I have been working for a small business in Florida of three people since February. Though the other worker is a full time contractor, my boss hired me as an employee as I signed W2s and he is suppose to deduct taxes, but he never set up a structure for when paydays would be. He offered me in writing a certain hourly pay and mileage reimbursement for my commute to work, which I accepted. My problem is I always had to ask to get paid and he never would get it to me when I asked. The pay structure of the three checks I saw was three weeks, then two weeks later, then a month later. Finally last week (May 17), after realizing he hadn't mentioned paying me in over a month and the last pay check he gave me only paid me through March 19 (not to mention he didn't take the taxes out), I wrote him an e-mail letting him know I couldn't afford to continue to work there and asked for him to promptly let me know when I could expect what he still owed me. He hasn't responded, nor to my demand for the mileage reimbursement which I never saw, nor did he acknowledge when I inquired to it's whereabouts 2 months ago.

I have acumulated over 160 hours of unpaid work he still owes me for plus the mileage reimbursement. Are there any laws here protecting me? How do I get what I'm owed? And what should my next step be?

Thanks so much.

Yes, there are laws to protect you (re: the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act). However, you will probably have to go to court to recover the money as Florida does not have a process to help its citizens on those matters.

Thanks for your help and suggestions, hopefully it won't have to go to court but you'd advice is of great service to me. Thanks again.