Company policy changes...

[oneluv]

I work at a small company with 6 full-time employees. Recently, I was called to jury duty and referenced my company policy manual and it stated that as a full-time employee, I was eligible for 10-days or 80 hours of jury service, less the amount the court pays. I called in on a Sunday night while at an event with my boss and was summoned the next day to jury duty, which I told him that night. Ultimately, I was chosen for the jury, which when finished could be 10 days served. I was calling in and letting our assistant know the goings-on and my office manager called me on Wed. to say that I would only be paid for 3-days/24 hours because the policy had changed. I NEVER received an updated policy manual and was never aware of this change. She claims she gave it to us, but on this last Friday, while I was out of the office at jury duty, she nonchalantly handed out an updated policy manuals with a MAY date printed on it. She gave it to the 3 employees in the office and said "look iot over, there have been some changes." She claims that it's my fault for not telling them in advance, but it doesn' say that on my manual and I did tell my boss the night before I went in. On the new manual it says that you must give notice in writing 2 weeks in advance. She told me that she willl speak with my boss and try toi get him to compansate me for the entire service, but she doubts he will. Meanwhile, they tell me I AM A VERY IMPORTANT employee, etc. What are my rights? I called a past co-worker to verify if she ever received an updated manual and she agrees with me that she never received one.

 

[cbg]

Unless your company handbook is written in such a way as to constitute a contract (which happens VERY rarely - any competent company will write their handbook with a clause that specifies that it is NOT a contract) the company has the right to change their policies with or without notice. You can certainly show your handbook to a local attorney to see if it meets the definition of a contract, but to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Federal law does not require that you be paid for time you do not work except in VERY rare circumstances. State law in about ten states requires that you be paid for x amount of jury duty time. To determine whether the LAW requires that you be paid for this time, please answer the following:

1.) What state are you in?
2.) Are you an exempt or a non-exempt employee? (I don't want to know what importance you are to the company; I want to know what your legal pay status is. If you don't know what I mean by exempt and non-exempt, let me know and I'll explain further.)
3.) What is your pay week? (Sunday through Saturday, Monday through Sunday, Wednesday through Tuesday...)
4.) What days were you out on jury duty? All week? Part of the week(s)?

 

[oneluv]

company policy changes

I don't believe it's a contract, but when I was first employed I believe I had to sign something that said I had read and understood the policies.

Here are the answers to your questions:
1 - I live in California
2 - I am a US Citizen. I don't know if that means I'm exempt or non-exempt.
3- Paid for M-F work and on a slarary. I'm not sure of my pay week, I have to check, does it make a differnece? I think it is M-F and we are paid every other Friday.
4 - I was on jury duty one week M-F; I am still on jury duty this week. M-?; Friday would be the latest date.

I guess I'm looking for him to do the right thing... I know the changes were made AFTER. I would have let the courts know of the 3-days if I were aware of that.

 

[cbg]

I'm sorry, I should have explained better. Whether you're exempt or non-exempt has nothing to do with your citizenship; it has to do with your job duties and how you are paid (hourly-salary). If you were paid hourly, it would be a safe bet that you're non-exempt, but if you're paid on a salaried basis, you could be either; it IS legal to pay a non-exempt employee on a salaried basis if they are also paid OT when they work it. Also, some employers don't understand the law very well and think that they can make any job exempt by paying it on a salaried basis.

If you lived in just about any other state, it wouldn't matter much if you were exempt or non-exempt based on the other answers you gave me. But California law says that if you are non-exempt, they don't have to pay you for jury duty but if you're exempt, they do. (At least, according to one of my sources. ) So what I need you to do now is tell me whether you EVER get overtime, and if not, what your job duties are. Be as detailed as possible. Take your time. There is recourse available to you if your employer is violating the law.