Not the pay I accepted!

[kmbrly.gwr]

Jurisdiction

Colorado

I recently accepted a position with my employer that is within the organization. I was offered an hourly wage and accepted an hourly wage. My offer letter even states hourly. 2 weeks after giving my notice in my other position (they were allowed to keep me an additional 2 weeks) I noticed I could no longer punch in and out. I asked the leadership in my new position, but they said everything looked okay on their end. I also hold a secondary PRN position in another department that agreed to paying me Overtime to work their department. Well low and behold payday rolls around and I am salary not hourly. My interim director at the time tried to get my job switched to hourly but HR refused saying all Project Coordinators are salary in the organization. They were able to get it approved that I can work over my 80 hours a pay period but at the flat hourly rate no time and a half no shift differential and I have to work in 4 hour increments. SO I basically have to work twice as hard to make the same money as before. I did get a check for the overtime they owed me also but not time and a half or shift differential. I work for a large corporation and have taken this as far as I can as far as leadership. They will not make me hourly or give me an increase for the loss in wages. Do I have any legal recourse I am trying to find another position but haven't been able to yet. I did not agree to being Salary but I cannot continue in this job at this rate!!

 

[army judge]

Do I have any legal recourse I am trying to find another position but haven't been able to yet.

Everyone has legal recourse.

Anyone is free to initiate a lawsuit for major or minor grievances.

Not everyone will prevail with their lawsuit, however.

Do I have any legal recourse I am trying to find another position but haven't been able to yet. I did not agree to being Salary but I cannot continue in this job at this rate!!

If you don't possess a written employment contract, your recourse is to do what you're doing, seek other employment.

 

[kmbrly.gwr]

Everyone has legal recourse.

Anyone is free to initiate a lawsuit for major or minor grievances.

Not everyone will prevail with their lawsuit, however.



If you don't possess a written employment contract, your recourse is to do what you're doing, seek other employment.

and I am assuming an offer letter on company letterhead would not be considered an employment contract?

 

[justblue]

and I am assuming an offer letter on company letterhead would not be considered an employment contract?

No, it would not.

I will tag @cbg who is the HR expert.

 

[adjusterjack]

and I am assuming an offer letter on company letterhead would not be considered an employment contract?

It usually isn't but I wouldn't say that unequivocally. Depends on the contents of the letter.

There are numerous websites that explain the difference between contract employment and at-will employment. The following is just one example that illustrates the complexity of the difference.

Contract vs. At-Will Employment: A Worker's Guide | National Assistance Network

You can upload a copy of your letter and get some comments or take it to an attorney for a thorough review of the letter and your options. If you choose to upload it here, make sure you have redacted any identifying information.

 

[kmbrly.gwr]

It usually isn't but I wouldn't say that unequivocally. Depends on the contents of the letter.

There are numerous websites that explain the difference between contract employment and at-will employment. The following is just one example that illustrates the complexity of the difference.

Contract vs. At-Will Employment: A Worker's Guide | National Assistance Network

You can upload a copy of your letter and get some comments or take it to an attorney for a thorough review of the letter and your options. If you choose to upload it here, make sure you have redacted any identifying information.

I am uploading my offer letter and the grievance letter I filed with HR they never responded in writing or anything of the sort.

 

[adjusterjack]

My 2 cents worth - not a contract.

In fact, the way I read it is that your salary is based on an 80 hour pay period at $25.63 per hour = $2050.40 every two weeks x 26 = $53,310.40.

If your issue is whether you are exempt from overtime pay, you may very well be.

Federal labor law requires that you meet two elements to be exempt from overtime.

Overtime Exemption Salary Requirements:

1 - Employees that make at least $35,568 per year ($684 per week) may be exempt from receiving overtime pay if their job duties also match FLSA exemption criteria.

2 - Overtime Exemption Job Duty Criteria for "White-Collar" Workers:

Executive job duties coupled with the aforementioned salary requirements exempt such workers from receiving overtime pay.

Administrative positions are similarly exempt from overtime pay.

Professionals that also make the minimum salary requirement are exempt from overtime pay.

You certainly meet the first requirement and the mention of wearing scrubs suggests that you also meet the second requirement as a professional.

 

[Tax Counsel]

All employment arrangements are contractual in nature. The problem is that that most employment relationships are also "at will" meaning that either party may terminate the relationship at any time for almost any reason. The employer employer letter that you shared, like most such letters, lacks a key element to make it really useful to the employee: it makes no promise of how long the arrangement will last. The employer did state a certain rate of pay in the letter and thus owes you that rate of pay for the hours you worked until you were told the salary arrangement was different than you thought. Hours you work after being told what the new pay is only has to be paid at that new rate. So if the health system for which you work squares things up for the period between the letter and when you were told what the actual pay arrangement was going to be, that's all it would be legally required to do. If this was a private employer, you'd then be stuck either accepting the new pay and continuing to work there or finding other employer.

However, I'm an attorney located in Colorado and am very familiar with the facility where you work. It's a state institution, which gives you a little more recourse than you'd get with a private employer. But the flip side of that is that you have to follow the internal appeal procedures set by the institution as far as you can take them, and you need to be careful to meet all the required deadlines. You may want to see an employment law attorney in the Denver area familiar with suing the state on employment claims. What you state in the internal process is important — if you say something that works against you that would come up later if the matter went to litigation. You should be able to find an attorney who will give you a free or low cost initial consultation, and that will give you a much better understanding of where you stand and what options are available to you.

Depending on what your position is, you may find a very competitive environment for your services. Denver has a lot of hospital and medical systems and there are some positions that nearly all of them are shorthanded. So along with efforts to work things out with your present employer, it won't hurt to test the waters and see what other organizations will offer you.