Worker’s Salary Can’t Be Changed Without Notice

Q: I have worked at this company for almost five years. Recently I moved to another department without any hassle. I foolishly didn’t ask my new supervisor if there was any salary adjustment.

When I received my paycheck, I noticed that he cut my salary. When I complained, he said it is a company policy to start at the salary rate I have now.

Can my salary be changed without my knowledge?

--C.S., Huntington Beach

A: Your salary is a condition of your employment and cannot be changed without prior notice to you.

Unless there is a written company policy covering such transfers that is disclosed to employees and clearly provides for salary decreases in your situation, your salary should not have been changed without first providing you with notice.

Now that you have been notified, you probably are stuck with the decrease. But all paychecks that you received for work performed prior to the notice should have been at the higher salary.

--Michael A. Hood

Employment law attorney

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker

How to Get Your Union to Abide by the Rules

Q: If union officials are not following their own bylaws and agreements and are cutting special deals for some people, who can we go to or what can be done to make sure they enforce our contract?

--J.L., Fullerton

A: The best way to make sure that your union enforces the contract is to file a grievance every time your employer violates it, and to make sure that your union has the witnesses and evidence to prove the violations to an arbitrator.

If your union refuses to process your grievance, you should demand to know the reason. If the union will not tell you, or if the union’s reasoning appears arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith, you can either file an unfair-labor-practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board or a lawsuit claiming that your union breached its duty of fair representation.

These claims can be difficult to prove. The law does not require that a union arbitrate every grievance or pursue every contract violation. A union must, however, make honest, reasoned decisions in negotiating contracts and handling grievances. If it does so, it will not be liable even if its decisions turn out to be incorrect or harm employees. In addition, mistakes and negligence are not unfair representation in most circumstances.

To prove a violation of the duty of fair representation, you must show that the union discriminated against you based on an unlawful distinction such as your race, sex, age or religion. A fair-representation violation may also exist if your union acted in bad faith (for example, because you oppose the union leadership or its policies) or irrationally (for example, by flipping a coin).

You also state that your union is not following its bylaws. While your letter does not state the nature of the violations, you may have legal recourse if they involve interference with the voting, free speech or free assembly rights guaranteed union members by the Landrum-Griffin Act. Depending on the nature of the bylaw violations, you may be required to file a complaint with the Labor Department before filing suit. In addition, in most cases you must also exhaust the appeals procedures in your local union’s bylaws or your international constitution unless an appeal would be futile, too slow or otherwise inadequate.

--Joseph L. Paller Jr.

Union-employee attorney

Gilbert & Sackman

Employer Not Required to Pay for Travel Time

Q: I am a manager in a restaurant chain that rotates its managers among different restaurants in Southern California. Rotations are frequent and, as far as I can tell, there is no set time for how long a manager is at a particular location before being moved.

Although this might be good for the business, most managers end up driving long distances, and the company does not pay gasoline expenses. How long should they wait between rotations, and shouldn’t the company compensate managers for the additional travel?

--K.L., Downey.

A: Typically, employers rotate managers to bring in new blood--someone who can introduce ideas or strategies and try to stimulate creative thinking.

Rotation also helps broaden the managers’ experience and knowledge of how different sites operate. In addition, rotation helps to break up the chumminess that often occurs between managers and workers and which may limit their authority and effectiveness as supervisors.

You need to speak to your supervisor to determine if there is any set policy for rotating managers. If there is one, your supervisor will appreciate the feedback that this key policy is having a significant effect on managers. If there is no formal policy, perhaps your supervisor can provide some information that will give you and the other managers an indication of the factors that go into the decisions to rotate managers.

Because commuting to a primary job site is the employee’s responsibility and is not done on company time, the employer is not required to compensate you for additional travel when the work site changes. However, many companies will compensate employees in some way (travel allowance, additional pay) for the inconvenience caused when an employee is assigned to a more distant work site.

Again, discuss your particular situation with your supervisor and voice your concerns. Maybe there is some form of compensation that is (or will be) given for managers who are inconvenienced by these rotations.

--Ron Riggio, director

Kravis Leadership Institute

Claremont McKenna College