Office Quandries
Peter Rachleff
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PUNCHING OUT page 1 of 3 | |||||
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Weekly Answers to Office Quandries |
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Professor Peter Rachleff |
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I'd been working for five years in this company before it was bought by
the present owner. Our salary was not adjusted. It was carried over. As the
most senior person in my position, I had to train the new temporaries. But
my problem surfaced when I found out that the temporaries were hired at a
higher starting rate than what I was making. I informed our human resources
director of my case and he told me he would look into it. Twice I e-mailed a
reminder to him but it's been a month now and nothing is being done. My
question is, is this legal? I know it is not fair to us, but is the
management liable for unfair labor practices? Is there anything I can do to
make the management act on my case? Can I refer this to a labor lawyer? I'd
appreciate any advice I can get. I'm already on the verge of quitting.
Mel
Mel, your employer is legally within his rights to pay those newly hired temps more than you. There's no point in hiring a labor lawyer or trying to file an "unfair labor practice" complaint. |
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It's interesting how often, and how plaintively, letter writers to this
column ask: "Is this legal?" Given the number of lawyer shows on television,
lawyer movies, and lawyer wannabes who run around the halls of higher
education, I suppose it's not surprising that most of us think that there
are--even, must be--legal strictures against the ways we're mistreated. But,
alas, this is rarely the case, particularly where the workplace is involved.