Paycut

[KCRN]

I work for a Hospital as a Per Diem Employee. This means that I am used to fill in empty spaces on the Schedule. This also means I don't recieve benefits, PTO or scheduling preference. This was all explained to me when I was hired and I agreed to these terms. To compensate the lack of benefits and PTO per diem employees are offered $1-3 more (depending on occupation) in pay than "Fulltime Status" employees.

The problem is that now our hospital is taking that $1-3 away. They are stating that we can go to "fulltime status" and recieve a $1-3 cut in pay and then a 4% increase and recieve benefits and PTO or we can stay per diem and just take the cut. Their reasoning for this is that it is simply what they should have been doing all along (at least 12 years) and now they are "following the Law".

There are 33/68 Per Diem employees here and we are looking for some amunition to use in the meeting we are supposed to be having with our employers in the next two days. Any suggestions?

If you are reading this you must be somewhat interested please let me know ANYHTING that might help.

 

[jharris352]

Take the deal before you lose your job entirely.

 

[Patricia_Young]

The "law" could care less about how your compensation package is structured as long as you receive minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay if required by wage and hour law. Having said that, short of a bona fide employment contract or CBA guaranteeing your pay rate and prohibitions against it being cut, such pay decrease is not illegal.

 

[jharris352]

I did think of one part of the law they may have been breaking: If you were working full time hours it doesn't matter what designation they put on you, you were full time and deserved benefits. The fact that you were paid extra is something in their favor but I imagine that their legal department stopped the practice for fear that they would get sued for not providing benefits to de facto full time employees.

As for the change, they have every right to change your pay structure or to fire you out right. I would not mess with this or you will find yourselves out of a job.

 

[Patricia_Young]

I did think of one part of the law they may have been breaking: If you were working full time hours it doesn't matter what designation they put on you, you were full time and deserved benefits.

We don't have nearly enough information to say. Wage and hour law does not regulate benefits. If we're talking a benefit plan that is regulated by ERISA, then IF the individual met the eligibility requirements as defined by the plan (and different plans can have different requirements), and was not offered the opportunity to enroll, THEN there would have been an ERISA violation. But just "working full-time hours" is not necessarily enough to give rise to a violation for this issue.

 

[KCRN]

So your trying to tell me if your employer told you to take a pay cut yould just swallow it whole? Surely not.

We had the meeting tonight and you had better believe I fought for what is rightfully mine and was promised to me upon hire. Maybe there is no "Law" being broken but this has lack of ethics and morality written all over it!

 

[Patricia_Young]

Well, this IS a legal site. It is not church, where "right" and "wrong" are normally clearly defined.

 

[jharris352]

I have a better one for you. You are an "at-will" employee. If you kick and scream too much you can be simply fired and replaced by someone without such an entitlement attitude. I'm not saying I wouldn't be disappointed, but I am saying that there is no legal reason they have to keep paying you the way you want to be paid. You have a choice, fight with them and risk losing your job (because you will lose the fight), take the changes, or quit your job and find another one that is suitable.

I'm sorry you don't like the answer but that is the answer none-the-less. As Patricia pointed out we are a legal site and we don't weigh in on the "morality" of you keeping your extra 2-3 dollars an hour. My only comment is to beware of fighting when you have absolutely no basis on which to do so. If you cause problems when you have no leg to stand on, you may be here complaining about wrongful termination next and I guarantee you won't like the answer then.

Good luck, be glad in this time that you still have a job.