Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Re: Can an employer arbitrarily pay you at a lesser hourly rate without warning

In almost all circumstances, an employer is not permitted to reduce compensation for work without advance notice. An employment relationship is a kind of implied contract where the employee agrees to perform work at an agreed upon wage. That is the ongoing contract until the employer announces a change, at which time the employee is permitted to accept the change and work at a reduced rate or to reject the change a leave employment.

The remedy for an employer's unilateral reduction without advance notice would be an action to recover unpaid wages, which of course could lead to retaliation by the employer. A termination for complaining about wages very well could be illegal under state law, and if the claim involves complaints about unpaid overtime pay, retaliation would be a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The above does not constitute legal opinion and is offered for the purposes of discussion only. The law differs in every jurisdiction, and you should not rely on any opinion except that of an attorney you have retained, who has a professional duty to advise you after being fully informed of all the pertinent facts and who is familiar with the

applicable law.