Why would they give him 1/4th the salary? Could he sign away his right to demand the full salary, or would any such agreement be unenforceable if he decided to come after them later?
I'd support the legal system allowing him to sign an agreement accepting a lower amount and making that final, but I wonder if it works like the minimum wage, where workers can't sign away their right to be paid at least the minimum wage.
(IANAL, but my business law professor was...) Contract law says that if you say you'll take X paid "shortly" instead of the full amount Y in a situation like the OP describes, it does not prohibit you from collecting the remaining amount later. Even if you sign a contract that agrees to settle the debt, that contract isn't valid because the employer is not providing any consideration in that instance.
Having said that, I was in a similar situation and basically just gave up ever seeing the money for the same reasons others have already given.
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Why would they give him 1/4th the salary? Could he sign away his right to demand the full salary, or would any such agreement be unenforceable if he decided to come after them later?
I'd support the legal system allowing him to sign an agreement accepting a lower amount and making that final, but I wonder if it works like the minimum wage, where workers can't sign away their right to be paid at least the minimum wage.
(IANAL, but my business law professor was...) Contract law says that if you say you'll take X paid "shortly" instead of the full amount Y in a situation like the OP describes, it does not prohibit you from collecting the remaining amount later. Even if you sign a contract that agrees to settle the debt, that contract isn't valid because the employer is not providing any consideration in that instance.
Having said that, I was in a similar situation and basically just gave up ever seeing the money for the same reasons others have already given.