Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Can your employer force you to take a promotion?
My fiancee was recently forced to accept a promotion to a branch manager. He tried to turn it down, but they told him he had no choice. He was working 2 miles away from home, and now he works over 30 miles away. He is also unqualified for the job, which is the main reason he was apprehensive to take it. Because he is not well trained, and there is no one available to train him, he works 14 hour days and his quality of life is suffering severely. We work for the same company, which is a corporation that recently went public, and since then they have been cutting down on employment in order to keep their numbers up, so we're all squeezed thin as it is. They forced this promotion on him because his attendance is good and he's computer literate, which helps a little in his position, but not much. They gave him a 2 dollar per hour raise for this ''promotion'', which barely covers the gas to get to his new workplace. Is there anything he can do? Any demands he can make? So far, all demands have been met with derision by the president; demands like more employees to help cover this tremendous influx of work. I'm sorry this was so wordy, but I wanted to get as many details out as possible. Thank you for your time.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can your employer force you to take a promotion?
The real question is, why would your fiance want to continue working for a company that treats him as you describe? If it is for the money, then I'd say his best bet is to get his resume out there and look for something better.
Employers have the right to allocate personnel as they see fit, as long as it is not done in a discriminatory or unlawful manner. If that is the case, your fiance should talk with an employment law attorney. If not, he needs to get out of there. A company president that derides its most valuable asset, its dedicated employees, chooses to overwork and understaff its workforce all for the sake of saving a buck for its stockholders, is not going to suddenly see the light of day and change.
If your husband is paid by the hour, make sure he is getting paid overtime. If he is being paid a salary because he is a branch manager, he should be getting paid no less than two times the current state minimum wage.
Re: Can your employer force you to take a promotion?
Details are good. I'd be interested to know whether they provided him with this so-called promotion so that they can avoid payment of overtime even though he may perform many of the same job requirements that he did when he was not a "manager." Please check out my website at http://www.tgm-law.com and contact me if I can be of assistance.
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