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Can an Employee be Required to Work When Others are Given Vacation Time

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  • 11-14-2017, 10:09 AM
    Needlegaladvice77
    Can an Employee be Required to Work When Others are Given Vacation Time
    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: California

    I work as an Executive Assistant. We have roughly 80 to 100 employees and about 14 Executive Assistants, we are all salaried employees. The entire office is salaried. During the Christmas holiday, the days between Tuesday, 12/26 to Friday, 12/29 the office is “unofficially” closed. The majority of the office is allowed to “work” from home (no one is working) during that week, with the exception of the EAs. Because they want someone to cover reception in case someone calls. They want two EAs per day to come into the empty office.

    I worked last year, one shift, and no one called. It was a complete waste of time and I had to commute an hour to do nothing. I know that in the past they hired a temp to cover reception so the entire staff could enjoy the week off. But the old VP retired and a new one was hired. Unsure if this has anything to do with that b/c it was before my time at the company. They asked the EAs to volunteer but if no one volunteers they will pick and choose and assign the days to the EAs of their choosing, so as long as they aren’t taking an official vacation and using their vacation time.

    If you don’t come in this particular week when the rest of the staff is allowed to be out of the office on the company’s dime and they are not using their vacation time, then they deducted vacation from the EAs who choose not the work a shift (they deduct the entire four days). We do not have an HR department! This sounds incredibly discriminatory and biased and unfair but are any labor/employment law being broken?
  • 11-14-2017, 10:17 AM
    PayrolGuy
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    It does discriminate against EAs but being an EA isn't a protected class hence that isn't illegal discrimination. While California does have some laws that protects vacation time that other states don't, employers are still allowed to decide rules on how vacation is earned. There is nothing stopping them from requiring employees (even a certain subset of them) to work certain days in order to earn vacation.
  • 11-14-2017, 10:19 AM
    jk
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    As long as all employees are paid properly an employer can pick an employee of their choosing to work while others are allowe to work from home.

    Unfair is in the eye of the beholder but bottom line; if an employee doesn’t like how they are treated they can always accept work elsewhere.

    By chance has anybody considered researching the possibility of call forwarding? That would allow a receptionist to work remotely as well.
  • 11-14-2017, 11:04 AM
    hr for me
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    Discriminatory, but not illegal.

    EAs have different job duties than "everyone else". Either take scheduled vacation time or work a shift during that time period. The fact that people in other positions do not have to do so is not a factor.

    I suspect there are things the EAs get that the housekeeping staff doesn't.....


    at most you could ask if you could get another day off compensated outside your PTO/vacation bank. But they have every right to say no, and it is still legal.
  • 11-14-2017, 11:39 AM
    cbg
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    are any labor/employment law being broken?

    No. Not based on what you have posted.
  • 11-14-2017, 05:25 PM
    curiousandskeptical
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    I see a potential issue here of misclassification, and that would be pushing it. She says she is salaried and that "everyone" is salaried. Research Exempt v. Non Exempt and come back and tell us what you think are you. I have never heard of a Executive Assistant being expected to do reception work but it's nice to not be beneath anything. Anyway.... This sounds like the Executive Assistant title that you have is just in name only, so how would you describe your responsibility and role in the company.
  • 11-14-2017, 05:30 PM
    cbg
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    And even if she was misclassified, which is a long shot at best, it would not change the fact that no labor or employment laws were being broken and that nothing she had written described any form of illegal discrimination.
  • 11-14-2017, 06:00 PM
    curiousandskeptical
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    I acknowledged that it would be pushing it.
  • 11-14-2017, 06:17 PM
    cbg
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    My point is that even if true, it does not make what her employer is doing illegal.
  • 11-14-2017, 06:23 PM
    curiousandskeptical
    Re: Is the Company I知 Working for Discriminating Against Certain Group of Employees
    If they have no HR, and All employees are salaried, I'm pretty sure that they have no idea what the difference is between Exempt and Non Exempt. something is off about that company or this post is missing vital info.
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