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Employees Rights in an Emergency?

Posted by Cliff on from the environmental-or-otherwise dept.

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?

3 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Looks like you don't have any, but... by tao_of_biology · · Score: 5, Informative
    First, the obligatory IANAL... Now that that is out of the way.

    It is implied on this page that they don't HAVE to give you the day off. It reads:

    All county employees who are not Hurricane Frances mission-critical should not report to work on Friday, September 3rd in order to prepare themselves and their families. Private employers are urged to provide their employees the same flexibility.

    Judging by that, it's more of a suggestion than a requirement... But I also found this on this page:

    South Florida's labor and employment lawyers got some unexpected business, thanks to Hurricane Frances and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. As the storm threatened South Florida over the weekend, Rundle and County Mayor Alex Penelas publicly warned employers that they could face criminal prosecution for forcing employees to work during the hurricane.

    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."

  2. Varies by state by rot26 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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
  3. Call your state attorney by segvio · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.