[anthonyfromMA]

I have some calls into attorneys on this, and I've also emailed the CT Dept of Labor to see if this is allowed by my former employer.

BRIEF SUMMARY: I was hired as a salaried employee. After two days on the job I was let go. CT State law requires I be paid my wages on the next business day, which did not occur (it's been over a week now)

My former employer is attempting to pay me based on the actual hours worked, rather than the weekly salary rate. Can they do this?

I understand that any advice received in this forum cannot be considered true legal advice, but would like some input regardless, however unofficial it may be. Thanks!

DETAILED SUMMARY: I was hired as a salaried employee (i.e. whether I work 1 hour or 100 hours my weekly paycheck would be the same amount)

On Wed Oct 27th I went in to shadow another employee for 6 hours.

The next week on Nov 1st and 2nd I worked 8.5 and 9 hours respectively.

The night of Nov 2nd I received an email from the owner/boss stating he didn't feel I was the right fit for the position.

I expressed my disappointment in my reply, explaining that I had hoped if I was doing something incorrectly it could have been brought to my attention so I'd have the opportunity to correct it.

During my two days I had taken notes on some procedures I felt could be improved to increase efficiency in the department. I sent an email to the boss (after I was let go) stating that regardless of my employment status with the company I would provide that information to him and hoped it helped to improve efficiency.

He replied back the reasons why I wasn't the right fit for the position I had been in, but stated he might have another position that would fit my "keenly honed analytical" skills, if I was interested in discussing it further.

I expressed that I was very interested and then over the course of the next week I sent three follow-up emails and also called and left a voicemail and didn't hear back to discuss the matter further.

After a week had passed I receive an email at 10pm from the owner stating that they are going to focus on their core issues and he doesn't have another position for me right now. I inquired about picking up my paycheck and was told I could the next day.

The next day arrives and I have an email from the VP of the company around 5:45am. He is asking me what hours I worked. My response is that I was hired as a salaried employee and was not hourly and did not punch a clock.

His response is that they intend to pay me proportionate towards my actual hours worked.

The amount of the check they provided does not include the hours I spent shadowing the first week (do I get paid for job shadowing for 6 hours?)

In addition, can they switch from paying me a salary to paying me hourly like this? If so, that means an employer can have you work over 40 hours without paying you extra AND if you work less than 40 hours can decide to pay you hourly instead, which doesn't seem right to me, but I'm unfamiliar with the law on this issue.

And I understand that any advice received in this forum cannot be considered true legal advice, but would like some input regardless, however unofficial it may be. Thanks!

[JViello]

Originally Posted by anthonyfromMA

I have some calls into attorneys on this, and I've also emailed the CT Dept of Labor to see if this is allowed by my former employer.

BRIEF SUMMARY: I was hired as a salaried employee. After two days on the job I was let go. CT State law requires I be paid my wages on the next business day, which did not occur (it's been over a week now)

My former employer is attempting to pay me based on the actual hours worked, rather than the weekly salary rate. Can they do this?

It's my understanding that yes, that's legal. My wife is salary, however if she misses work without vacation pay, they do take it out of her check...yet if she works longer/later there is no overtime. Nice eh?

I can understand a termination somewhat, but I can't understand it for a person gainfully employed.

If you find something different, please post the information as I'm sure many are in the same shoes.

[AnonChick]

If you were hired to work for $500 a week, and your work week was expected to be approximately 9-5 daily, not including weekends..

and you were fired after the first two days..

then you did not fulfill the obligatory 9-5 daily for a week's worth of work. And so they are not obligated to pay you a week's worth of pay.

However, if you had not been fired, and were officially still on the payroll the entire week, they had no work for you wed, thur, fri, and told you on Saturday that you were fired, then yes they'd owe you the whole week.

On the other hand, if you didn't sign a work contract, you couldn't prove they owed you the money anyway. Connecticut is an At-Will state.

What they were doing, was pro-rating your pay up to the point of your termination. If you're terminated on Wednesday, they don't pay you for the rest of the week, because you are no longer employed by the company for the rest of the week. They *could* have said: "Well we assume that IF he had worked out, he WOULD have been working 70 hours a week to get that $500, so we'll only give him the hourly amount based on 500/70." Instead, they're saying, "the average hours for this job is 40 hours/week, and we offered him 500/week for that 40 hours, so we'll pay him the full amount of 500/40."

So you get the full $500/week broken down into an hourly rate based on a 40-hour week. Which is higher than if they had pretended you were going to work 70 hours per week for the same amount of money.

[anthonyfromMA]

Well damn, they can ********* both ways then, that blows

Thanks for the responses all

[anthonyfromMA]

Also, do they have to pay me for the 6 hours of job shadowing? I wasn't actually doing any work, just observing...

[Uconn97]

Thats actually a key question. Did you have a contract or an offer letter stating that you were a salaried employee at x dollars per year? Were there working hours in the letter? so 40/week or 9-5 listed?

CT employers are required to inform employees of any change in wage or status in writing. Also, as you noted already. You should have been paid what they owed you the day after you were terminated so they technically already broke another law.

I wish I could straight out answer your question about pro rated pay versus an hourly sum, but I am not positive on that one.

And yes, I believe they should pay you for the 6 hours shadowing, but thats a question of - had you already accepted and signed an offer?

[anthonyfromMA]

I interviewed on Tues, Oct 26th. on Wed Oct 27th I job shadowed for 6 hours and met with the boss afterwards.

I was made an offer of $33,000/year to start, with a 30 day evaluation period. I was told after the 30 days were up I would be paid somewhere between 35-40K/year.

He informed me that his secretary would write up a job offer for me, but that never materialized (this is my first time ever working a job that paid salary or offered a written job offer)

I do have emails back and forth that show I had an observation period and that I worked the two days, and they also acknowledge my payrate of 33K/year.

[Uconn97]

Honestly - since you worked very little and a legal battle will most likely cost you more than what the company owes you, I would get what you can get and move on. I would, however, threaten them that they are breaking the law by not having paid you what they owe you the day after they terminated you. Hopefully that will at least get them moving on cutting you a check in some amount. The salary vs hourly thing I would probably just let go. Moving forward...

Don't agree to shadow or do any type of work until you have a formal offer letter. The letter should outline hourly or salary, the amount and the expected work hours. Any benefits should also be included in the letter including any sick and vacation time. It should also indicate your job title. It should be signed by someone from HR or your hiring manager.

Good luck!

[AnonChick]

If the shadowing was part of the job (in other words, they required it of you, and you didn't merely volunteer on your own to do it)..then yes, they have to pay you. However, it'd be considered a training session and not subject to the full salary amount. Theoretically they could pay you minimum wage for that 6 hours training (unless they specified they'd give you more, and it sounds like they didn't specify they'd give you anything).

If you've worked 1000 hours in the last 18 months, then you'll have a hearing at unemployment. Knowing the exact hours and dates you worked (whether you got paid for them or not) is important for you, so that the case worker will know how to base your weekly benefit. It might be only a difference of pennies, which wouldn't count anyway. But, it'll count against the employer's case, if they acknowledge you were there shadowing for 6 hours, and that you didn't get paid for it. The Unemployment people aren't authorized to make the former employer pay you for that 6 hours (that'd be a different group) but they'd be much more likely to award you the unemployment benefits when they see you were willing to work, and they weren't willing to pay you for it.

[JayCT]

I would CALL the Department of Labor on this one. They could easily answer it. Jay