I did something stupid last week and now I am really regretting it -

[Minimus]

It became obvious my employer was having financial difficulties - our phones have been cut off on several occasions, people calling for accounts payable, about past due bills, pay checks having to be held until money got to the bank to cover them, etc. Well I discovered that my retirement plan contributions, withheld from my checks for the last several months were not actually being deposited into my investment account.

Even though the market has really sucked it still really pissed me off that my boss was keeping my money instead of sending it to the investment company, so I confronted her. We had a pretty big blow up and I said that I probably needed to look for another job. She then apologized, cried and told me she did not want me to leave - that she needed me and did not want to lose me as an employee. She asked me to take the weekend to think about it.

So last weekend I thought about it and decided that even though the situation bothered me there were many positive things about working there. I decided it would be better to stay and that I would talk with her this week. She was out of the office Mon and I was out Tues (I worked as a poll runner)so I expected her to come in Wed and ask what I decided. She never said anything to me - it was business as usual. We were really busy so I just thought she would talk to me at the end of the day or something. She didn't mention it the next day either so I finally I brought it up and she told be she had made peace with the fact that I was leaving.

I was thinking: Huh? - last week you were crying and begging me to stay. I just told her that I would work through next week to finish out the pay cycle and try to show the only other employee my duties.

I think she realized she really couldn't afford to pay me and just decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of me. Stupid me for giving her the opportunity. I will have to start pounding the pavement - hopefully I will find another job soon.

If you read this far - thanks for letting me vent.

[flvegan]

1. They were withholding money of yours to use as your deposit in your account

but not doing so? Sounds like embezzlement (or something) of some kind. Either way, they're stealing from you. Unless I'm reading this wrong.

Sorry about the having to find a new job, though.

[Minimus]

3. Yes - the rule is the funds must be deposited by the end of the

month following when they were withheld. The company match does not have to occur until the end of the year but the employee funds must be deposited monthly.

[pitohui]

6. yes it's embezzlement, get an attorney now and try to press charges

you will never see the money if you don't

[LeftyFingerPop]

2. Not depositing those funds within a certain number of days is a criminal act.

[petronius]

4. I think it would be a bigger mistake to stay,

considering that your boss has shown a serious lack of ethics, not mention a criminal streak. You need to demand that the witholdings are deposited instantly, and make cetain that matching funds are deposited as required. It could be that she's inadvertently done you a favor, if the fund prices have dropped since the time the money should have been deposited, but I'd hold her feet to the fire...

Good luck, and here's hoping you find a better opportunity quickly!

[Minimus]

5. Thanks!

I too considered that the market was way down and I would probably have lost money but then it became about the principal of her keeping MY money. In essence she is getting an interest free loan from me.

[pitohui]

7. a "loan"? it is a theft! you will never get the money now

that's why she's, er, letting you go

if you don't get an attorney and possibly law enforcement on this, you will never see a penny

yes, the DOW dropped, but 80 percent of something is more than 0 percent of nothing and right now you have nothing except a kick in the ass -- and that's all you're ever gonna get now that you're fired, unless you do something about it NOW

get an attorney, file a police report, and DON'T hesitate, there are time limits on how long you can wait before filing charges

we've (hubby and i) been a victim of employer embezzlement and the unkindest cut was that we ended up having to pay income tax on money we never received because we didn't report the theft in time!!!