Starting a new job can be exciting, but some employers are deceptive and shady, which can ruin the experience.

What would you do if your new job came with a promised 10% commission rate on sales, but when the payout arrived, you only got 1%?

That is what happened to the employee in this story, so he gathered up all the documentation, quit the job, and filed for unemployment. Because it was shown that the company was deceptive, he got approved for unemployment and cost the company a lot of money.

This is a great example of why it is so important to document everything at work. Read through the full story below to see exactly what happened.

My employer misled me about my pay and now they’ll owe more than if they’d paid me fairly.

I had left my job of several years for an opportunity several months ago that had a low base salary, but came with a good gross profit commission percentage after hitting a quota each month.

Commission jobs can be great, but they can also be very stressful.

Just a couple of months in, I found myself overworking and stressed. I was on my own with a high volume client and was expected to be available around the clock working nights and weekends to achieve success.

I was miserable, but figured the money would at least make up the difference.

This company seems very shady.

When my commission was finally paid out a couple months after hitting the numbers, I was shocked. It was quite literally a small fraction of what was explained and expected in my offer letter, 1% compared to 10%.

I went to HR to get clarity and they couldn’t provide me any explanation for the disparity and referred me to my direct manager.

The turnover rate at this company must be very high.

When I asked him about the severe difference, he gaslit me and stated that this was explained to me previously when we both knew it wasn’t. I had asked him several times in the weeks before my check how much I would be estimated to receive, and he had told me he didn’t have it calculated.

Note that my base pay was very low and the commission was expected to compensate the difference, and here I was making an unlivable wage with a measly 1% that was too low for my title and responsibilities.

His manager is not to be trusted.

After seeing my check, I immediately asked my manager for a breakdown of the commission minus the costs and he could only provide me with his own bootleg Excel spreadsheet, hours after I requested it.

On the spreadsheet, I noticed unrelated costs such as his business taxes as he was the owner of the branch (before my own taxes were even applied) he’d also deducted the salaries of offshore employees that were hired long before I joined the company that didn’t even work with me.

Good, this guy is getting all the documentation together.

I was extremely upset. I tried talking to him about it further, and he pushed back and got angry and told me to drop it.

So, I got my ducks in a row and collected all the documentation that showed that I was never provided any actual breakdown that I’d be paid net commission instead of gross. This included my emails with HR, my offer letter, the monthly sales I generated, and conversations with my manager.

Even the unemployment office recognizes that the business was deceptive.

Shortly after gathering this info, I put in my two weeks and quit. It was risky, but I filed for unemployment. Typically they approve unemployment if you were fired or let go, but in smaller instances if you have a just cause to quit with evidence, they’ll approve.

I am happy to say that they ruled in my favor after a hearing, and I received the back pay for the three months I’ve been unemployed.

The company would have been better off just paying what they promised.

This pay out inevitably resulted in more money my employer will have to pay than if they had just paid me what was originally warranted while employed for the short period of time.

The paperwork states the employer cannot appeal and that is that. This has been a lot of stress and worry and I honestly lacked faith that they would actually process the claim because I left, but I was very meticulous and showed all of the documentation.

He was in a difficult situation, but ended up doing well.

This discrepancy with my employer wasn’t worth it to chase in court because I was remote with the company being located halfway across the country for what would have been a few thousand dollars that’d quickly be eaten by attorney costs.

So, it is small, but nonetheless a victory against the intentional concealment of their actual pay for making them a huge amount of money. I was able to take a break from working overtime and I’ve been fortunate enough to be offered a job to start next month.

Having proper documentation in place will always help you to get what you are entitled to.

Read through the top comments below to see what other people think of it.

Here is someone in a similar situation.

The employer knows what they are doing is wrong, but it makes them a lot of money.

This commenter is providing excellent advice.

Keeping proper documentation is always a good idea.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a teenager who wants to work, but his mom thinks working past 8pm is too late for high school.

Sadly, this is something most people don’t understand.

Sadly, this type of deceptive employer makes a lot of money off of these types of lies. He should still sue them for the pay that he is entitled to.

Even if they just write up a legal letter and file it, they have a good chance of getting the money they are owed. They don’t even need an attorney or to be in the same area as the employer.