If have seniority, can my hours be cut more than everybody else’s?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If have seniority, can my hours be cut more than everybody else’s?
I have been employed at a supermarket for 2 1/2 years part-time. This week without warning the manager’s office cut everyones hours within the bakery. I work on average of 27-31 hours they cut my hours by 10. From what I can see from other co-workers they got 4 hours or 6 hours cut. My co-worker told me that there needed to be a 27 hour cut from. I am just shocked why my hours were drastically cut? I have seniority within the bakery and don’t understand why that my other co-workers that have just started only got 4 to 6 hours cut?
Please help me!!!!
Asked on October 21, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
is there an employment contract, union agreement or company policy that prohibits this action? Is your treatment the result of actionable discrimination? If not, then this drastic cut in hours is legally permitted. The fact is that in an "a will" employment elationship, a company can set the terms and conditons of the workplace much as it sees fit. For your part, you can either work the reduced schedule, try to fight it and possibly face terminaton, or quit.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Employers do not need to treat employees fairly. And seniority does not actually mean anything in the law--it only matters if there is an employment contract (such as a union or collective bargaining agreement) giving you extra righs based on seniority. Otherwise, an employer could arbitrarily and unfairly decide to cut one employee's hours more than other employees' hours, even if that employee had seniority.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.