Pay Me What You Promised Me

WWAY TV 3 She claims her boss promised to pay her $20 an hour, but Andrea Leach is still waiting for her money. The 25-year-old Wilmington woman used to work as a personal trainer for Beyond Fitness says she got fired last week after complaining her paychecks were coming up short. Andrea took the job at $20 an hour, so she was understandably upset when she got paid $16 an hour instead. Andrea noticed the discrepancy months ago on her pay stub, and brought it to her boss's attention. She says her boss, Denise Burke, said she would work on it and later wrote her a short note saying "Sorry, corporate wouldn't approve you at $20 an hour." Andrea says that would have been nice to know before she took the job. "I'm paying a mortgage by myself, I have bills, I have a dog and I'm also taking classes at Cape Fear," Andrea said. "I have a degree in exercise science and seven accredited certifications that I worked very hard for, so I believed I was worth even more than 20 bucks an hour, but I was going to settle for that." Andrea has the $20 pay rate in writing with her boss's initials. Manager Denise Burke wouldn't go on camera, but says that quote was never official. She also said Andrea got fired because she was a negative influence at the gym. We did some research on Beyond Fitness and found out they have an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau. I know a bit about labor law and if Andrea has this paper with the promised wage and her ex-boss's initials (signature would be much better) then that's the wage she should recieve. There are very few laws to protect the average employee but the most notable is that your employer must inform you of your rate of pay and pay you that rate for hours worked. If they decide you're over paid or something they can change the rate but have to let you know about the change before it takes effect. In my opinion she is owed the $20 per hour up to the point her ex-boss told her that corporate wouldn't allow it.