One of those questions!

Johanaf · July 2002

Ok. Here is the story. Some employees complained about the grade of paid in their particular department . It was too low compared to the rest of the company. Management agree to gave the employees a change of salary in January.
Well the approval came up in June. They were told that they could not retro the salary to January but they will give them a $1000 check. I guess now management is denying the claim about the $1,000. They talked to the HR Director and she told him that their is nothing the can do about this.
My view is that they are out of luck!
Do thay have an option that I don't know.
Thanks!
So glad is Thursday

Hatchetman · July 2002

They can all quit.

They can contact a union, like the Teamsters, to try to organize the workforce.

They can contact an employment attorney to see if there was any binding agreement made by the company in that January representation.

If they are still being paid minimum wage (assuming that they are non-exempt) and their compensation is not based on any illegal discrimination (or in practice result in disparate impact on women and minorities), I agree with you that there is nothing that they can do, except as I noted.

Carol CA · July 2002

I would agree with Hatchetman. Unless they were given anything in writing promising them this increase, if management is denying it happened, there is nothing they can do. Even if it is in writing "business conditions" can change and increases be delayed or cancelled. There is no law that says a company has to provide salary increases. They just need to be concerned about how competitive they are in the marketplace and what they will do if people start to leave.

Johanaf · July 2002

Thank you guys! That's that I thought. I was just hoping to hear something different.

Don D · July 2002

Who do you mean when you say "management"? What is your relationship to the H.R. Director? The reason I ask is that someone, perhaps you, should ask the H.R. Director, if you are her/his subordinate, to speak with the CEO or Owner, if he/she is who you refer to as "management". It is unclear as to who told whom what and what authority they had to say what might have been said. If however, a member of the executive staff such as the owner or the H.R. Director or the CFO or a similar level of responsibility stood up in front of a group in a meeting where realignment of salary was discussed, and did make the statement about the $1000, they certainly have a peg to hang their hat on. Like Hatchet said, though, they can quit or do several other things. I have seen numerous situations where realignment was recommended and studied and it took several months to implement it. The workers should be thankful they have been realigned and move on in my personal opinion. x:-)

Johanaf · July 2002

This is not where I work. A friend called me with this dilema and since I am a HR Generalist she wanted my opinion.

Don D · July 2002

Oh. But the advice remains the same. They have the options Hatchetman gave and the additional advice from Carol. I would tell my friend across town to find out who said what to whom in what forum and in what complete context. Please post when you find out. The only way they have something to move forward with, I think, is if it is in writing, OR was told to an assembled group some of whom have notes they took and if the person was speaking from authority. Probably you will find out that the truth is that somebody along the way said something like, "You know, I wish we could retro this if it gets approved, or maybe somebody would consider something like a bonus check to make up for no retro" and it was said in passing and is blown out of context by a few who are trying to 'crank' the company for a thousand bucks. And, if they mess with it, the pain they might invite will be more than the pleasure a thousand bucks would have brought.

Rockie · July 2002

I agree with Don. Casual comments made in passing tend to get passed off as gospel, especially in the areas of pay. I remember a group of our highly valued technical employees was given a market adjustment and the question was asked "Will this adjustment top us out?" The answer was no. Guess what? They took this to mean that their position would never be topped out. When one of the techs was told he was at the top of his grade and would be red circled until the market rate was adjusted,he swore up and down that the CEO told this group in a meeting that they would never top out. So....people filter what they want to filter in their own minds and how it benefits them. I would say "Get it in writing!".

One of those questions!

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