NC employment question (Charlotte: home, wage, tax) - City-Data Forum

splitbanana2002 · 10-20-2008, 07:09 AM

I don't know if this belongs here but since its got to do with NC law so I'll post it anyways. I was wondering If a company can do this. My boyfriend has been working for a very large company in the area for about 6 months and a week ago he was told to sign some paperwork stating that they had to make him full time b/c he had worked x amount of hours in a certain period of time. Last night the manager told him that it was a clerical error. I know a lot of company's have their own company policy regarding this stuff. So if they decided to go against it even after he saw and signed all the paper work would that be illegal? I think that if they 'had' to do it would be part of their company policy, so technically they aren't following it. I ask b/c the company gives out bonus's and his went from a median of about 250 to almost a grand and it makes me feel like they said it was a clerical error b/c if he gets a bigger bonus then his managers bonus is affected.

Metallisteve · 10-21-2008, 06:29 AM

There is no Federal or State law that dictates full or part time. It's left up to the employer (I was kind of shocked to learn this).

U.S. Department of Labor - Find It By Topic - Work Hours - Full-time Employment (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/full-time.htm - broken link)
http://www.nclabor.com/wh/faqs.pdf

So it sounds like it's all on his company.

southbound_295 · 10-21-2008, 09:27 AM

There is a federal law mandating that after a certain number of hours are worked benefits must be offered. Someone may have confused that with a mandate to become full time.

NC has its own labor laws but federal laws also come into play, so you have to check both state & federal labor dept. laws.

I found this out while checking into a policy of a company in the Charlotte area where someone I know works.

anifani821 · 10-21-2008, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitbanana2002

I don't know if this belongs here but since its got to do with NC law so I'll post it anyways. I was wondering If a company can do this. My boyfriend has been working for a very large company in the area for about 6 months and a week ago he was told to sign some paperwork stating that they had to make him full time b/c he had worked x amount of hours in a certain period of time. Last night the manager told him that it was a clerical error. I know a lot of company's have their own company policy regarding this stuff. So if they decided to go against it even after he saw and signed all the paper work would that be illegal? I think that if they 'had' to do it would be part of their company policy, so technically they aren't following it. I ask b/c the company gives out bonus's and his went from a median of about 250 to almost a grand and it makes me feel like they said it was a clerical error b/c if he gets a bigger bonus then his managers bonus is affected.

This does fall under wage and hour jurisdiction. I don't have enuff info to truly understand. Are you saying they told him he was fulltime and had him sign papers (what papers? tax withholding?) . . . and now are saying NO - he is NOT fulltime? So they are saying - now he has to go back to part time?

splitbanana2002 · 10-21-2008, 09:53 AM

he had to sign papers saying that he was full time. The reason he had to do this was b/c he had worked a certain number of hours in a period of time. Sunday night his other boss came up to him and told him it was a clerical error and had him sign something else making him part time again. Coincidentally when the new schedule came out he was only scheduled half the hours that he normally is. I talked to a coworker of mine who has a lot of human resources experience and he said they the company is more likely than not trying to lower the number of average hours worked so they don't have to provide benefits. My problem with the whole situation is why would they even tell him they had to make him full time it wasn't required by law or by their own company policy. Also having him become full time makes his bonus get a lot bigger.It just makes it seem like it they don't want to pay both the bonus or the benefits.

Is there a link to anything saying that employers must provide benefits if you work a certain number of hours?

southbound_295 · 10-21-2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitbanana2002

he had to sign papers saying that he was full time. The reason he had to do this was b/c he had worked a certain number of hours in a period of time. Sunday night his other boss came up to him and told him it was a clerical error and had him sign something else making him part time again. Coincidentally when the new schedule came out he was only scheduled half the hours that he normally is. I talked to a coworker of mine who has a lot of human resources experience and he said they the company is more likely than not trying to lower the number of average hours worked so they don't have to provide benefits. My problem with the whole situation is why would they even tell him they had to make him full time it wasn't required by law or by their own company policy. Also having him become full time makes his bonus get a lot bigger.It just makes it seem like it they don't want to pay both the bonus or the benefits.

Is there a link to anything saying that employers must provide benefits if you work a certain number of hours?

Sorry,I don't have time to dig right now, because I'm packing to move. Here's the site. The U.S. Department of Labor Home Page, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao (http://www.dol.gov/ - broken link)

This has come up several times for me over the years. This is not a new law but most people don't know about it. Companies count on that.

anifani821 · 10-21-2008, 10:12 AM

I am sorry - I still don't understand what you mean about "signing papers." What papers? Some sort of "terms of employment?" Other than tax withholding documents, I can't fathom what they had him sign.

splitbanana2002 · 10-21-2008, 10:21 AM

the papers were basically saying that he was going from part time to full time. Its so the company knows what benefits to provide since the benefits are different for part time and full time employees. The papers he signed later were basically saying he was going full time to part time. I had to sign something similar at my job when I went from full time to part time. Last night he asked for an employee hand book and the manager told him that they don't give those out. I found it strange for such a large company.

anifani821 · 10-21-2008, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitbanana2002

the papers were basically saying that he was going from part time to full time. Its so the company knows what benefits to provide since the benefits are different for part time and full time employees. The papers he signed later were basically saying he was going full time to part time. I had to sign something similar at my job when I went from full time to part time. Last night he asked for an employee hand book and the manager told him that they don't give those out. I found it strange for such a large company.

His supervisor is full of it. Sounds to me like he screwed up w/ scheduling and is trying to cover his tracks.

So how many hours is he working at part time?

Oh - and need to know - is he paid bi-weekly, so that hours are averaged out between 2 weeks?

splitbanana2002 · 10-21-2008, 10:38 AM

He actually gets over time almost every other week. I would say that he gets at least 30 hours a week. This week he was scheduled 15 but thanks to my quick thinking he called around and got some hours in a different part of charlotte within the company. Now he's got 36 hours for the week

He's paid weekly but the paychecks are behind 2 weeks, if that makes sense. This company gives you your first pay check two weeks after you start so you still get paid every week its just delayed. We really need to know what the next step would be b/c this seems really fishy. I told him we should call HR and record the phone call just in case they try to retaliate. Its not illegal if one of the parties involved knows its being recorded