This company has multiple ads throughout the Mid-Nebraska area. They supposedly guarantee a starting salary of $400 per week. They will consistently lie and misinform the potential employee of what they are actually doing and what the actual pay is.
This is Kirby Vacuum sales in the Central Nebraska area.
They abuse the classification of Independent Contractor as it is defined in the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-1228 to 48-1232). They do this so that they can take advantage of people by having them work long hours on daily basis and then refuse to pay them for any work completed.
Potential employees are hired as "Demonstrators", and told that they will not be required to go door-to-door to contact potential customers. As the unpaid training progresses, this idea is reinforced multiple times. When the work actually begins, the "Demonstrators" are told that they need to do canvassing for a while, but that "next week", all they will be doing is demonstrating from pre-set appointments.
After one week of 10 to 12 hour days, and being told multiple times that payday is on Saturday, the company will refuse to pay people by stating that they did not meet their goal of 16 appointments. If there is any discussion of why the employee is not being paid, S-5 simply states that the person is not an employee of S-5, but a Independent Contractor, and therefore they are not entitled to any compensation from S-5.
The "Independent Contractors" are told when, where, and who they work with, and are transported to the place of work by S-5 and are also using a product that is owned by S-5 to do their work.in my opinion, this establishes an Employee/Employer relationship and not an Independent Contractor/Owner relationship.
An employee is defined in the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act sec. 48-1229. Terms, as:
(2) Employee means any individual permitted to work by an employer pursuant to an employment relationship or who has contracted to sell the goods or services of an employer and to be compensated by commission. Services performed by an individual for an employer shall be deemed to be employment, unless it is shown that (a) such individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of such services, both under his or her contract of serviceservice and in fact, (b) such service is either outside the usual course of business for which such service is performed or such service is performed outside of all the places of business of the enterprise for which such service is performed, and (c) such individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business.
I believe that they are illegally misinterpreting part (b) of this section to take advantage of their employees.
This company also refused to offer copies of signed documents, and refused to put into writing their standard payment policies.
I would avoid this company at all costs. They will take what they can get and leave you with nothing.
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