My wife is working at the moment, and due to some circumstances that have come up, this Friday may be her last day at her job. However her boss was saying that if you do not give a two week notice, then your last pay check will be cut down to minimum wage. Is that legal? Does that seem messed up to anyone else?

10/30/2007 5:37:39 PM

lol her boss is fucking with her or is an idiot.

10/30/2007 5:40:35 PM

well, she said that her boss said that that rule is in the employee handbook. I have no idea if it is or not, but I'm going to assume it is.

10/30/2007 5:42:07 PM

i guess i'd consult the manual

10/30/2007 5:44:45 PM

that's bullshit and if it's not illegal I'll be very very surprised.

of course I'm assuming she didn't sign something agreeing to those terms when she took the job..

10/30/2007 5:44:48 PM

check the employee handbook. it she signed saying that she read it, then she's stuck. i can see where her last paycheck will be cut down to reflect hours worked from her last one, assuming that she is salaried.

but yes, it does seem messed up, but if it is in their company employee handbook, then you know, i don't think there is anything she can do about it.

10/30/2007 5:45:16 PM

Legally, you are NOT required to give 2 weeks notice. I really have not heard of anything like that before.

But I do know that contract employees are often penalized financially for not completing the terms of their contract. It is possible that she signed something upon employment stating that she agreed to such terms if she did not give her employer 2 weeks notice. In such case, then it's legit. If she didn't sign anything of that nature, then I would call bullshit. Definitely check the employee handbook.

10/30/2007 6:15:56 PM

Quote :

"lol her boss is fucking with her"

10/30/2007 6:33:09 PM

just let her become sick for her final week and not show up. lying ftw.

10/30/2007 6:34:07 PM

NC is an employment-at-will state. Meaning that the employee or the employer can terminate the job whenever they want to.

10/30/2007 7:52:38 PM

man if this is legal god it sucks

It seems this is a good way to punish/fuck over the worker for applying the right to work rule.

[Edited on October 30, 2007 at 9:16 PM. Reason : .]

10/30/2007 9:15:14 PM

Next time quit after you get your paycheck.

-- Dave

10/30/2007 9:47:01 PM

^ their pay is a little weird. For the days she works between the 1st and the 15th, she doesn't get paid until the 30th and the work she does the 15th - end of month she gets paid for on the 15th of the next month.

I'm planning on stopping by to check out the employee handbook tomorrow and find out if she had to sign it. If something doesn't seem right I'm gonna tell the guy to suck my left nut.

10/30/2007 9:55:02 PM

^^^ True, but not exactly relevant.

10/30/2007 9:55:10 PM

If you stop by, bring a dozen of your biggest friends. Try to catch the boss alone after closing time or something. It's worked for me in the past. You might think it's silly, but I assure you that being surrounded makes most people more willing to see your side of things.

This type of shit is all too common in construction jobs.

And forget whether she signed shit or not, the law doesn't matter. This guy's a douche and he knows he's got it coming.

[Edited on October 30, 2007 at 10:21 PM. Reason : .]

10/30/2007 10:19:12 PM

they do this a lot when you first begin a job.

like if you quit before 1 month of working you only get minimum wage for the hours you worked

but it would HAVE to say it on the document she signed, in NC

10/30/2007 10:54:50 PM

they can't reduce your pay for work you've already done

[Edited on October 31, 2007 at 2:00 AM. Reason : due process]

10/31/2007 1:59:25 AM

^ If you sign a contract they can do anything within the term of said contract. Employee manuals state policy, but are not binding. However, A formal employment contract can say just about anything. Non-compete agreements get enforced because they are spelled out in a formal, signed employment contract.

10/31/2007 2:04:07 AM

^^^ she has been at this job for almost a year now.

10/31/2007 5:06:21 AM

Well, is it contract employment, or not?

10/31/2007 8:18:07 AM

I would contact the NC Department of Labor to see what they say about this. If the practice is a no-no and they've been doing it for a while then you might cause quite a stir.

DarkOne, you're in the Dark on employment contracts. Yes the contract can say anything but it isn't necessarily enforceable.

My ex contracted with a health care services agency. They verbally promised a year long gig with 40 hours a week. So of course the contract with the agency was heavily biased towards the agency. 60 days notice, non compete, etc, etc. But they didn't actually guarantee any number of hours in the contract. A couple of months into the year long engagement and it turns out the funding dried up for the project and they could only pay for 4 hours a week.

She said she was leaving and gave her 60 days notice. They tried to get her to stay by bringing up the non-compete saying that she couldn't work for any other agencies in the area anyway so she might as well see the contract through to the end. In the meantime they were still only paying for 4 hours a week.

A quick letter from my lawyer stopped that crap real quick. They made their contract so restrictive that the agency was basically saying 1) We don't guarantee you any amount of hours and 2) You have to give us 60 days notice and can't work for any other agencies in the area.

You can't keep someone from working!
And most non-competes are not enforceable unless you are sharing trade secrets when you leave.

So just because its written into a contract doesn't mean its enforceable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionable

-- Dave

10/31/2007 9:02:59 AM

^ The practicality and legality of contracts are two different things. Don't confuse them.

10/31/2007 9:48:53 AM

Quote :

"And most non-competes are not enforceable unless you are sharing trade secrets when you leave."

not true, there are other factors that contribute.

10/31/2007 9:56:13 AM

So which one were you talking about in ^^^^^^ ? You make it sound like because its written down that its enforceable.

-- Dave

10/31/2007 9:58:06 AM

I thought the OP asked about giving notice, not non-competes.

10/31/2007 10:10:19 AM

update please

10/31/2007 3:50:52 PM

lol. They probably think she won't question it because she's a woman. A call to the NC Department of Labor will settle this with the quickness. They called my (former) employer one time and threatened to charge them if they didn't give me a bonus that was owed. That was the sweetest $750 I ever received.

10/31/2007 5:52:52 PM

contact the NCDOL. If docking her pay in this manner is illegal under NC labor laws, then it doesn't even matter if she signed something agreeing to this stipulation. The company will back off in a heartbeat if they realize the NCDOL might go through their records and force them to pay past-due wages with interest to anyone they did this to in the past.

10/31/2007 7:01:45 PM

Sorry I didn't respond yesterday. Had to work all day and take my son out trick-or-treating last night

Ok, so I did find out that this is in her employee handbook, but I still think its crap. My wife was telling her boss that she was planning on leaving Friday and apparently he started apologizing and couldn't afford for her to leave yada yada. So she might be staying, but I still might contact the NCDoL just for kicks.

11/1/2007 5:09:39 AM

definitely get the ball rolling to figure out the legality in case they pull this shit.

11/1/2007 6:51:27 AM

the employee handbook and any contract that was signed must still abide by local, state, and federal labor and wage laws. contact the DoL to find out if its against the law.

also, you probably don't want you or anyone you know working for a company that tries to pull this type of stunt

[Edited on November 1, 2007 at 11:43 AM. Reason : .]

11/1/2007 11:42:05 AM

Quote :

"their pay is a little weird. For the days she works between the 1st and the 15th, she doesn't get paid until the 30th and the work she does the 15th - end of month she gets paid for on the 15th of the next month."

actually, this is quite common. i know a ton of companies that pay this way, including the one i work for.

11/1/2007 6:30:12 PM

Oh, I've worked for a couple companies that the pay period from the 1st - 15th was paid on the 20th. I've never had more than a few days between the end of a pay period and pay day. So I thought two weeks was a little long.

11/1/2007 8:26:29 PM

Nah, the paycheck delay is well within standard.

Depending on who I was working for I've had everything between a 7 day - a 3 week delay from when the pay period ended and when the check actually arrived at my door or cleared the bank account.

S'all a matter of what corporation you're working for and i would suspect state law is involved somewhere for reasonability of delays.

11/1/2007 8:43:42 PM