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  1. #1

    Default Position Eliminated, Now a Different Department is Doing My Old Job for Less Pay

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: MO

    My wife works for a well known company; and for all tense and purposes I shall not name said company. In this company she works for a department that is the highest paid department. In her employment there was an opportunity to work in a 3rd shift position in this department. After some time she was told, "The position for this department is being eliminated, and you have 2 options: 1) Stay on 3rd shift but in a different department and lose .50 cents an hour. or 2) Go back to the same department during the day time with not so great hours that conflicts with family life and lose 1.00 an hour.

    Looking at her options she opts to stay on overnights and not lose as much pay. She accepts the fact that the "position" has ended and ready to move on in her new department.

    The problem is that management keeps pulling her back over to this other department to continue to have her do the SAME job she was doing for NOW less pay.

    We are furious and looking at legal recourse. In anyone's opinion, do we have such recourse?

    And if I've not given enough information about the situation please ask. My wife called me tonight and was in tears looking at her paycheck on line and seeing that for the last 2 weeks, they have changed her pay to the "new" rate and yet for the last 2 weeks still doing the same job for the majority of the time.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    9,096

    Default Re: Position Eliminated-Different Department Doing Old Job with Less Pay

    There is really nothing to be done.

    While no business likes to decrease pay, it is not illegal as long as notification was given in advance. They could have had her doing the same job and cut her pay in half as long as said notification was given.

    This, of course, assumes that there is no collective bargaining agreement in place.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Position Eliminated-Different Department Doing Old Job with Less Pay

    And in some states, advance notice is not even required.

    It is quite legal for an employee to be required to do two (or more) different jobs with a different rate of pay for each of them.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    9,096

    Default Re: Position Eliminated-Different Department Doing Old Job with Less Pay

    Quote Quoting cbg
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    And in some states, advance notice is not even required.

    It is quite legal for an employee to be required to do two (or more) different jobs with a different rate of pay for each of them.
    You are certainly the expert, but I was under the impression that you could not change the hourly rate after the hours were worked. Therefore, the alternative is to change the hours before the hours are worked.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    2,357

    Default Re: Position Eliminated-Different Department Doing Old Job with Less Pay

    Some states have no labor laws concerning notice at all. However, in those cases, "implied contract" normally applies.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Position Eliminated-Different Department Doing Old Job with Less Pay

    Jeff, that's state specific. Some states specifically prohibit it; some states imply a prohibition; a very few states don't address it. It's safest to assume there is a prohibition, but to be strictly accurate, depending on state law it *might* be legal.

    Poster, frankly, yes, I would. You're talking about "appropriate" pay and "correct pay" as if that means something. It doesn't. Eliminating a department or a job does not mean that the duties no longer need doing. If they want to pay different rates of pay for different jobs there is nothing in employment law that says they can't. As long as she is being paid minimum wage or more, she is being paid legally. Are jobs so plentiful in your neck of the woods that she wants to throw this one away because they've changed the rate of pay?

  7. #7

    Default Re: Position Eliminated-Different Department Doing Old Job with Less Pay

    That is interesting. When the position was eliminated they told her new job was going to be in a different department. But since the other department has no position to do the work any longer, they pull her over to do this job. Her options were to be sent to a different department for less pay, not to do the same job for less pay she would never agree to those terms. I appreciate your response, but I still think there is something that can be done.

    So I guess the only thing she can do is look for a new job. Which is unfortunate. I mean I get what you all are saying, it would be up to the employee if they choose to continue to work for a company that pulls these shananigans.

    @cbg - We understand about the notice, it's not about a notice. It's not about doing two jobs. It's about being paid to do those jobs appropriately. Would you continue to work for a company who moved you to a different department, but asked you to come back to the "eliminated" department to still perform work for less pay? That's the thing, half the time she's in her other department getting the correct pay, while the other half she's in the "eliminated" department....still getting less pay. I mean, would you do that?

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