Louisiana

[ACaruso]

I work for a Louisiana non-profit. My office is very small with only 10 staff members and a board of 30+ members. I understand that when staff salary is discussed with the board it's voted on by all of its members. However our director always shares this staff salary information and even other private details with his assistant, who in turn, shares it with other staff members. I am uncomfortable with my salary being gossiped about in the office. It's very humiliating especially when other employees feel comfortable enough to talk with me about it. This is an issue that has come up before and I've even made a formal complaint about it, but it still happens. Do I have any rights in this situation ?

Also- because my job often requires me to stay late and work weekends, I have quite a few comp hours. I do not receive overtime, but I do get these comp hours that accumulate and have to use by a certain time. Since I am salary, if I'm running late to work or need to leave for a doctor's appointment, I use comp hours in these situations rather than sick or vacation. Am I using these hours correctly? I've never been told otherwise. Please help...

[DAW]

1. Salary information is not legally confidential. Your employer can legally put it on freeway billboards. Past that it is not uncommon for non-profits to publish this information.

2. Overtime is a whole different story. If you are legally non-exempt, then you are subject to paid overtime. There is no non-profit exception. In fact, with very few exceptions, non-profit labor law is very similar to for-profit labor law. "Comp time" is legally a concept restricted to governmental employees only. I am not saying that it is entirely impossible to make up a paid time off policy and call it "comp time" or "chitty-chitty-bang-bang" or anything else, but if you are non-exempt, then you are subject to paid overtime. Playing games with comp time does not change that. Your exempt status is a function of your actual job duties and your industry. And no, "non-profit" is not an industry (under labor law rules anyhow). Example, a fishing boat cooperative may be "non-profit" but it falls under the rules for fishing boats.

[Beth3]

Do I have any rights in this situation ?

You have the right to look for a new job where the boss knows the meaning of the word "discretion" and doesn't blab everything to his big-mouthed assistant. Both the boss and the assistant are being extremely unprofessional but no laws are being violated. Keeping salaries and other appropriate matters confidential is a matter of company policy, not the law.

Since I am salary, if I'm running late to work or need to leave for a doctor's appointment, I use comp hours in these situations rather than sick or vacation. Am I using these hours correctly? I've never been told otherwise. Please help... .

Just to add to what DAW explained, "salary" is merely a pay method. Under wage and hour laws, jobs are either "exempt" or "non-exempt." If you are an exempt employee, then they don't have to pay you overtime OR provide comp time. If your employer choses to, then yes, using it for late arrivals, doctor's appointments, etc., is appropriate.