HR Pros

[Don]

Quick question for anyone with employment law/HR knowledge.

So I recently noticed that my last several paychecks have all been for the same exact amount (for the last two months). I thought that was odd since I’m an hourly employee, and the number of hours I work in a pay period tends to have a little variance (usually between 80 and 85 per two weeks). I email HR/Payroll about it, they ask me to give them a call, so I do. They proceed to tell me I’m a salaried employee and the number of hours I work in a pay period doesn’t matter. I explain that I’m in fact a non-exempt hourly employee, I agreed to accepting my current position in the capacity of a non-exempt hourly employee, and I’ve never received any notification that my status was changing, nor have I signed any acknowledgement of such a change.

HR’s response (again, over the phone) was basically “tough shit man”. They contended that my position never should have been hourly to begin with, and that any change to that is simply a correction of a prior mistake. I re-iterated that I had negotiated my current pay at an hourly rate (I’ve had the same job title since December 2021), I had been receiving pay for overtime hours worked as recently as March of this year, and I (once again) had never been notified of any change to that arrangement. After the call I emailed them pay stubs showing overtime pay from this year, and a screenshot of our time tracking system which STILL classifies me as a non-exempt hourly employee. 
 

So my question for anyone with experience in these matters is whether or not I have any sort of recourse if they come back and say “tough shit” again? I’d think the lack of notice on their part/no signed acknowledgement of a change on my part would expose them to some sort of liability, but what do I know? Anyhow, if they’re not willing to correct the situation, what should my next steps be? 

[WicketMaiden]

First step is get everything in writing. So in your position I would email HR (copy in your manager) to recap your conversations to date over the phone, and then ask them confirm in writing what they have said. For example: "You advised that contract was given in error. Who is liable for that mistake?" "Can you confirm no other employees have this contract?". That sort of thing.

As a general rule of thumb over here, if HR is doing everything over the phone and not in writing, there is something amiss.

Good luck with it.

[Blarg]

If you have a written contract stating your position, wage and conditions of employment say you are hourly then you can sue for back pay plus interest. Company policy can't override written contracts. 

[St1ck]

You should burn the building down. 

[Blarg]

But first make sure you get your red stapler back.

[Tank]

you know who you should call?

[wopphil]

On 5/30/2023 at 11:52 PM, Don said:

Quick question for anyone with employment law/HR knowledge.

So I recently noticed that my last several paychecks have all been for the same exact amount (for the last two months). I thought that was odd since I’m an hourly employee, and the number of hours I work in a pay period tends to have a little variance (usually between 80 and 85 per two weeks). I email HR/Payroll about it, they ask me to give them a call, so I do. They proceed to tell me I’m a salaried employee and the number of hours I work in a pay period doesn’t matter. I explain that I’m in fact a non-exempt hourly employee, I agreed to accepting my current position in the capacity of a non-exempt hourly employee, and I’ve never received any notification that my status was changing, nor have I signed any acknowledgement of such a change.

HR’s response (again, over the phone) was basically “tough shit man”. They contended that my position never should have been hourly to begin with, and that any change to that is simply a correction of a prior mistake. I re-iterated that I had negotiated my current pay at an hourly rate (I’ve had the same job title since December 2021), I had been receiving pay for overtime hours worked as recently as March of this year, and I (once again) had never been notified of any change to that arrangement. After the call I emailed them pay stubs showing overtime pay from this year, and a screenshot of our time tracking system which STILL classifies me as a non-exempt hourly employee. 
 

So my question for anyone with experience in these matters is whether or not I have any sort of recourse if they come back and say “tough shit” again? I’d think the lack of notice on their part/no signed acknowledgement of a change on my part would expose them to some sort of liability, but what do I know? Anyhow, if they’re not willing to correct the situation, what should my next steps be? 

What state are you in? My take on your situation is as follows: your employer can unilaterally elect to exempt you, unless you have a contract that says otherwise (which is never the case). They can also reduce your wage, so long as they still pay you minimum wage (or in the case of being exempted, double the minimum wage multiplied by 2,080 paid on a salary basis).

But they shouldn’t do either without giving you some advance notice, especially if the re-classification results in you being paid less than what you would have been paid if paid on an hourly basis. 

I don’t think there is much you can do. If you were paid less because of the reclassification, ask them to pay you the difference for the time period from which you began being classified as exempt through the time period in which you were working when you discovered the reclassification. If they don’t pay it to you and you quit or get fired, and you reside in California, you might have a decent claim for the difference plus waiting penalties. 

[Don]

The drama has continued to be sure. I followed @WicketMaiden’s advice, which immediately led to them paying all of my past due OT. From there they reduced my salary to what I made hourly x40 hours per week, which still represented a loss to me, so I complained some more. They eventually found that I should have had an annual review in October of last year (I didn’t), so they did it now. Got a 7% raise in base salary, which still leaves me making less in 2023 than I did in 2022. Quite bluntly told them that my number one priority now is finding another job.

After all that, my direct real work superior got our VP involved, and we had a nice conversation two weeks ago. Our company has grown a lot in recent years, and I’m one of the longest-tenured employees, so the VP and I know eachother a bit. Explained my situation to him, and he seemed receptive, but tentative.

It’s a bit shocking to me that they’re still fighting me over roughly 8k a year, when I’m in a position where my judgment calls regularly save them five or six figures in a given week. Like if I leave they’re nearly certain to make a few hundred k in “mistakes” because nobody is there to make sure that the plans that happen in the field on the fly make sense in the larger scope of things. Kind of a cutting off their nose to spite their face situation.

[WicketMaiden]

3 hours ago, Don said:

The drama has continued to be sure. I followed @WicketMaiden’s advice, which immediately led to them paying all of my past due OT. From there they reduced my salary to what I made hourly x40 hours per week, which still represented a loss to me, so I complained some more. They eventually found that I should have had an annual review in October of last year (I didn’t), so they did it now. Got a 7% raise in base salary, which still leaves me making less in 2023 than I did in 2022. Quite bluntly told them that my number one priority now is finding another job.

After all that, my direct real work superior got our VP involved, and we had a nice conversation two weeks ago. Our company has grown a lot in recent years, and I’m one of the longest-tenured employees, so the VP and I know eachother a bit. Explained my situation to him, and he seemed receptive, but tentative.

It’s a bit shocking to me that they’re still fighting me over roughly 8k a year, when I’m in a position where my judgment calls regularly save them five or six figures in a given week. Like if I leave they’re nearly certain to make a few hundred k in “mistakes” because nobody is there to make sure that the plans that happen in the field on the fly make sense in the larger scope of things. Kind of a cutting off their nose to spite their face situation.

I'm glad you got your owed earnings back @Don, shame they're still trying to penny-pinch but that's the corporate world these days. It's just business, if they won't pay your true value, find someone that will. I have occasionally regretted joining a particular company, but I have never regretted leaving one. Once I feel that a certain level of trust or fairness has been breached, I'm out of there.

[AngelsLakersFan]

21 hours ago, Don said:

The drama has continued to be sure. I followed @WicketMaiden’s advice, which immediately led to them paying all of my past due OT. From there they reduced my salary to what I made hourly x40 hours per week, which still represented a loss to me, so I complained some more. They eventually found that I should have had an annual review in October of last year (I didn’t), so they did it now. Got a 7% raise in base salary, which still leaves me making less in 2023 than I did in 2022. Quite bluntly told them that my number one priority now is finding another job.

After all that, my direct real work superior got our VP involved, and we had a nice conversation two weeks ago. Our company has grown a lot in recent years, and I’m one of the longest-tenured employees, so the VP and I know eachother a bit. Explained my situation to him, and he seemed receptive, but tentative.

It’s a bit shocking to me that they’re still fighting me over roughly 8k a year, when I’m in a position where my judgment calls regularly save them five or six figures in a given week. Like if I leave they’re nearly certain to make a few hundred k in “mistakes” because nobody is there to make sure that the plans that happen in the field on the fly make sense in the larger scope of things. Kind of a cutting off their nose to spite their face situation.

They probably don’t even think about those savings. It’s just ‘part of the job.’ 

[Don]

So, a several months later update… Threw myself back into the job market in my field while I maintained my position. I was very transparent with management at my company about the fact that I was actively looking and they had limited time to act. Got a number of offers while looking that were all significantly higher than what I was making, but chose to hold out for a bit more (it’s a wild time in my industry and there’s some real opportunity out there). Finally got an offer for about 75% more than I was making (and that’s before bonuses). Took that back to my management team, and to their credit they all went to bat for me with HR. Exactly zero of them (or me) ever got a response from the people that could actually make anything happen. So yeah, I ended up in a new role with a ton more control and decision making latitude at nearly double the pay and with much more opportunity for advancement. Can’t complain about that.

[Blarg]

That is awesome Don. Congrats on your pay increase and independence. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Sometimes things happen for a reason. Sometimes we also need a nudge to explore what is out there.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Great to read Don!

[Tank]

good story, don. congrats on getting what you wanted.

 

i told my principal this morning that i'm going to retire in june. i have a lot of paperwork in front of me. 

i'm sitting here with study hall kids reminding them to be quiet and stay on task, and i'm not regretting a moment of this decision.