Employee contests 15% pay cut, causes several people to get demoted: 'Company is probably shaking in their boots right now'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 19, 2025 8:00 AM EST

When management gets shady and uncommunicative, that is precisely the time to get to work. When new policies are enforced that seem to be playing around with the specifications of your contract as it currently stands, that is when you know that something is afoot and unless you do your due diligence and start advocating for yourself, you may be unfairly manipulated by your employer.

Here, we have an employee who suspected something was wrong and immediately took it upon himself to figure out the legalities of the situation. The result may not have been ideal for everyone, but at least he was able to call management out on their shadiness. Keep scrolling below for the full story!

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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • This employee was not starting the New Year on a good note. In fact, the week he returned to work, he was informed that he was going to be getting a 15% pay cut with no legitimate explanation as to why this was necessary.

    Thankfully, this guy noticed immediately that something fishy was going on, since none of this new information was reiterated in writing. That's when he decided to do some research, upon which he discovered that he was now getting paid less than the minimum wage for salaried workers. When he brought this up to management, the ripple effects were felt around the company and several employees ended up getting unceremoniously demoted.

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    Just started the year and I was informed that my pay would be cut by 15 percent. The way I was told was vey unprofessional and it left me feeling mad. I did some
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    research and foun dout that not only am I supposed to be notified in writing but that they intended to pay me less than the minimum wage for salaried employees. So I
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    wrote my manager kindly requesting it in writing and asked about the minimum wage. I did receive a standard reply that he would look into it. The next day I
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    get called into a meeting with my manager and he tells me this really irc management. I held strong and explained the situation. Now I don't even get replies to emails or text and a coworker informed me he is being reclassified as hourly I
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    suspect because as my manager informed me several salaried employees didn't even make the minimum. At the moment I can identify at least 2 other that probably got reclassified.
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    $ 22 DOLLARS
    via Money Knack

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Mysterious_Mix... . 22h ago Company is probably shaking in their boots right now because they know they broke the law. They're hoping no one involved is consulting with an attorney who specializes in employment law.
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    tandyman8360 • 21h ago I had a new manager who decided to make his salaried engineers (like me) work more than 40 hours a week. I went to HR, who were less than helpful. But then he told me not to log the hours, which is against the "falsifying your timecard" part of the handbook.
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    On the plus side, I became hourly and made thousands in overtime. I also got on my VPs sh list and missed more raises. I'm salaried at another company now and maybe work an extra 5 hours a YEAR.
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    • Rough-Buttersco... 21h ago Salaries being lowered. Let me guess, you live in the land of the bald eagle where you think you're free but that's just a screen over the fact companies own you all.
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    Vapordude420 · 17h ago Bro you didn't get anybody demoted, you just got them properly classified. Salaried employees have to have two things: enough pay, and the right duties. Miss either one
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    and they have to be paid hourly. Being paid hourly also means you get overtime, so the company will be paying all of you more now
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    JacketInterestin... . • 22h ago Salary is a scam. With hourly pay, you have more control over your personal life. Get paid for all of your work time.
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    Speed_102 20h ago In the US? CONTACT THE DEPT OF LABOR! In another country, do the same witth thier analog!
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    Beatrix-the-floof 13h ago • Being classified as hourly isn't a demotion. Salary is not the prestige they make it out to be.
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    cyberman0 • 15h ago What needs to be done is someone needs to go over with the other co workers and explained why this happened. Another place I
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    was working at did the same thing to a fair number of people. 20 to 40id guess. Management ruffledy feathers after I had worked 12 hours for a site fully down
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    issue (IT). They wanted me to stay until 5pm 3 hours longer. I knew it was off but my brain was jelly at that point. The state I'm in has pay requirements to classify someone as salaried without
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    overtime pay. Just so happened that they did this to everyone ignoring state laws. I hinted at it to my boss and it was fixed that day, everyone either got paid the OT or given time off
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    at the 1.5x rate. All because they wouldn't let me leave after an already 12 hour day.. I worked from 3am to 5pm with about 10 mins to scarf food while working on IT issues.
    via prologix237

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