Legal Question in Employment Law in California

The employer is entitled to set and change hours, duties, titles, compensation, benefits, leaves, vacations, holidays, policies, rules, etc. just not retroactively. Employees have the 'right' to pay and employee benefits per the minimum wage laws, and company policy as agreed, to be provided a 'safe' workplace to minimize risk of injury, and sometimes are entitled to certain medical/pregnancy leave rights. That's about it. In general, unless an employee is civil service, in a union, or has a written employment contract, they are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or fired any time for any reason, with or without �cause�, explanation or notice, other than for illegal discrimination, harassment or retaliation under the ADA disability, Civil Rights [age, race, sex, ethnic, religion, pregnancy, etc], Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. The employee's goal should be to keep the employer happy.

It is not clear from your statement whether a pay cut was made retroactively but, as Mr. Nelson says, if that happened it is illegal. An employer can only cut employee pay from the date of the announcement forward. Unfortunately, the only other requirement is that they must pay no less than minimum wage and, if your are non-exempt, overtime premiums, should you be working more than 8 hours a day or 40 in a week. If you are salaried, your rate of pay must be twice the minimum wage to maintain the exemption from overtime premiums.

No one should be working for free. If you are required to do so, you can either file a wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner's DLSE office or consult with an employment law attorney near you.