Legal Question in Employment Law in Pennsylvania

Comp plan changed for no reason

i'm a corporate recruiter & compstructure was changed w/o notice. I was handed a memo that stated I would no longer receive 4% of the hire's annual salary, but $1500 per hire. I will receive this after a 3-month waiting period and I & the employee must both be employed. If not, I receive nothing. My old plan gave me 2% comm. on the date of hire, and 2% on the 1 year mark, no written restrictions. The comm. that are outstanding on my old plan ($28k) will continue to be paid out on the stated dates as long as i am employed. If I quit, I receive nothing. If they terminate my employment for reasons other than cause, i receive my current outstanding comm. prior to 3/1/02. (cause?). I was not asked to sign this memo. Today we extended an offer to one of my candidates that would have been a total comm. of $4k, now I will receive $1500 in 3 months. I left work at 3:45 today, and they fired my closest friend in the company at 4pm. I have been a stellar performer with no problems. I think they are pressuring me to quit. I sent the interim VP of HR an email this morning with questions regarding the changes & she never responded, but fired my friend the minute I left the building. v


Asked on 3/01/02, 7:07 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas Martin Law Office of Thomas Martin

Re: Comp plan changed for no reason

If you do not have an employment cotract for a specific period of time, your employer is legally entitled to change your rate of compensation at any time. If you continue to work after receiving notice of the change in compensation, you probably will be deemed to have accepted the new terms. Howver, the law does not permit an employer to change the terms of an agreement after the work has been performed. Therefore, you may be able to collect the commissions owed on placements you have already made even if you leave the job. Your entitlement to post employment commissions will depend on whether or not you can show that you had a reasobale expectation of entitlement to those commissions when you made the placement.

Read more
Answered on 3/04/02, 8:54 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Labor and Employment Law questions and answers in Pennsylvania