School administrator witholding paycheck

[stwooker]

I worked as a head teacher for a small non-profit school in Virginia for 2 1/2 years. This year I became pregnant before the school year began. I decided in November that I could no longer work efficiently and began telling the administrator verbally that she should look for a new employee. I did not want to just quit and leave the school in chaos. My administrator took her time in finding a new employee.

On November 29th my administrator told the staff (in writing) that she was going to give us a format for the student evaluations (very lengthy narrative report cards) and that the evaluations were due on January 31, 2006.Mid December I informed my administrator that I would be moving out of state.

On December 27th I wrote my administrator and informed her that January 20th would be my last day and asked to meet with her about the evaluations because we had not yet received the format. She did not answer this letter. On January 4th she told my assistant that I would have some responsibility for the evaluations but failed to tell me anything.

On Friday the 6th of January I received the format in disc form. It was a 38-page document full of mistakes and irrelevant information for my students' age level. It was a project in itself. The next week January 9th-13th she went on vacation and left me in charge of the administrative duties of the school and the new employee in my classroom. The week of the 16th-20th I worked because the new head teacher was out of town.

Meanwhile in my 8th month of pregnancy I was packing and planning my move out of state. On January 18th after repeated requests my administrator gave me a written pay schedule for the balance due on my earned income. I work for ten months but get payed in 12 to cover summer expenses. On the 21st of January I picked up a few belongings at the school and my administrator asked me if I was going to do the evaluations. I said I would try. I moved and in the chaos of making my new home livable was unable to start on the evaluations.

Two of my scheduled paydays came and went and I received nothing. My administrator called me on February 7th and asked when I would be done with the evaluations. I replied that I could not give her an exact date, as I still hadn't found the box with my records in it. On February 14th I wrote her an email explaining that I was trying to get my office are organized so that I could work and that I was going to do my best as always. I also asked about my paycheck. She did not respond. I sent the letter again. She did not respond. Finally on Tuesday the 21st I called her because I desperately needed my checks that I had budgeted for and I had now not received two of them. It was then that she told me that she was keeping my checks until I sent in the evaluations. I told her that that was not right because I had never been informed. I told here that she should have discussed this with me before hand so that I would have quit earlier to have time to finish the work. After I explained that I cannot pay my bills and that this issue has put me in financial ruin she said she would mail me the two checks and keep the last one. I was informed today from a colleague that my checks are still on her desk. Can she do this? What should I do?

[Pattymd]

All that information was not really necessary. If you have not received all the pay due you, file a claim for unpaid wages with the state Dept. of Labor.