Balanced
09-29-2006, 05:04 PM
I need to get some guidance about this situation. I'm not clear on what my rights and figured explaining the situation and getting others advice would help.
I am sorry this is so long.. I wanted to explain it clearly because from my end it is a muddy situation. To the person who spends the time and helps me, I do greatly appreciate it.
I work for a small business in California. I have worked there for over 2 years. My position with the company has been managing some accounts, answering emails, phones, and keeping all customers happy.
My primary responsiblities are on the computer, which I use my own laptop computer, which I bought so that I could work from home to keep up with the demands of my job. I was working part time from home, and part time from the office. I started having physical problems from all of the computer work I was doing in my arms and then ended up getting into several car accidents on my way home and one on my way to work. The accident totalled my vehicle and left me physically in bad shape, coupled with the pain I was already experiencing from heavy computer work. My employer volunteered to let me work from home until everything got smoothed out. It has been a little over a month and she has now cut my hours from 40 a week, to 30 a week, and is now cutting my hours to 5 hours a week. They are telling me that it is not from performance related that I am one of the best in the office, that everyone is being affected and business is slow. I asked about the hours of the other people in my position and they are being allowed to work between 12 - 20 a week and all of my job duties have been reassigned to other people. I asked then if I was able to start coming back into the office if I would be able to work the same hours as everyone else and was told that when that happens, I would need to talk to the lady who owns the company. This doesn't feel right. I have a job and I'm not being fired but my hours are being cut to 5 a week, my job duties are being reassigned - it feels like they are wanting to let me go but refusing to actually do it to get out of paying unemployment. I have no write ups or bad behaviour or anything like that. My employement is at will. What are my choices in action? I can't live off of 5 hours a week and this situation is something my boss extended to me and if she changed her mind, I would hope she would have spoken to me about it. My first question, is what are my rights, what can I do here? and HOw should I approach this situation?
Secondly, her business isn't doing well because she is planning on moving her business to another city over 600 miles away. So she is working on cutting back advertising here to make things simpler to move. She is supposed to be moving in october and has rented a place for her new office. Half of the office was willing to move and the other half not willing to move. She had sent me a message via IM last Friday telling me her plans of keeping an office up here and hiring an ops manager and moving the 4 employees who wanted to move down there with her. This is all part of her business plan in moving. Do I have any rights here for a company that is relocating and going through some changes like that? just to let you know, the whole office hasn't been affected. Only the people in customer service dept. Which is 3 females and one male. The tech dept is not being cut, the shipping dept is not being cut, the production dept is not being cut, nor is the hr dept not being cut. And my hours are being cut the most drastic. Being I'm not even there, I'm not even sure that everyone else's hours are being cut.
Thirdly (and almost done), there have been things that I have witnessed at this office that seems not right. First, she has on one occassion, after cutting all of the regular employees hours, had children working in the office - about 5-8 children ranging in age from 7-10 years of age - packing orders, taping boxes, and doing various other tasks. Is this legal? I know they weren't on the payroll and may have been paid something for the time they spent there.
Lastly, she is woman who doesn't appear to be balanced and healthy. She yells at people, regularly threatens people with their job, employs junkies and other drug addicts that make it an uncomfortable working environment, regularly makes promises to employees that if you sell something - she will pay a commission or bonus, and then when you sell it, she creates all these rules she said you didn't meet and swindles her way out of paying the commissions. WHat type of recourse would I have for this? And is this ok? I was starting to have a difficult time being at the office when I learned that one of the employees was happily addicted to meth. I shared a desk with this person and didn't feel sanitary or clean to be sharing a phone with him. He would be sick all of the time, and I would end up getting sick from it. She doesn't fire people because she refuses to pay unemployment and outwardly boasts about this. There have been employees who have been bad employees and she would just stop giving them work but keep paying them, take away all job responsibilities and pay them to just come sit there until they quit to get out of it.
I have been wondering about all of these things and just wanted to find out the laws, employee rights, and courses of action surrounding my situation. I appreciate anyone who is able to help shed some light. I'm feeling pretty taken advantage of and bullied by someone who thinks they are the most powerful person in the world (she really does to).
I am sorry this is so long.. I wanted to explain it clearly because from my end it is a muddy situation. To the person who spends the time and helps me, I do greatly appreciate it.
I work for a small business in California. I have worked there for over 2 years. My position with the company has been managing some accounts, answering emails, phones, and keeping all customers happy.
My primary responsiblities are on the computer, which I use my own laptop computer, which I bought so that I could work from home to keep up with the demands of my job. I was working part time from home, and part time from the office. I started having physical problems from all of the computer work I was doing in my arms and then ended up getting into several car accidents on my way home and one on my way to work. The accident totalled my vehicle and left me physically in bad shape, coupled with the pain I was already experiencing from heavy computer work. My employer volunteered to let me work from home until everything got smoothed out. It has been a little over a month and she has now cut my hours from 40 a week, to 30 a week, and is now cutting my hours to 5 hours a week. They are telling me that it is not from performance related that I am one of the best in the office, that everyone is being affected and business is slow. I asked about the hours of the other people in my position and they are being allowed to work between 12 - 20 a week and all of my job duties have been reassigned to other people. I asked then if I was able to start coming back into the office if I would be able to work the same hours as everyone else and was told that when that happens, I would need to talk to the lady who owns the company. This doesn't feel right. I have a job and I'm not being fired but my hours are being cut to 5 a week, my job duties are being reassigned - it feels like they are wanting to let me go but refusing to actually do it to get out of paying unemployment. I have no write ups or bad behaviour or anything like that. My employement is at will. What are my choices in action? I can't live off of 5 hours a week and this situation is something my boss extended to me and if she changed her mind, I would hope she would have spoken to me about it. My first question, is what are my rights, what can I do here? and HOw should I approach this situation?
Secondly, her business isn't doing well because she is planning on moving her business to another city over 600 miles away. So she is working on cutting back advertising here to make things simpler to move. She is supposed to be moving in october and has rented a place for her new office. Half of the office was willing to move and the other half not willing to move. She had sent me a message via IM last Friday telling me her plans of keeping an office up here and hiring an ops manager and moving the 4 employees who wanted to move down there with her. This is all part of her business plan in moving. Do I have any rights here for a company that is relocating and going through some changes like that? just to let you know, the whole office hasn't been affected. Only the people in customer service dept. Which is 3 females and one male. The tech dept is not being cut, the shipping dept is not being cut, the production dept is not being cut, nor is the hr dept not being cut. And my hours are being cut the most drastic. Being I'm not even there, I'm not even sure that everyone else's hours are being cut.
Thirdly (and almost done), there have been things that I have witnessed at this office that seems not right. First, she has on one occassion, after cutting all of the regular employees hours, had children working in the office - about 5-8 children ranging in age from 7-10 years of age - packing orders, taping boxes, and doing various other tasks. Is this legal? I know they weren't on the payroll and may have been paid something for the time they spent there.
Lastly, she is woman who doesn't appear to be balanced and healthy. She yells at people, regularly threatens people with their job, employs junkies and other drug addicts that make it an uncomfortable working environment, regularly makes promises to employees that if you sell something - she will pay a commission or bonus, and then when you sell it, she creates all these rules she said you didn't meet and swindles her way out of paying the commissions. WHat type of recourse would I have for this? And is this ok? I was starting to have a difficult time being at the office when I learned that one of the employees was happily addicted to meth. I shared a desk with this person and didn't feel sanitary or clean to be sharing a phone with him. He would be sick all of the time, and I would end up getting sick from it. She doesn't fire people because she refuses to pay unemployment and outwardly boasts about this. There have been employees who have been bad employees and she would just stop giving them work but keep paying them, take away all job responsibilities and pay them to just come sit there until they quit to get out of it.
I have been wondering about all of these things and just wanted to find out the laws, employee rights, and courses of action surrounding my situation. I appreciate anyone who is able to help shed some light. I'm feeling pretty taken advantage of and bullied by someone who thinks they are the most powerful person in the world (she really does to).
