What can I do if my job requires me to stand for the entire 8-hour shift but I was not informed of that prior to my hire?
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What can I do if my job requires me to stand for the entire 8-hour shift but I was not informed of that prior to my hire?
However, this was not mentioned anywhere on the job advertisement, during the hiring process or even the company job description. Had I known, I would never have accepted the job offer. I hate job hopping so after toughing it out for a year I finally gave them my resignation notice. They put up a job ad online and still did not mention anything about standing. Is this even legal? Is there anything I can do to make them let us use a chair? I spoke to them about this before only to be told that it was a ‘corporate’ thing and could not be changed. I love my job but the standing is killing me, not to mention how unethical it is of them not to tell people beforehand about this.
Asked on August 25, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Why do you feel it is unethical or improper? The law does not require an employer to divulge every detail or aspect of a job ahead of time to its employees and moreover, because employement is "employment at will," and because employers are allowed to manage their business, including by changing job duties or how they are performed, any employer could at any time change how a job is done. Therefore, for example, even if you at first sat, they could later require you to stand, and that would be perfectly legal. Thus, not only is the employer not required to divulge or describe exactly how the job is done in advance, but even if they did, they could then change the job, making the initial description irrelevant.
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