Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Hi all. My employer recently switched from semi-monthly to bi-weekly pay periods. The effective date was April 1st of this year. In other words, I went from "real time" pay to being paid in arrears. Previously, our pay periods would begin on January 1 & end on Dec. 31, with us getting our full salaries. This year, I was paid from 1/1/16 to 3/31/16, or 6 weeks at the 24 week rate (semi-monthly). Our last pay day for 2016 will be 12/23 (for 12/7 to 12/20), which means we will have 19 pay periods at the 26 week rate (bi-weekly) in 2016. Our next paycheck will be 01/06/17 (for 12/21/16 to 1/3/17). In other words, the remainder of our pay for 2016 will not be paid in the year it was earned. The same goes for 2017. The remainder will just keep "rolling over" into the following year until the end of my employment. My salary is $92,000 annually. Had my employer stayed with the semi-monthly pay cycles, as of December 31, 2016, I would have grossed $92,055.00. This is what my 2015 W-2 shows as well. Now, I will only gross $89,817.93 in 2016. My employment contract is for an annual salary of $92,000. It seems that they should have either paid the difference up front when the pay periods changed, or taken our gross earnings through 3/31/16 & deducted it from my annual salary amount & then divided that amount over the remainder of my 2016 pay checks. I have seen several articles on this sort of issue & have noticed that this may perhaps be a breach of contract? I'd like any opinions that you can offer. Thanks so much.
2 Answers from Attorneys
As long as you will be paid in full for the work performed and pay is delivered on either a semi-monthly or bi-weekly schedule, it is perfectly legal. You were promised $92,000 per year worked, not per calendar year. Unless you started work January 1 of the year you were hired you weren't paid $92,000 for that calendar year were you? No. If your employment ends on any date other than December 31 of the year it ends, you won't be entitled to $92,000 for that year, will you? No. The $92,000 is a RATE of pay, not the amount of pay you are entitled to in any given time period. As long as you get $92,000 for each full year of work, and the correct percentage of that amount for each pay period, and you are paid on time per the employer's pay schedule, whether you receive that pay exactly in the calendar year earned is utterly irrelevant.
I see nothing in your Email to suggest that you have a claim against your employer. The shift from paying current to paying slightly in arrears is perfectly legal in an at-will agreement, so long as the schedule of payments complies with California law on the subject.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
