INDIANAPOLIS — More than a dozen workers at an east side Indianapolis Rally's say their boss left them in the lurch without a paycheck.
RTV6 met Drew at a Second Helpings, in a moment of desperation.
"I'm up here getting food from the pantry," Drew said. "Our lights got turned out. Our rent is due on the first. If I'm not getting paid I'm not gonna have anywhere to live.'
Drew had been working at the Rally's on North Shadeland Avenue, before learning it shut down March 14. He was supposed to get paid Monday but never received a check.
"For the past about week and a half they've been telling us we were not going to get paid," Drew said. "I don't know what's going on at the work or whatever, the payroll was messed up. But we been working so we should be paid for it."
His partner, who also works at the restaurant as a manager, said "I have like 15 members of our store that's not getting paid. Everybody is out a few hundred dollars." The manager asked not to be named.
A Rally's spokesperson told RTV6 that the owner of this location had closed all seven of his Rally's franchised restaurants in Indianapolis. This happened, according to the spokesperson, because the owner was out of compliance with their franchise agreements.
But that doesn't explain the unpaid wages. RTV6 reached out to the owner, Jay Pandya, but were told no comment.
It's illegal for your boss not to pay you for your work. If it happens to you, you can fill out a wage claim form with the Indiana Department of Labor.
Be sure to include the gross amount of your claim, how long you've worked there and the dates and hours you've accomplished.
For Drew, it's a significant setback as he tries to turn his life around.
"I just got out of prison three months ago. I've been in prison since I was 16 and I'm now 27. It's the first job I've had," Drew said. "I'm taking care of my family. I'm not out here, robbing nobody or stealing or nothing, I'm not doing wrong. And try to do right. And now I'm pretty much getting stuck too."
When you file a wage dispute with the department of labor, that does not guarantee you'll get paid. Most claims get processed in less than 90 days.
