I was hired to perform demonstrations at the hourly rate of 18.00. During my tenure I was continually paid this hourly rate for both training and actual in store demonstration work for the first 1.5 years. At some point the company began reducing my training rate to 9.00 however with neither my knowledge or permission. This went unnoticed by me because of the electronic directly deposited payments. In April of 2007 the company baited me with a new program calling it the "Elite" program where I was induced into accepting and promised (verbally) a two dollar an hour increase in pay. I was also told I would be paid for my setup time, lunches in the field, reimbursement of my car usage, mileage and time behind the wheel. Everything regarding this program was done rush rush do to the promises upper management made with the Kensington Corp manufacturers of computer peripherals. During my training (In Chicago) it was noted to me that we would be paid for one hour in store to train the sales personal about the Kensington products this included the set up and training time. Which was absurd request because our training at the Kensington location which was attended by motivated individuals took 4 plus hours. So now we were going to be asked to go into a cold environment, obtain store employees, set up our computers, overhead projectors and perform a 4 hour training session in one hour !! Needless to say this one hour pay frame was ridiculous and not at all doable and to give the Kensington corp their just due in most cases I spent upwards of three hours. I insisted on being paid for my time and documented my in and out time with the store managers signatures. Additionally I later learned that while I was driving my vehicle was being paid 9.00 an hour and 12 cents a mile at a time when gas prices were 4.25 for discounted regular. I made my objections known to the company and when I was told I could write off the difference between what they were paying me 12 cents per mile and the IRS deduction of 52.5. The thought crossed my mind that I cannot pay my electrical bill with write offs !! So I dismissed myself from the program after completing 2 of the 5 locations I was assigned. Action Link paid me in dribs and drabs and it was not until I was preparing my facts for possible litigation that I noticed the hourly pay discrepancy in my wages for training. After much arguing I was reimbursed none of the reduced training pay and shorted some of the actual mileage and hours I billed them for. I have no clear argument as to what I was paid for or not because Action Link does not offer a concise description of what constitutes the pay on the wage statement. Even after admitting to me that I was owed additional wages by the HR person I still never received payment. This argument has been transacting over 18 months. This is a company I would caution anyone from getting involved with. Feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions you may have regarding the legitimacy of my grievances.