Poor Performance

terrima · January 2004

We have an employee who has been given numerous warnings regarding their poor perforance. My question is does anyone know if we can lower their wage to the minimum for that position rather than firing that person and still have it be legal or do we have to totally reclassify them? We should of fired this person long time ago but did not.

HRQ · January 2004

Why do you want to reduce their pay rather than moving them on? You'll still be paying someone who can't or won't do the job to standard.

Paul in Cannon Beach · January 2004

What is keeping you from terminating this person?

Hunter1 · January 2004

HRQ and Paul raise valid questions. It would seem that you should get rid of this employee, but, in direct answer to your question, yes, you can lower an employee's salary, generally. It should be in your policy, and you shouldn't do it for an illegal reason (age, sex, race, etc), but if an employer can raise an employee's salary, we can lower it also.

terrima · January 2004

Because our Board of Directors won't let us fire her as they are afraid of a law suit.

HRQ · January 2004

I know I sound like a three-year-old with all my "why's", but why are they concerned about a lawsuit? Is the documentation inadequate? The employee is in a protected class?

I just don't see what positive results you'll get from cutting someone's pay who really just needs to move on, unless there is a position you can demote them to, along with appropriate reduction in pay, that better suits their abilities.

If this person needs to be moved out and you just can't get your bosses support, then you might do a final warning outlining all the previous warnings, explain all the procedures the employee has failed to follow which resulted in the poor performance. It almost always comes down to steps the employee failed to take which resulted in the poor performance. Present this document to your boss, then follow up with your boss for a term if/when the employee continues failing to follow procedure.

In a few past cases, while creating the document, I figured out on my own (or with help of the Forum) why this person should NOT be termed when I was at first set on terming. This has happened to me in cases where termination seemed clear-cut until I compiled the background into one document and our own issues were more obvious, whether it be the training was inadequate, the employee hadn't been warned as many times as I'd thought, there were other circumstances involved, etc.

There I go not answering the original question again.

Betty I_O · January 2004

Sure you can lower the employee's pay, but what will you accomplish? Having a disgruntled poor performer? If you have the prior disciplinary actions documented and have followed your policy for progressive discipline, why can't you terminate?

FHR · January 2004

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-13-04 AT 03:46PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Lawsuit? Need some details about that. By lowering her pay she'll just get even more riled. I think what you are hoping for is a resignation and that will cover you on a lawsuit. Murky waters there. I suppose you also don't want her to collect. What reason are you going to give the ee for reduction in pay? Performance? If so, you are setting a precedent.
Let us know how this goes forward.

JM in ATL · January 2004

As previously stated, yes you can lower. However, if this ee chooses not to accept and quits then chances are they will be given UI. Especially if you change their work duties and/or work hours.

Basically ask yourself, is it the employees fault that they do not perform the job the way we expect? Or, did the employer not provide enough feed back and training? You can't expect an ee to change if they are given specific areas to improve and how and when those improvements should occur.

My biggest pet peeve is when an employer tells an ee to improve their attitude, but makes no suggestions on how this should be accomplished or what specifically needs to be improved. Changing your attitude is so vauge. What does that mean anyway? What BEHAVIOURS not TRAITS does this person need to improve upon and if he/she does then does she get to move back to her old position at her old payrate and if so, how long does she have to be demoted for?

I think there is more to this that we can help you with if you could provide more details, especially why your boss would be afraid of a lawsuit.

marc · January 2004

The lawyers can answer this better than I, but I remember a term called "constructive termination." If you lower the wages enough, you might be getting to that point, and the lawsuit would come anyway.

Paul in Cannon Beach · January 2004

Isn't a reduction in pay still considered an "adverse employment action" and if the EE could prove discrimination, she could still make a case against the employer?

Poor Performance

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