changes to company policies

[halfpint]

Does an employer have to inform you of changes to company policies and if so, when and how do they have to inform you?

 

[cbg]

The answer to your question is, it depends. An employer is not required to have written policies at all. But in SOME cases and in SOME states, failure to notify an employee of a change in policy MIGHT result in the policy being unenforceable.

For a better answer, you will need to provide both your state and the policy in question.

 

[halfpint]

I'm in New Hampshire. The policy is regarding earned time. The company hand book I was given states that if you, the employee, terminate your employment, you are no longer entitled to your earned time but, it said nothing if they terminate you. I was terminated, for worngful reasons, which is beside the point and a whole other battle, and when I sent a claim in to the labor board for the 43 hours of earned time that I earned, the company came back saying tha they had changed their hand book in October of 2004 having it now state that if you are terminated you no longer are entitled to that time. The hand book I have is from 2001 and I was never informed, nor were 5 other people that still work for the company that I have asked, that there were changes made to the companies policies. I now have to have a hearing in front of the labor board against this employer. I wouldn't make such a big deal out of it but I did earn those hours and I feel that they changed their handbook without notifying their employees, maybe even so they don't have to pay me. My hearing is October 3rd and that is why I was wondering if it's legal for them to make changes without letting employees know. I appreciate your help if you have any!

 

[Beth3]

At the hearing the burden of proof will be on your employer to demonstrate that they changed their policy in October of 2004 and notified all the employees. If they don't have a signed receipt from you or some other acknowledgement that you received a copy of the new policy or handbook, I expect they're going to have a tough time prevailing.

All you can do is show the adjudicator the copy of the handbook you have and tell him or her you never received any updates or policy changes regarding the company's vacation policy since then.

 

[halfpint]

Thank you!

I think the hearing went well, and more in my favor. The human resource manager showed up with 50 out of 70 signed pieces of paper saying there was a policy change last year but they did not say what the policy was that changed and they did not have one signed by me. The person holding the hearing didn't even want a copy of them from him. Thank you for giving me the advice. I guess it can take up to 30 days for the decision to be made but at least the stress from having to actually be in that situation is over.

 

[Beth3]

The person holding the hearing didn't even want a copy of them from him. Of course he didn't. The only pertinent document the HR manager could have produced was a signed receipt from YOU. Receipts from 50 other employees is completely irrelevant.

 

[halfpint]

JUdgement in my favor

I recieved the letter from the labor board finally. They did rule in my favor. The company now has 20 days to submit the payment to them, for me. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for the help you gave me and let you know the out come!