Slashdot Mirror
Employees Rights in an Emergency?
Waiting-for-Ivan asks: "In Florida in the past month and a half, we have survived 2 hurricanes. During the last one I was within the areas with a hurricane warning (i.e. hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours). My company (who will remain unnamed) wanted everyone to come in. Those who did not come in had their pay docked (salary or hourly didn't matter) and threatened with loss of their pay for Labor Day. We are not an emergency facility whose services are required during an emergency. Is this legal? Can they make us come in during a hurricane warning (or any other environmental emergency) and if we refuse can they punish us for not doing so? Do we as employees have any rights (and can they dock salaried employees so easily)? What laws are in affect explaining these circumstances?
It is implied on this page that they don't HAVE to give you the day off. It reads:
Judging by that, it's more of a suggestion than a requirement... But I also found this on this page:
So, it sounds like people are suing for being forced to work during the hurricane, which might be a slightly different situation than yours.
Sounds to me like your employer is just a major league ahole, and you might not be able to do anything about it.
-- "A chicken is an egg's way of making another egg."
Workers' rights? You must have forgotten that you live in the United States of Avarice. Now grab your pick axe, and get back to mining that salt.
How ya like dat?
Florida is a "right to work" state, meaning that they can terminate you for pretty much anything OTHER than race/age/sex/religion (i.e. things explicitly covered by law.) As far as docking pay, that's also legal, as long as your weekly average hourly wage (pay/hours) doesn't fall below federal minimum wage.
It's a weasely thing to do but there's probably not anything you can do about it.
To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
My company has a policy that we're "always open." Last year, we experienced a blizzard so severe that the city issued tickets to any non-emergency vehicles on the road. The power at the building was also knocked out. Yet when we got back to work, we were expected to make up the time or use Paid Time Off. The excuse made by management was, "Sometimes you have to use you PTO benefit for the company's benefit." (!)
I'd been working there all of a month, or I probably would have contacted a lawyer. If it happens again, I'll definitely be exploring a class-action suit. In a state of emergency, when it's not safe to go to work, it's completely unreasonable to expect employees to come in. If it's not illegal, it ought to be. If I were you, I'd contact a lawyer.
Right...
I live in Florida in an area that was sure to be hit by Charley, I left Thursday and got a hotel room for me and my family ( I live 1 block from the Gulf in a low lying area). My work was open that Thursday until 3PM when the "Official" notice came to leave. The hotel I found was full that night and had I waited to leave until I was Allowed to by my employer I would've had a tough time finding a room and may have had to sit in an evacuation center for a few days. Anyhow, I did get a "Written Notice" from my employer for not coming in that day which I signed with a note saying that my family comes before my job.
The good news is that I hated that job and I quit today anyhow. (they're sleazy snakes) all in all, F any employer that asks you to stand in harms way so they can make a buck. If more people took this approach employers would have to be more considerate. I'd guess your employer is a publicly traded company, where Money is the only diety.
"The Most Fun Possible on 4 wheels" is at SunBuggy in Las Vegas
Seriously! This is far beyond the realm of an "Ask Slashdot"! I can see wanting to get a feeling for the experiences of others, but how many times did you ask "is it legal"? Laws may vary from region to region, but I cannot imagine in an area that is about to become a disater area that your employer would be allowed to do this.
That being said, TALK TO A LAWYER ABOUT THIS. You should be able to get at least a reasonably cheap 15-30 minute consult to get the answer you need. Also, talk to the appropriate parts of your state's government, ie THESE GUYS.
Hope that helps.
-jason
If I could only live my life with my threshold at 4...
During the hurricane a state official was on the television reporting that many similar events had occurred. She mentioned to call the state attorney. The relevant information is available at http://myfloridalegal.com/contact or you can just call 1-866-966-7226.
Whether it's legal or not, the management must be fools not to consider what this does to morale!
I guess it's harder to quantify human resources, enthusiasm, and loyalty than missed hours...
No, "Right to Work" is a political euphemism for a law that prevents labor unions from negotiating a contract with employers that prohibits them from hiring non-union laborers.
here is something
Employers Could Face Civil, Criminal Liabilities
POSTED: 6:17 pm EDT September 4, 2004
MIAMI -- Some employees concerned about being forced to go to work have contacted Local 10 for answers.
Local 10 has received e-mails and phone calls from people who say they are being forced to leave their homes to go to work even though the area is under hurricane evacuation order.
Saturday, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas addressed those concerns.
Penelas reiterated that no one should be out on the highways and no employer should be forcing employees to go to work unless they are "essential" workers such as medical care workers or law enforcement officers.
Fernandez-Rundle told Local 10's Michael Putney that employers who ignore the county's request and won't do it "for good will and to protect others" should obey the request because they could face both civil and criminal liabilities if an employee is hurt due to being out in th
e storm.
Employers are pretty good at working together to lower wages and benefits. If we as employees could have half as much solidarity and less short term kiss-ass we'd all be much futher along. Workers rights are achieved only by fighting for them, and that's the only inevitablity here.
You know, I'm mighty tired of hearing this perennial bromide - Frankly, it's NOT that easy for employees to switch jobs (Especially in this market), and if you think ANY market is a "free" market you need a lesson in real-world economics.
So you think the terms of your job should be "protected" by the government, huh?
They already are, in many ways. For example, your employer is bound by the Civil Rights Act, OSHA, Fair Labor Standards Act, the Pension Protection Act, Disability, Workers Comp, Unemployment Insurance and so on. Under the FLSA if you are a salaried employee you probably cannot be docked in pay for anything less than a full day absence. Docking your pay beyond that is likely to be a violation of the FLSA and you should contact a lawyer or your state department of labor.
...(or, "Can you say 'passive-aggressive'?")
1. PUBLICITY...
Find out which other workplaces (near yours) are/aren't doing the same as your employer.
Even better, get friendly with people at other jobs who have the same problem.
Then all of you call the local TV news shows, radio talk-shows, and newspapers, and ask them to do a story publicizing the situation and the names of the offending employers.
And after the storm is over, DO post the names of those employers anonymously on some very public forums, and then anonymously email links (to those threads) to the head of personnel and the CEO.
If it's a publicly-traded company, find out which socially-conscious funds are investors -- especially union pension funds, California state employee pension funds, etc.
Anonymously tell the funds about the story, and cc your message to your CEO, AND to your corporation's department of investor relations.
2. Ask your doctor to give you some sedatives because of the extra "anxiety" caused by the coming storm. Call in sick because you're impaired by the tranquilizers. They can't deny your sick-pay.
3. Have a slip-and-fall injury in their parking lot, due to the bad weather. Get sick-time off. Better yet, get disability pay and workmen's-comp.
Better yet, sue their asses if you're hurt badly enough (btw, this is another idea for point #1: tell the company's liability insurer about what the company is doing).
If only that's what Labor Unions really did. That's their origin, and that's what they were/are meant to do, and that's what's badly needed, today.
But IMHO, there's a class of people that can smell money, and insinuate themselves into money flows. Some time ago, they smelled Union Dues, and the res is, sadly, history. Also unfortunately, some time back they began to smell Health Care, too.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.