Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Hi I have question on pay discrepancy for non-exempt workers. Please note that no union at my workplace.
Recently, I found out that my shift differential is significantly less than some of my co-workers (who have same work title and job duty as I do). To illustrate, some coworkers will get a shift differential of $5 per hr from working pm shift, but I only get $1 per hr (same pm shift, same work). When I asked my boss, he told me that is because I got hired after 2012. The company changed policy on shift differential in 2012. With that said, people who were hired before 2012 can still get the "old" shift differential which is a lot more.
Does it sound wrong at all? Legal? I would think that everyone with same job title regardless of hire date should get the same shift differential (coz it is given for working a certain shift, not for performance or seniority). If they changed the company policy, they should change everyone shift differential, not just the new hire.
Thanks for your help.
2 Answers from Attorneys
There is no law requiring equal pay for equal work. As for your particular situation, it is common when companies decide to cut payroll costs not to reduce the pay of existing employees because that will cause employee morale problems and frequently a mass exodus of employees. Therefore they pay lower rates for new hires than previous hires and allowed the payroll costs to go down as the older workers leave on their own.
Nothing wrong or 'illegal' about it, and it is common practice. Some people are better workers, more experienced or trained, and worth more than others. It is called capitalism. Make yourself more valuable to the employer and you'll get pay raises too.
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