws may be subject to criminal and civil sanctions for willfully failing to pay employment taxes. Some employers actually treat their employees as independent contractors by getting them 1099-MISC instead of W2s to save their employment taxes ( FICA Taxes, fed or state taxes o retc.).I am not sure if the employer INTENTIONALLY misclassify your husband's the employment status as an IC. However, first of all, the misclassifying of EE as independent contractors instead of EE is unethical, if the ER is trying to avoid the payment of FICA taxes. I suppose that there are instances of ER who do this, but I hope the number is very, very small. In such a case, the EE/contractor would not be responsible for the entire 15.3% of FICA taxes. If I were an EE who had been misclassified as a contractor and I received a notice from IRS saying that I had failed to pay my taxes, you can bet my lawyer would be contacting the ER very quickly! Obviously, if the ER were found guilty of purposely misclassifying the EE to avoid the taxes, there would be penalties and perhaps jail time for the ER, Ok???
“ but told us they would start doing so beginning with the check he receives today."---> As said above, Employers who do not comply with the employment tax laws may be subject to criminal and civil sanctions for willfully failing to pay employment taxes.
+++++++++
“I will contact the labor board here but still need to know if there is any type of letter example you can give me as to the letter I need to write for the corrected 1099.”-Yes. Please do so. No, I don’t think so; you can just write a letter to describe the real situation as it is. I guess you need to keep a copy of the Form1099-MISC.
“One more question: In regards to the erroneous 1099, whose responsible for proof?”---->The issuer, the company, is responsible for it; however, you should keep careful records of his. Husband, income, regardless of whether he expects to receive a 1099. Contact the company or individual who sent the 1099 to request an amended 1099 for discrepancies. Send a second request via certified mail if you receive no response. This step is essential, as the IRS will not assist you if you have not made an attempt to contact the company to request an amended 1099. After Feb. 14, you can contact the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040 to request assistance. The IRS will ask for your personal information, your estimate as to the correct amount, evidence to support this and which steps you have taken to address the issue on your own. So, you need to keep all records for proof.
“ Does he have to prove every penny he shows he paid us. Or do we have to prove every penny we received.”---> In common sense, both of you NEED to do that for proof. I really recommend EDD office to contact an adviser in your area. I believe that there can (may) be many violations are involved here; violation of tax law, employment law, labor law ( including FLSA) even psychological aspect or etc. Small business people go bankrupt due to labor law violation; it can invite serious results.


Also I guess as you can see, you and your husband NEED to consider the relationship with his brother( your BIL) as family members.

Thank you for your assistance. My husband was considered an employee by this employer and Im sure merely used the 1099 and IC to keep from paying more money out of his pocket. Which is also why I believe we got such a high amount on the 1099. If he can say we received it, then he doesn't have to pay the taxes, WE do right???? Yea, I think not. As for proof of income.....I have kept records of everytime my husband got paid and how much. Unfortunately the pay never came regular and there is still money owed to him, yet the employer states that his records show we have been paid all our money due. I have not only a spread sheet I have kept up with but also I wrote the amount on the calander under the date it was paid. This is how I know that his 1099 was over twice what we actually rceived. Just talked to another employee and seems he got a 1099 for more than he actually got paid as well. So, thats at least 2 of us. And as for the relationship. I think that it might be beyond repair. My husband will be leaving, (of course is looking for something else - before actually walking away and having no where t go). Once he does leave, the personal relationship will be bare minimum. In other words only when its a must.

Again thank you for all your help and allowing me to vent and just get some of this off my chest. Im so angry. Not just at my husbands mistreatment but because it was his brother who treated him this way. Just can't believe that there is blood between the two. You just don't do that.