I worked for a McDonalds that was corporate. We were sold to a couple in December. I was a swing manager at the time. The store manager decided to stay with corporate, and the assistant decided to go with the owner operator but she was pregnant and gave birth in January. Just before she went on maturnity leave the owners decided to promote me to assistant and we "agreed" on the salary of $23,000/year. I am young and have never held a salary position before so I thought anything would be great. After my meeting with them I did that math and figured that would be $10/hour for 45 hours/week. I thought it was an unfair amount considering that I knew that other swing managers were making more than that. I spoke to my store manager and said that I would not take the position for that amount of money. She said she would talk to the owners on my behalf and get back to me. A week later she had her baby and my next check was more than we agreed. So I assumed they listened to her and saw all the work that I had done and decided to change it.
In April when she returned to work we were discussing wages to do the store budget for the next month and we found out that I made more money than she did. We both thought that maybe they were paying me more money than her because I did more work but they wouldn't give me the store because I would be leaving in less than a year when my husband comes home from Afghanistan. (He's in the army, when he returns I'll move to NC to be with him.) I do everthing it takes to run the store, (order, schedule, inventory, enforce procedures, take phone calls), she just went to the store manager meetings. So nothing was done about it.
In July they approached me and told me that they were overpaying me and that I owed them money. I couldn't believe it. Apparently their payroll company was doubling the pay that we agreed on. They now are asking me to pay back $6,399.01. I had a meeting with them telling them that I spoke to the store manager and told them that I would not have taken the position for that amount. I also found a federal law that said that any salary paid manager making less than $23,660 are not exempt from overtime. I was scheduled 45 hours per week and worked well over that amount so I should have been paid overtime. I talked to them hoping that we could come to some sort of agreement. I was willing to pay back half but they were not interested in negotiating. I am not the type of person to steal. I do not want to keep money that does not belong to me. However, I feel that if I pay back the total amount the all the time and effort that has already been put in is down the drain. I would be losing out in the long run.
I guess what I am asking is how do you think I should handle this situaion. Can they legally expect me to pay them back? If so can I/how can I be compensated for the overtime that I worked?
I appologize for the length of my message. I just felt that you should take into consideration all the details.
Thank you for your time.
Breeann Shreve
In April when she returned to work we were discussing wages to do the store budget for the next month and we found out that I made more money than she did. We both thought that maybe they were paying me more money than her because I did more work but they wouldn't give me the store because I would be leaving in less than a year when my husband comes home from Afghanistan. (He's in the army, when he returns I'll move to NC to be with him.) I do everthing it takes to run the store, (order, schedule, inventory, enforce procedures, take phone calls), she just went to the store manager meetings. So nothing was done about it.
In July they approached me and told me that they were overpaying me and that I owed them money. I couldn't believe it. Apparently their payroll company was doubling the pay that we agreed on. They now are asking me to pay back $6,399.01. I had a meeting with them telling them that I spoke to the store manager and told them that I would not have taken the position for that amount. I also found a federal law that said that any salary paid manager making less than $23,660 are not exempt from overtime. I was scheduled 45 hours per week and worked well over that amount so I should have been paid overtime. I talked to them hoping that we could come to some sort of agreement. I was willing to pay back half but they were not interested in negotiating. I am not the type of person to steal. I do not want to keep money that does not belong to me. However, I feel that if I pay back the total amount the all the time and effort that has already been put in is down the drain. I would be losing out in the long run.
I guess what I am asking is how do you think I should handle this situaion. Can they legally expect me to pay them back? If so can I/how can I be compensated for the overtime that I worked?
I appologize for the length of my message. I just felt that you should take into consideration all the details.
Thank you for your time.
Breeann Shreve
