Hey, They are Stealing my Commissions!

You’re looking at it the right way. If you have earned a commission and someone takes it from you, it’s the same as stealing your wallet. I used a keyword in the last sentence, though. The law imposes a stiff price on employers who steal earned commissions, but it often requires contract interpretation, i.e. analyzing the fine print of a commission agreements, and predicting how any ambiguities in contract terms will be resolved by a court, to understand when a commission is earned. If commissions have been earned, then the right to the money vests that price –the Massachusetts Wage Act, which makes commissions recoverable as a wage and applies the employee-friendly treble damage and fee shifting provisions for commissions just like any wage–nothing stops an employer from The key issue is when a commission is earned and when Thanks to the Massachusetts legislature