An hour a week?!!

[smorr]

What is the name of your state? MASSACHUSETTS

My daughter is 21 and applied for a job in a small retail business. She was hired as an accountant and administrative assistant making $18 hr. She understood the job was part-time but there was no specified amount of hours since she was being hired to balance books from a few months prior and to continue reconciling books as the business progressed. The employers allegedly own more than one store in different locations and she was told she'd be expanding with them. She went from working 30 or so hours to about 10 within a few weeks. Now she's being told she only needs to come in one day a week and is only working approximately 1 hour each of those days! She's paid bi-weekly, so is being paid for only 2 hours of work every other week!

Isn't there a minimum of hours that employers need to pay each employee? I know larger companies require to pay employees for at least four hours per day for each day they work, even if they only stayed for 3 or 3 1/2 hours for that day. Are small businesses exempt from this?

She's looking for another job, but in the meantime, she's working back at an old job part-time to make up for the hours she's losing here. She'd much rather have just one job though!

 

[Son of Slam]

Maybe she is just too damn good.
When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to conceive that your objective is to drain the swamp.

 

[smorr]

She is a fast and accurate worker - always has been since kindergarten! Like her dad, sometimes too fast for their own good - he's worked himself out of jobs as well, project goes great, then nothing left to do, oops - lay off!

I liked your last sentence! And, you're right! It is hard to conceive, but in this case, the swamp wasn't supposed to drain, rather the the swamp was supposed to be kept full by the employer. At least that's the impression she got when they hired her since they mentioned she'd be working in all their locations on different days each week (I think there's 2 now, one more's supposed to open soon). Maybe they just saw her coming...

In any case, it's good experience, I told her she can use it to get a job that gives her the hours she needs.


Thanks!

 

[cbg]

Although I am in Massachusetts, I have never worked in the retail industry so I am not 100% certain of this. I BELIEVE but cannot confirm, that Massachusetts has a law that says she is entitled to a minimum of 3 hours pay IF she would have no way of knowing before she came in that she would be working less than three hours. If she is scheduled for less than three hours and knew that before she arrived at work, OR if there is a way for her to call and be told in advance that she would only be working a couple of hours, she would not be entitled to the three hours pay.

That is how it was described to me by someone who should, but doesn't always, have occasion to know the law. As I said, I have been unable to confirm its existance. You can try calling the AG's office (they function as the DOL in this state) at 617-727-3476.

 

[smorr]

Thank you CBG - I was told the same thing, but wasn't sure if it applied to companies that employed less than a certain amount of people (the smaller companies would be exempt from this law). And, she had no clue they were going to cut her hours. She was hired with the understanding that she would be working different days at their 3 different locations and expected to be not only working about 25 - 30 hours per week, but traveling as well. My guess is they'll keep her on this way since they know she works another part time job to make up some of the time. I'll definitely check out the AG's office though. Thanks!

 

[cbg]

There may be a size limitation. I'm not even 100% certain there's a law; the person who told me about it has been known to confuse company policy with law before now and in any case worked for an enormous company with stores in 47 states and five countries. Also, as it was explained to me, how many hours she was hired for would not matter; nor would it matter whether she knew in advance that her hours were being cut. What would matter was whether or not on any given day, she either knew or had a way to find out in advance how many hours she was going to work.

Example 1.) Schedule is posted Monday. She is scheduled to work 1 hour on Tuesday. She knows ahead of time that she is only going to work one hour; therefore, she is only entitled to pay for that hour.

Example 2.) Schedule is posted Monday; on Monday morning she has not received the schedule yet but calls the store. They tell her that she is scheduled to work that day, but that she is only working for one hour. She knows before she goes in that she will only be working one hour; therefore she is only entitled to pay for that hour.

Example 3.) Schedule is posted Monday. She is scheduled to work for four hours; however, when she arrives she is told that due to an emergency they have had to re-work the schedule and that she is now only going to be working one hour. She did not know that before she came in; therefore, she would be entitled to three hours reporting pay.

Please note that assuming this law actually exists in the General Laws and not just in my friend's head, it is a state law and applies only in Massachusetts. Also please note that I have no confirmation even if the law exists, that it was explained to me correctly.

 

[smorr]

I have a feeling there is something that protects an employee from working only an hour a week. What had happened was she started out working six hours a day and about four days a week - then she'd go in expecting to work five or six hours any given day, and when she showed up, they'd tell her they didn't need her for more than two hours. That went on for about a week or so, then she'd come in and they'd say, "we only need you for an hour today". After that it was "we'll only need you to come in once a week". After an hour's worth of work, she'd be done and there'd be nothing else to do, so she'd be given the okay to go home.

Right now, her schedule is the same each week - she is always aware that she's only expected to work an hour and on the same day. There is no 'posted' schedule since the store only has about four people there, including her. It may also be according to company policy or as I mentioned, small businesses may be exempt from this since they only employ, say, 5-10 people total.

I'll check with the AG's office to see what they say.

 

[cbg]

Based on what you are saying, IF my friend is correct about the law, your daughter would NOT be entitled to reporting pay since she knows each week that she will only be working one hour.

The AG's office is indeed your best bet.