Legal Question in Employment Law in New York
Can I be fired for doing my job?
I work for a small company
that is incorporated, and is
owned by one person. My
employer however is the
company, not the gentleman.
Recently he opened a new
business and asked me to
do work for that other
company.. I told him that I did
not have to because I work
for the company, NOT this
man, my checks come from
the company, NOT from
him.... Is there any way he
can fire me?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can I be fired for doing my job?
If you are not a union member or with an employment contract you can pretty much be fired for any reason so long as it is not a discriminatory reason.
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Re: Can I be fired for doing my job?
You asked about working for an employer's other business while on the clock.
Employment in Pennsylvania is at-will. This means you can be fired for any cause or no cause so long as the reason is not illegally discriminatory.
the employer can demand that you do any job so long as he understands that your are employed by only one employer. In other words, all the work you do for related entities would count towards a 40 hour workweek. If he has you do 30 hours for company A and then 15 hours for company B you would be legally entitled to 5 hours of overtime pay (assuming you are a non-exempt employee).
Hope that helps. If you think he could use some help setting up a proper compliance program I would be happy to help and you should pass my name and contact info along to him.
Regards,