Can your hours be cut for no valid reason?
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Can your hours be cut for no valid reason?
I’ve been working for my employer for almost a year as a server. I’m a full-time college student on a double major so during my second semester around finals time, I request to only pick up shifts. When summer came back around, I requested to be put on the schedule again. I was put back on for about 3 weeks but I noticed that my hours were decreasing. One day I called in because my car got towed; the following week my schedule was cut down in half from working all day to only half. The week after that they just didn’t put me on the schedule and said it was due to their
Asked on July 16, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Unless you have a written employment contract for a definite term (e.g. a one-year contract) which is still in effect, or a written contract which by its plain terms guarantees your hours or limits the grounds for discipline or termination, you are an "employee at will." As an employee at will, your employer may cut your hours or shifts, demote you, suspend you, or even terminate you at any time, for any reason whatsover. The reasons don't have to be fair, logical, just, etc.--the employer may do anything it wants in regard to your employment, at any time.
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately your hours can be cut for no reason and you can be fired without cause. This is true unless such action violates the terms of a union/collective bargaining agreement or employment contract. Also, your treatment must not constitute some form of legally actionable discrimination. Otherwise, your employer can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit. This is known as "at will" employment.
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