Paychecks from a failed startup?

Payroll is one of the very few (only?) things that "pierces the corporate veil" - that is, the principals / board members are personally liable even in the event of corporate bankruptcy.

You could engage a labor lawyer, but if this was pre-series A and the founder was self-funding, there might not be any personal assets there either.

If you think the folding of the company is in good faith, you might just want to take the loss on this one.

Do I have any legal avenues to recoup these missed payments?

Absolutely. You can write the first 1-2 "demand letters" yourself (look up the term for easily findable guidance on how to do this). In particular you can remind them as to which legal codes apply in your state and what they say about default payment terms.

Be sure to put in a firm deadline ("within 15/30 days") - no need to include additional threats of what you'll do after that point. Just be clear about the deadline.

And in the meantime find yourself a lawyer to start firing off more formal-sounding letters (likely costing 250-400 a pop) + to provide guidance on what to do after that. You'l have to dip into your pocket a bit, but that's the cost of doing business.

It's really hard to "accidentally" not make payroll. This shouldn't be something that sneaks up on you. If you feel the founder deserves the benefit of the doubt, I would suggest reaching out to them first before doing anything else. But if that doesn't work it's really just a question of what you want out of the situation. You will probably never see the money regardless (lawyer/court costs, squeezing blood from a stone, etc) but it might be worth it to you to make the (very valid) point anyway.

This kind of thing is generally both country and state specific. It’s likely the relevant state regulator would have some info on this on their website.

Going through something similar now, all my bills and direct debits bounced today because I wasn't paid and my reminder message was ignored. I guess it's always a risk. I have no legal recourse because I didn't have a contract (was told it was going to be sent over to me, but never was, which seems intentional now come to think of it...).

If you have a contract, you might have some legal recourse you could pursue if it does turn out they're out of runway. But, if they're not making any effort to explain the situation to you, i.e., keeping you in the dark, then just get out of there. This is your livelihood at the end of the day, how you pay your bills. Don't accept it. Do what you can legally (depending on your contract) to recover what you can and move on asap.

I don't know other states, but in California, managers are personally liable for paying their employees. The penalties are steep. If the company doesn't pay you, anyone who knew that employees were working without the company's ability to pay them has committed a felony and either must pay back wages or will go to prison. You will get paid. I've had managers tell me the company was broke, and to go home right now, then quit themselves right there.

Things got a bit sketchy for me a couple of times with bounced checks and unpaid checks (due to confusion because everything was falling apart). I was eventually paid but there were probably some bounced check charges in one case. Mostly if everything seems in good faith, I'd probably try to collect and, if you're ghosted, probably chalk it up to not getting blood from a rock and move on. My guess is you'd put a lot of energy in and get nothing.

The name implies you are in the DC area, is that right? The lack of clarity on this makes it tough for anyone to really give pointed advice. Is this for severance? Did they fail to pay you before they laid you off? Did you talk to anyone at the company? What did they say? How long has it been? Is it possible it's a mistake? Has this happened to others that were laid off? Of course you have legal avenues, but more info is needed to give proper advice.

There's 2 things to consider: 1) Do you want to pursue legally -now- ? It will take time and money, if you are without a salary, balance the effort required versus prioritizing finding another job. You can always get a new job first, and only then explore if you can recoup the money

2) As lathiat said, the legal options are context dependent, factors are: where you live, where the company is registered and operating, etc.

Have you written a polite email to someone in HR and/or the founder asking for them as a step 1? It's very possible they are just disorganized.

If the startup has failed, it is highly unlikely that you would be able to get any $ from them. Even if you go after the founders personally, they likely don't have any cash and it will be a waste of time. If the company is still operating and has cash in the bank, 1000% you should go after them -- payroll is the first thing on the preference stack that gets paid when shutting down.

Any chance you were in an employee leasing/Professional Employer Organization arrangment? Trinet, Justwork, ADP TotalSource, etc.

If so, that organization may be responsible to meet payroll even if your worksite employer doesn't provide them the funds. Worth checking into that, too.

Do you have any of the investors emails? Email the founder, CC the investors, quoting your various state labor laws. Founders love it when employees go around them and talk to their investors directly. /s

Once I had a bastard trying to get away with my salary after quitting the company. Contact a lawyer, this is super easy to win.