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    work and cutting pay

    Hi,

    My name is Holly, I was diagnosed with MS on May 18th of 2011. I missed quite a few days of work, for MRI’s, LP, Blood Draws, Dr visits.. 19 days to be exact. My work is now wanting to drop me from Salary, to Hourly. They said to better accommodate my days off for MS.
    I am taking a roughly $8000 pay cut. They say that I will be able to work enough OT to cover this issue.. I dont feel it will work. And its not guaranteed hours or pay.

    Is there anything legally that can be done?


    Thanks

    Holly

    #2
    Hey Holly....I used to work in Corporate Human Resources, granted 15 years ago, but a few factors
    to consider.

    what kind of work do you do? There are job descriptions
    that are considered 'exempt' and those that are considered "non-exempt". Exempt means that this job
    is a higher level, professional position, and it exempt from overtime. Chemist, accountant, doctor, supervisor,
    etc. Non-exempt positions do receive OT. So depending
    on how big your employer is, they do/do not have to
    adhere to federal labor legislations guidelines. And if
    they switch you to hourly, how many hours a pay period do you have to complete to maintain your benefit coverage, assuming you are receiving benefits from them. And then finally, how will they determine your hourly rate?
    Good luck!!
    EileenB
    "If it is to be it is up to me" Gertrude Tyne

    Comment


      #3
      I was in Human Resources management for 20 years and EileenB is right: some jobs are exempt from overtime, others are not. This is based on the duties of the position and NOT the wish or whim or the employer.

      If your employer is saying they want to move you into another job that might better accomodate your health issues, and the duties of that job are non-exempt, then their actions might be legal. However, if they are just changing the status of your current job from exempt to non-exempt, it probably isn't legal. This, of course, assumes that your job was properly classified as exempt in the first place.

      My advise would be to call your local Labor Department, explain the situation, and try to find out whether or not this is something your employer can do.

      Comment


        #4
        Ask about intermittent leave. After I was dx'd and came back to work hr had me sign up for this.
        I was already hourly at that time. I had to work 30 hours in a pay period in order to get medical in insurance. It allowed me to work longer than I would have otherwise.
        Intermittent leave may have different rules where you work too.
        techie
        Another pirated saying:
        Half of life is if.
        When today is bad, tomorrow is generally a better day.
        Dogs Rule!

        Comment


          #5
          I work as a bookkeeper. I have been doing this almost 9 years. I would be able to get overtime hours, but they are not a guaranteed amount either. i am currently making 40250 per year, and they are moving me to $16 per hour, plus my overtime. Which isnt all year round just around 6 weeks in the fall. I will be able to still have my health insurance, and everything else that comes with full time.
          I just dont feel right about all this.

          I feel they are discriminating against me.

          Comment


            #6
            Are they reviewing and auditing everyone's job duties/salary band or just yours?

            I worked at a large company and they did do that across the board. Some people were 'management' level with no one reporting to them. We thought that was funny, a leadership position with no one to lead. Must be nice. They were angry about the downgrade to Senior analyst but them's the breaks.
            Dx: 2/3/12. 6-8 lesions right medulla/cervical spine. GLATIRAMER ACETATE 40 mg 1/19, medical marijuana 1/18. Modafinil 7/18, Women's multivitamin, Caltrate + D3, Iron, Vitamin C, Super B Complex, Probiotics, Magnesium, Biotin.

            Comment


              #7
              it is annual review time, but they arent messing with anyone else's salary

              Comment


                #8
                Did you ask for specifics as to why they did that only to you? I would demand written reason behind it, is it performance?
                Dx: 2/3/12. 6-8 lesions right medulla/cervical spine. GLATIRAMER ACETATE 40 mg 1/19, medical marijuana 1/18. Modafinil 7/18, Women's multivitamin, Caltrate + D3, Iron, Vitamin C, Super B Complex, Probiotics, Magnesium, Biotin.

                Comment


                  #9
                  It sounds like fear of potential disability is guiding your employer's actions. I would check into that before agreeing to it. Do you have a Human Rights Commission or something like it where you live?
                  RRMS 2005, Copaxone since 2007
                  "I hope to be the person my dog thinks I am."

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Are you aware of Family Medical Leave? I signed up for that and I get several months of employment protection per year to take care of myself. Bottom line with FMLA time is that the company cannot (in general) fire you for taking time off to take care of yourself for medical reasons. HR should give your a form that your doctor has to fill out stating that you need time off for medical reasons. When you do take time off from work, you "charge" it to FMLA. Time you take off for medical reasons that you charge to FMLA cannot be used to fire you. (Without FMLA protection, the company could say you are taking excessive time off and terminate you on that basis.)

                    Talk to HR about signing up for FMLA. When you are salaried, as I am, you can charge any increment of time to FMLA and receive employment protection. What your company may be upset about is paying your for time you take off for doctors and tests, especially when you take off only a few hours but, since you are salaried, they have to pay your for those hours. With FMLA, the company doesn't have to pay you for the time you take off, which is as if you were salaried. So, if you take off 2 hours to see your doctor, you have to use vacation time or unpaid leave, just as if you were hourly, but as I have said, the company can't look at the time you are taking off and fire you.

                    But, be careful about upsetting your employer. If you really need this job - especially health insurance - do you want to take action to get yourself fired? FMLA will give you protection, but a company can make up reasons to fire you and then you will be stuck deciding if you want to file a complaint with the state and then take it to court. That can be expensive and time consuming, plus you will either be without health insurance or will have to go on Cobra insurance, which is expensive. And will you be able to get a new job? Many companies have probationary periods where they can terminate your employment for any reason for 90 days and, if they find you have MS and are missing work a lot, odds are they will dump you.

                    I am in a tad bit of brain fog right now and I may not be making a lot sense. Maybe someone else can explain it better, but be sure to look into FMLA.

                    Good luck,
                    Jeff

                    Comment


                      #11
                      In terms of FMLA, I believe there are certain requirements- that you have been on the job for a certain amount of time- I believe 1 year, and I think the company also has to be of a certain size for it to be required. Best to talk with your HR department as others have advised. Good luck!
                      Diagnosed June 2011, Avonex 7/11-12/11

                      "We don't describe the world we see, we see the world we describe"

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