Exempt Confusion
Aileuron
2 Posts
Last year the owner promoted 2 individuals into new supervisory positions- We are a retail business and although we are open year round, we lay off alot of our hourly ee's in the off season. Owner is now saying we may have to lay off these 2 individuals. They worked long and hard "in season" and I'm trying to collect my ammunition in an attempt to change his mind. There are alot of reasons not to do this but are any of them Legal Reasons???
Comments
Unless the lay-off of the exempt people is based on discriminatory reasons (age, sex, etc...), there's probably nothing illegal with their separation. The fact that they were exempt probably means nothing for their continued employment (assuming no employment contracts, etc), but you're in a better position to determine how their separation was determined and what factors were used to RIF them..........If these individuals are whispering disparate treatment, then you'll be better served reviewing this with your local legal counsel; otherwise it's the employers right to determine how many staff it needs.
>hard "in season" and I'm trying to collect my
>ammunition in an attempt to change his mind.
>There are alot of reasons not to do this but are
>any of them Legal Reasons???
What are those reasons? An employer is within his/her rights to layoff personnel due to fluctuations in the business cycle, no matter how hard someone worked 'in season'. As long as the selections are not based on factors that violate federal or state laws, the employer is free to make such decisions in the interest of his business. When things get tough, people get laid off, even good people.
The third point others have already made and that is how were these two individuals selected as the ones that would be caught up in the RIF? Were there any discriminatory reasons?
gb
Good luck,
Dutch2