Unpaid Commission for Months [GA]
I work in leadership at a small family owned business and fell into a sales role. It was only supposed to be temporary, but I realized I was good at sales and it stuck. I was earning commission on top of a very large salary until about a year ago when the owners had to cut my base significantly due to a change in our business structure. All was good as I was still making an incredible salary with my new commission.
Unfortunately, the owners have stopped regularly paying my commission. We’re paid monthly and the last time I received any commission was in October, and it was only about 20% of what was on my commission report. I follow up periodically, but never get an answer. We have a long sales cycle, which means I might get a signed contract in January for something not executed until August, at which point I should receive the commission by September once the client pays. We’re a seasonal business and I’m currently owed about $60k in unpaid commission from 2025. If this isn’t paid out in the next month or so, that number will go up to easily over $100k as more contracts are paid. I know they’re not paying it because budgets are tight right now and the company has other bills to pay.
What should I do? It’s my understanding that companies don’t need to pay commission after you quit, so I’m not sure what recourse I have. Is this wage theft? I don’t know how to confront the owners without it blowing up.
I love this job and the people, but I feel used.