I once had a situation like this (promised shares in writing which were then cancelled when I left) drag on for a year of me being polite via email until I sent a final one saying I will now be talking to Fair Work Australia as well as getting legal representation. I was shocked that they then suddenly organised a cash payment (equal to what the market value of the shares would have been) and transferred to me in a couple of weeks. ….. In my case I didn’t even get around to contacting Fair Work or a solicitor ….
@adviceplease I was in a similar situation. Went 5 months without pay then found another job. I'd given up hope of recovering the money from the startup, but my new boss was insistent that I deserved it.
I ended up writing an email filled with carefully chosen words that are typically the precursor of a lawsuit. Talked about how their awful handling of the situation and continuous broken promises was severely impacting my mental health etc. They could smell a lawsuit (I never actually intended to sue) and paid me that week.
Lay it on really thick. Good luck!
Letter of demand is enough. Make it formal, put a date on it, include records of the texts. They'll very likely pay. If not, just go to fair work, ask them what to do. They'll probably send a notice and he pays.
@adviceplease For 8k it would definitely be worth having a solicitor that specialises in workplace law to write a letter my wife did this years ago with a really bad employer and we got everything in the letter except for an apology in writing. At the time it was a lot of money to us probably 3 or 4 days worth of wages, but I’m really glad we did it. If it had happened now, 18 years later I would have taken them for defamation too. But on reflection we don’t mess the money we spent on a solicitor
