Pay Raise Not Given

[Hopeful]

My jurisdiction is: Missouri

Company policy says you will receive an evaluation due yearly on your anniversary. Your raise if any will be effective beginning with the first day of the payroll following your anniversary date.

The supervisor has not completed numerous employees evaluations, some as much as 4 months past due. They have been asked to do them over and over but have not and upper mgmt won't do anything about it. Assuming that these people will be eventually granted a raise, this will mean
1) They will be owed that raise x's numerous past payrolls.
2) Several of these payrolls were from last year and should have been on last years taxes.
3) They will add the total backpay owed to an upcoming check which will probably mean more taxes taken out than if it had been paid correctly over each payroll.

Is there any recourse via wage laws for these employees. Is this somehow illegal?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[cbg]

No, there is no wage law affecting pay raises. Pay raises are not required by law unless minimum wage has been raised by the appropriate legislative body and the employee is worked under the new minimum. No laws have been violated, regardless of whether they get the back pay or not.

 

[TheDemon]

I'm in Kentucky with a similar problem.

My evaluation came up in mid-January. I was told then I would get a raise of x cents per hour, however the company was working on some financial something-or-other regarding raises, and raises wouldn't be effective for a few weeks. We would get back-pay for however long between the evaluation and when the raise was approved. We had a meeting last week informing us that all raises, hourly and salary, would be on a freeze for the entire year.

Basically, they told several of us (those who'd had evaluations already) "Here's your raise" and then came back and said "No, sorry, we have to cut costs. No raises this year." They cited the economy and the fact that we've lost two of our partners is the last few months.

Can they do that? Can they tell us we're getting X raise and then not give it to us?

Thanks.

 

[cbg]

Yes. They can. Read the response above - it is valid in all 50 states.

 

[TheDemon]

Yeah, I asked my Mom her thoughts on the situation, and she said being a non-union company they can pretty much do as they please. Kentucky is an at-will employment state, so they can fire people as they see fit without needing to explain it.

Sucks for the workforce. I wish there was something we could do with out rocking ourselves off the apple cart.

 

[jacksgal]

The employment at will works both ways. You can quit for any or no reason as well.

 

[TheDemon]

True, but I'm not about to be without a job, not the way things are right now.

It's tough sometimes, especially when people make me want to choke them, but I'll keep my paycheck coming and hope the lottery gods smile upon me soon

 

[cbg]

If they do, remember the ones who knew you when! :angel