Champion National Security Wages disputed w/ many employees, company's response is "Oh well". Richardson Texas
I was hired at Champion National Security in October 2008. They were offering $9.00/hr and paid training at $8.00/hr, which would last several days. I started work on October 21, and trained under the superviser until the 23rd. My first day at $9.00/hr should have been November 1st.
I received my first paycheck on November 7th and didn't question the pay because it included my training period.
After noticing the pay rate on a later statement I first spoke to my superviser, Capt. Grant. She informed me that I could call corporate but they would not pay me the back wages. Her exact words were " You can call them and talk to them but they aren't going to go back and pay you what they owe you. They'll start your pay increase on a future check." She seemed to me to be speaking from experience.
I then called Corporate Headquarters. I spoke with Mr. Carrillo on the 24th of November inquiring as to why I was not receiving $9.00/hr pay. He stated that he was not aware that my training period was over. I asked him if they would make the pay increase retroactive and he informed me that it's not their policy to go back and reimburse employees for back wages. He told me at that time that my next check would reflect the new pay increase.
I received two more paychecks and I was still being paid training wages. I called Corporate Headquarters on December 12th, this time speaking to Sam Williams and he informed me that I would need to speak to Mr. Carrillo about the pay dispute. Mr. Carrillo was out of the office but Mr. Williams offered to leave a message asking Mr. Carrillo to contact me in reference to the pay I was owed.
Mr. Carillo never contacted me so on December 19th I called him again. His response was "I'll look into it". Other employees in my office stated they were having the same problems with their pay.
I know of five other employees working for Champion National Security in the Waco area who are not being paid what they were promised. Many employees that I spoke with said that this is normal procedure and that the company will try to get away with not paying you for as long as they can.
I am currently owed wages for 122.5 hours of regular work and 12 hours of overtime pay. This may not seem like a lot of money but if they are keeping money from everyone who works for them, it adds up quickly.
Sparky
Waco, Texas
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Jim Carroll - CEO
Frisco,Texas,
Misunderstanding
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, April 02, 2013
I can understand the frustration that this employee must have gone through. As the CEO it is important that all of my employees are treated with dignity and fairness. While their were certainly some misunderstanding regarding this situation, the management staff should have used better discretion. We have thousands of employees and it is important that they are always treated with respect. As I remember, we started a short term campaign of starting officers and one rate and then giving them a raise after a 30 day probation period. We shortly terminated that program because it caused so much trouble. We have never had a program that trained at one rate and then started pay at another rate. I'm guessing that was the misunderstanding. Regardless if we want to keep the employee or not, a promise is a promise. If he was told $9.00 per hour, then he should have been given that raise. The ex-guard says that five other officers had the same problem. If that were the case, we would be out of business and be reported to the wage and hourly people for a lot of fines. This appears the be an isolated case, but it still needs to be handled. Should the employee that wrote this report want to contact me, I can handle this. We are a Christian based firm that tries to treat every employee right. Sometimes misunderstanding happen.
Joe
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
REPORT THIS TO THE PAYDAY LAW PEOPLE AT THE TEXAS WORKSOURCE!
#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, December 21, 2008
Texas has a LAW against employers cheating their employees.
Go to your local Texas Employment Commission which I think may be the Workforce Center now and contact the PAYDAY LAW people and tell them what you posted here. THEY WILL FREEZE THE ASSETS OF THESE CROOKS UNTIL THEY PAY YOU WHAT THEY OWE YOU!
THEY HAVE COMMITTED THEFT OF SERVICES! That's against the law in Texas and you can complain about that to your local District Attorney's office.
You also need to report these crooks to the Texas Department of Public Safety Bureau of Private Security in Austin,Texas! Tell them what they did to you. YOU ALSO NEED TO CALL THEM AND MAKE SURE THESE PEOPLE ARE EVEN LICENSED TO DO BUSINESS IN TEXAS. THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO DO THIS.
You also need to call SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION AND MAKE SURE THEY DID NOT KEEP THE SOCIAL SECURITY THAT THEY TOOK OUT OF YOUR CHECK.
I looked up the company on the board's website and I found out that it is based in Richardson,Texas and your general manager is named JAMES CARROLL . They are licensed to practice in Texas and they have a Class B or a guard service license.
Their address is:
1616 GATEWAY
RICHARDSON, TX 75080
I looked up a Michael Carrillo who works there but the Board data did not specify in which branch office he works and I looked up a KASSANDRA
GRANT who works there and she is listed as being a current employee.
While I was on the website, I looked for a SAM WILLIAMS that works for this company but I couldn't find anyone by that name listed. It DOES appear that there have been a LOT of people who have come and gone with that company, however.
That is not to say that they couldn't have hired someone and his registration hasn't come back yet.
OR it MIGHT have been someone giving a fake name.
If there is a Sam Williams in that office who is NOT licensed by DPS as a manager or as an administrator, you probably have another offense and that it that they are staffing their office with unlicensed personnel, another violation of Board rules and regulations.
I think you better contact the Criminal Investigation Service of IRS and tell them that they are claiming to pay $9 and hour but are only paying $8 an hour! That is a whole dollar difference and when you multiply it by the number of employees that they appear to have --we are talking a LOT OF MONEY HERE.
THIS IS WHAT AS KNOWN AS SKIMMING EMPLOYEE PAYCHECKS -- assuming that IS the case since all I know here is what I am reading.
I AM NOT ACCUSING THESE PEOPLE OF DOING THIS -- JUST SAYING THAT IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE and it is certainly NOT UNHEARD of in the Private Security Contracting business.
YOU BETTER START MAKING SOME PHONE CALLS,MY FRIEND AND TELL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS THAT THEY HAD BETTER START LOOKING FOR ANOTHER JOB!
It doesn't appear that the people you are working for are going to give you the money you earned without you reporting them!
GOOD LUCK!
I HOPE YOU LEARNED NEVER TO WORK FOR A PRIVATE SECURITY GUARD CONTRACTING SERVICE AGAIN!