50 Below owes state $1.6 million
May 3, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
One of Duluth’s largest technology employers is again facing liens for unpaid tax bills.
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50 Below owes state $1.6 million
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It is news because they hire away staff from other local companies with promises of higher pay. It is easier to pay more when you don’t pay the payroll tax. Companies that abide by the law face a disadvantage. That written, tax laws should be much simpler. It takes valuable resources to fill out all the state and local paperwork. Makes all business much less efficient and means less, not more, job in Minnesota.
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It’s news because it’s been going on for 13 years and has affected hundreds of employees and their families. It’s a case study in arrogant mismanagement of a company. They rake in millions of dollars each year from misinformed customers while their employees either go without paychecks or have them bounce after depositing them. They were also busted for spending employee retirement and health insurance premium withholdings on other business. They refuse to hire an accountant or a CFO to manage their cash flow. They don’t want anyone to see their books.
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It seems like there are those that will overlook any and all shady businesses simply because they are local. Stop apologizing for a company that routinely treats its employees like dirt because they expect to be paid. Why shouldn’t the paper publicize what 50 Below fires its employees to cover up?
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Blog by former and current employees of 50 Below:
http://www.perfectduluthday.com/2011/11/25/50-below-duluth-advice/
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Why does this company not have a CFO or even an accountant???
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I used to work in a manual labor job that the hours were long, the pay was low and you could never do a good enough job for your boss, I got hurt in an on the job car accident and they forced me back to work 3 days after the accident with extreme back pain. Soon they made up reasons to fire me. I tried to find other work, hopefully in an office or computer repair but no one would give me a shot. Even at irresistible ink I was shown the door after a week. I had no job experience for what I was looking for and no one was interested. Years later, I have tons of office and database experience and have become a valuable employee. Without 50Below, I would probably still have a job as a stockperson in a grocery store.
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Very convincing story. Long hours, low pay, bad boss, hurt on the job, forced back, made up reasons to fire me, no one would give me a shot………….
The only thing you forgot is that they kicked your dog and ran off with your wife. That would have made it even better.
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Really….next time you are at a grocery store and see a guy with a Coke shirt putting pop on the shelves ask him how much he loves his job. Try working your tail off for up to 16 hour days and work there for 5 years and have your pay go from $7.25/hr to $10.50/hr. Go to a yearly review and they give you a wonderful 20 cents an hour raise. I was unemployed for almost 4 months and had like 2 interviews….even though I was putting out dozens of resumes and filling out a bunch of applications. C’mon a wife and a dog…I was broke, I couldn’t afford pets and buying someone dinner…
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There is no doubt that 50 Below is a “good” job when your alternative is “no” job.
But that does not excuse them from shady business practices that can be easily remedied by budgeting properly and not selling a product that is unfinished.
Large financial institutions are never late on their payments, yet that was always the excuse. “Can we hold over your check for a week or so? *Fortune 500 Banking corporation* is late on their payment.”
The employees should not bear the burden of poor financial planning. They are using you as means of securing INTEREST FREE LOANS until they can come up with the capital to pay you.
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Nice post Hogge. I thought you wouldn’t speak on the record?
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I hear the company is going to change it’s name to: “1.6 million below”…
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Yearly raises don’t exist at 50 Below- those are “on hold,” but you can be “added to a list” if and when raises happen. Unless of course you’re a manager. Then you receive raises regularly, and lie to your subordinates when asked.
Coca Cola probably doesn’t steal from the 401k of their employees…to the point that 401ks don’t exist. (this happened at 50 below.)
Please, keep apologizing.
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I built up a 401k of about $2,200 at Coke…then the recession hit…and got down to about $1,500. I think its worth about $2,000 now. Doubt it will ever amount to much of anything. I think I would have been better off just paying off bills that incurred interest than putting that bit away.
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I agree with you. That’s the thing about you and I Matty, we can see the big picture. 50 Below did their employees a favor by stealing their retirement funds so they didn’t have to watch them decrease during the recession. I can’t believe how ungrateful some people can be.
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They did their employees a favor by stealing from them?!? If you had your money stolen by your boss, would you consider it “a favor”?
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Sarcasm: A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.
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BadCat was being sarcastic.
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Actually, I totally missed the sarcasm.
There are some real “special” commenters on here, so I figured you might be one. My bad! 
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The fact that this is one of Duluth’s largest technology employers really speaks volumes about the state of the city. Those people who think the DNT “really has it out for those guys” are clueless about track record of this company. I am a technology professional who knows enough other unfortunate people who did work for -50 that I would never even consider them. The fact that technology professionals have extremely limited alternatives to working for this company basically means there are no alternatives. In Duluth, you can either put up with this sh!t or get a job waiting tables and cleaning hotel rooms.
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Well said! We need to get alternative tech jobs in this city so tech employees won’t be so desperate they need to work for a company that won’t pay them.
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DAVE HOGGE FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honesty, Compassion, Trust and Fiscal Responsibility.
Vote Hogge, the name you can trust!
We love you HOOOOOOGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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