Earned pay and promised pay
Not every unpaid amount is treated the same way. Wages and earned commissions are generally protected by New York's wage laws, which can add remedies for late or missing pay. Bonuses are more complicated: one tied to your own production under a set formula may be treated differently from one that depends on company results or management's discretion, which is often a contract question rather than a wage claim. Deferred compensation, equity, and severance usually depend on the documents that created them, and those documents may set their own dispute procedures. Identifying which kind of pay is at issue is often the first step.
The documents behind the number
Gather the offer letter, commission or bonus plans for each year, amendments, emails about targets, and statements showing how prior payments were calculated. In New York, commissioned salespeople are generally entitled to a written commission agreement, and its terms often control what happens to commissions on deals that close after you leave. Look for clauses on chargebacks, caps, and forfeiture on resignation. If the plan lets the company change terms during the year, check which version was in force when the work was done. Keep your own copies of messages and records that belong to you, and ask before copying company files.
Resolving it without losing ground
Many compensation disputes start with a written request that sets out the calculation and asks for an explanation. If you are still employed, retaliation for raising a pay complaint is prohibited, though the working relationship still matters in practice. If you are leaving, a separation agreement may offer payment in exchange for a release, and its terms deserve a close read. Some plans and offer letters also require an internal review step or arbitration before anything else. In a first meeting we look at the pay documents, estimate the amount at stake, and discuss whether negotiation, a wage claim, a contract claim, or arbitration under the plan fits the situation.
