This is a reply sent from my former boss, after I sent him a list of due commissions. I am filing a claim with the TWC. Is it necessary to respond to his demands, or is there something I SHOULD say, regarding the details of the legalities. (Here's the link to my original post: http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showthread.php?t=159508)

"All communication about commissions must be handled with me, not with anyone else in this office.

Your offer letter states:
-$400 commission for every successful architect or engineer placement made by the Corporation, resulting from your efforts to source candidates on the phone. (A “successful”placement is defined as staying past the 90-day guarantee period.)

Notice the importance of the phrase "source candidates on the phone." That doesn't pertain to people who called in or people that you plucked off Monster. As a followup Emailed spelled out about candidates who call Architect Search such as David Wells:

* A great candidate calls or plops in our lap from Monster and gives us all the info we need:

$0 Commission

I wish that we owed you thousands of dollars... that would meant that you would have done your job while you were with us.

To reiterate, you're not due any commissions from candidates that called in to Architect Search, but only candidates that resulted from from your efforts to source candidates on the phone. Since neither Erin nor I could convince you to do your job by spending time on the phone, that list is almost nonexistent. I received the long list of candidate for which you'd like to claim credit. Your statement that people on this list were "awaiting offers, had pending interviews, or were waiting to be scheduled for an interview" was a complete and utter fabrication.


The time commissions are paid is always at the discretion of the company. Customary business practices and etiquette dictates a 2 week notice for all parties involved to work out any issues. By not giving a 2 week notice you forfeited the benefits of those discussions. You choose to leave prior to working out any details regarding commissions and by doing so left this to the discretion of the Corporation. The Corporation will not pay commission for any candidates with a placement date after your September 22, 2006 resignation.

Therefore, after a more careful review of the records since the last Email, this is what what we show as due:


Samuel : $100

John : $100

Dee : $400


I want to resolve this as quickly as possible, so the above will be paid immediately. Please respond with a confirmation that you are owed for these commissions, and are not owed or entitled to any additional commission. Please reply to this Email by noon Wednesday October 11, 2006 or forfeit any commissions. In addition, your last paycheck overpaid you. You had taken off Tuesday, Sept. 19, in lieu of working Saturday, Sept. 23, which you failed to do. Therefore, your final check overpaid you by 1/10 of a pay period: $80.77. We are willing to forego repayment of that amount.


we want to be fair to you. But the fabrications in your last Email - and you claiming credit for things you didn't do - make this process more difficult."

NICE GUY, huh? I plan to submit these emails to the TWC as well. Is there anything I SHOULD say to cover me legally, or to help argue my case?

Thanks for the help!

I don't understand why you claim commissions on placements that have not happened yet, let alone having the placed candidate make it through the 90 day guarantee period. You certainly muddy the waters by doing that.

Ignore, for a moment, the caveat that the placed candidates had to be sourced by you on the phone.

What commissions are you owed for placed candidates had completed the 90 days by the date of your resignation?

Of those, which ones would the employer argue you don't deserve since you did not source them by phone?

The employer will probably lose if he fights you over placements that even he agrees meets the rigid sourcing criteria. It might be worth fighting over the rest, too.

I would like to collect, after the 90-day period, candidates that I sourced and was working on before I left. Several of them were finished interviewing, and awaiting offers. Even if I still worked there, there would be nothing left for me to do, other than receive the good news that they accepted the offer. As a matter of fact, one of them did accept the offer, but her start date was not until after I resigned. I believe I am entitled to these, since I sourced them. (I'm not saying he should pay now, but the employer says it is his discretion not to pay at all.) The employer's statement: "By not giving a 2 week notice you forfeited the benefits of those discussions. You choose to leave prior to working out any details regarding commissions and by doing so left this to the discretion of the Corporation. The Corporation will not pay commission for any candidates with a placement date after your September 22, 2006 resignation." (Interestingly, the employee who's place I took, transferred to othe sister company, and continued to collect on placements she sourced. SO, are those ineligible simply because I don't work there as of the placement date? This was not covered in my offer letter.)

As of the date of my resignation, I was still owed on one candidate that passed the 90-day period. (2 more passed the 90-day period just days after I resigned, of which he is not disputing completely. He is not denying one of them and acknowledged that the full commission is due. There was never a dispute about the 2nd one until I left. In fact, I have a copy of the original accounting record, that shows it is a full commission. They have since claimed it was only a partial commission, and as of this last email now claim "$0 commission".

Candidates "sourced on the phone" is vague to me. All of them are contacted over the phone. Some are found in the company database, some at a local professional association, or other outside listing. The employer claims "A great candidate calls or plops in our lap from Monster and gives us all the info we need: $0 Commission" So, "sourced on the phone" means nothing. In fact, the only full commission he's not disputing was found at the professional association. This leads me to believe that I am owed any commissions that were SOURCED by me, aka, I found them. The only one that I may NOT have found, was Wells (btw, he got the name wrong, as usual). I honestly do not remember if he called in or if I called him first. Unfortunately, I did not save a copy of the record. But regardless of this fact, the employer did NOT deny my commission until AFTER my resignation. I do, however, have a copy of the office manager's file that shows I did earn the full commission for that one.

Is my best bet, to show the TWC how each of the commissions were sourced and why they are due at some point. I hoping that by showing his inconsitent guidelines, I can prove that he owes me for far more than he is claiming.

Thank you for all your advice! Any tips you have for how to address all of this to the TWC would be GREATLY appreciated!

PS. Should I respond to his ultimatim by the noon deadline, or just ignore him altogether?

I would like to collect, after the 90-day period, candidates that I sourced and was working on before I left. Several of them were finished interviewing, and awaiting offers.

That won't happen. Your offer letter is pretty much standard (aside from the strange spin about sourcing). You get what you place and interviews and pending offers don't count. In my company, it is placed, guarantee period completed and client paid the fee.

Even if I still worked there, there would be nothing left for me to do, other than receive the good news that they accepted the offer I wish it were always that case. You never dealt with a counteroffer or had some other post offer problem come up? If not, you are very, very lucky or very, very new.

Go by the terms of your offer letter, and get paid what you are due under those terms.

You don't have much of a case beyond that. For example, you complain that the employee who's place I took, transferred to othe sister company, and continued to collect on placements she sourced. Big deal! This is an employee that went to work for another company OWNED by the same folks. The owners want to keep her happy. I don't blame them.

As a matter of fact, I NEVER had to deal with counteroffers or other problems. My former boss did. It was my job to SOURCE and get the necessary info from the candidate, and that was it. I did not schedule interviews, or have ANY contact with the clients hiring my candidates. That's the way the boss wanted it.. he's a control freak. Things fell through ALL the time... you move on. This is why I feel I'm entitled to placements made after my departure. I wouldn't have done anything further if I was still employed there, so why should I lose commission for the work I did. Especially the one who accepted the offer before I resigned (I talked her into taking it! And have the emails to prove it) But, because her startdate was 2 weeks later, it doesn't count? That seems awfully harsh.

From your ex-employer's message, it sound like you were fired? I'm confused because in your previous posts you said you quit.

I quit and left the same day and kept a copy of the resignation letter.