TEMPLE, Texas — Work with no pay. That’s what Latoya Williams said is happening to her son who currently works at the Popeyes off West Adams St in Temple.
“It happened last year once before, but when we reach out to corporate eventually ended up getting paid. It never took this long for before. Now that he’s back again he’s lacking on three to four paychecks," Williams said.
Despite this, the 17-year-old is still showing up, doing his part while bills pile up.
“It’s pretty much put him behind at least at least a month on his car payment," Williams said. "Are y’all gonna help him with his car gets repossessed? Are you all gonna get it back for him? We shouldn’t have to take our money to pay his bills when he has a job."
We spoke with other employees who wanted to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation. They also claim they're three to four pay periods behind.
Some of them even took to social media saying "the restaurant does not pay their employees."
“If they got money to pay for their food service to come through, do they have money to pay for the pay their employees," Williams said. "They dedicated they come here every day and with them they have no business."
Williams said she’s reached out to everyone she can think of, but little progress is being made.
“I reached out to corporate," Williams said. "I have reached out to Texas Workforce Commission. I’ve reached out to the labor department. I have reached out and everybody is blaming one another about who is responsible and who I need to contact."
Williams said so far only one payment from the last four periods has been posted to her son’s account but it’s on hold. She checked with her son’s bank; they said the hold is due to the employer.
We reached out to Popeyes corporate, but no word back yet.
We also reached out to Angela Woellner with the TWC, she replied with this statement:
"If an individual believes their employer is not paying them earned wages, they may file a wage claim with TWC [twc.texas.gov]. Once the individual files the wage claim, TWC will investigate the claim under the povisions of the Texas Payday Law [twc.texas.gov].
"If individuals feel their rights under the Payday Law have been violated, they should file a wage claim. The individual must file the wage claim no later than 180 days after the date the unpaid wages were due to be paid.
"For specific information about complaints, you will need to file an open records request either on our website [twc.govqa.us], or by emailing open.records@twc.texas.gov."
