Company promises to pay Roanoke employees who helped register voters

According to its website, the company known as both Progressive Future and Work for Progress promises to deliver change.  Now it’s also promising to deliver paychecks.

“We mailed them their checks on Monday,“ Brad Martin, a company representative, said.

We first spoke with Amber Phelps and two other employees Monday.  Tuesday, Phelps said she still had not received her check, nor had she heard from the company.

“Checks are something I depend on.  I’m a college student.  Finding jobs especially now isn’t easy,“ Phelps said.

Since Monday, we have talked to two more employees who are also waiting for their money.  An investigator at the Roanoke City Police Department says he has heard of at least 20 people who are waiting for their paychecks.

The company tells 10 On Your Side the employees had a chance to pick up their money Friday.  “As a matter of fact, their checks were available to them in our Roanoke Office on Friday from 8am to 8pm,“ Martin said.  “In total over 40 staff came in and picked up their checks and 19 did not.  For those folks, we mailed them their checks on Monday.“

But Phelps and others tell us they stopped by Friday, and the checks were not there.

“I went in twice.  The first time the checks weren’t ready, and they said they’d be ready around 12pm, and when I came back around 1pm, they said they still didn’t have it,“ Phelps said.

Phelps says she also went back to the office Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

10 On Your Side spoke with the man who manages the building the company has been working out of.  He says the company paid in full through November 15th, but last week he says was the last time he saw anyone go in or come out of the office.

The company says they have not left town, and they will be back in the building Thursday.

“We have high standards in how we operate in making sure we deal with people in a straight-up fashion,” Martin said.  “We actually notified all of our staff.  Actually I think we were quite responsible.“

Bottom line, the company says the employees will be paid, and the employees say next time, they will be more careful.

The company tells 10 On Your Side its not affiliated with the Senator Barack Obama campaign, but when you go to its website, it promotes Obama.  According to the company, all voter registration forms have been turned into the local registrar.

10 On Your Side plans to be at the Roanoke office Thursday when it reopens.  We will also continue to check whether the employees received their paychecks.