First of all I worked for a small company of about 50 plus employess.Well I had to take time off of work for my daughter who had brain surgery. I was gone three weeks, and was told that I had no worries my job was safe. When I got back to work, I had lost my position and was told that I am a floater now and that they will keep me working as long as they could. (In the mean time they hire 3 part time employees and 2 employees from a Temp agency). When I questioned why we had the temps doing work that I was capable of doing, I was told that I lost my seniority ( I had worked there 1 year 6 months) since I took time off for my daughter. I was also told that they would have let me go sooner, but the partner in the company did think that was right. Any way the answer to my questions as to why they are keeping the temps was that I made a commitment to them, but your are a great employee, a hard worker and we really like you, but we dont have enough work to keep you busy.
Is this legal?
2007-01-12 09:50:26 · 18 answers · asked by christine w 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
I don't believe that it is legal if you took a proper leave of absence, they are supposed to hold your job until either or return or the expiration of your leave of absence, they have a Family and medical leave of absence which the law protects employess if they take it and your job must still be there and it must be the same position when you return. The Family medical leave act only applys to companies that have 50 or more employess, which you state you have. If you just took time off and did not file for a leave of absence then they can let you go, but if you did file the appropriate paperwork with human resources then no they cannot and you should contact an attourney. I had an employer that tried a similar thing to me when I returned to work after having a baby, I marched to human resources and threatened to contact my attourney and they called my supervisor and told her that she had no grounds to let me go. If I were you contact the Empoyment development department and contact an attourney and the department of Labor. Even if you don't get your job back, they did not have grounds to just let you go unless you did something wrong and you have the right to either your job back or compensation. Take them to court.
Here is some info from the dept of Labor RE: Family and medical leave act. FMLA Good Luck, don't let them get away with it, and I hope everything is OK with your daughter, your a great dad, and you did the right thing, it must have been a very difficult thing you went through and this is the last thing that you needed.
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.htm
2007-01-12 09:57:45 · answer #1 · answered by MRod 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it depends, if you live in a "right to work" state (most are) then you can be layed off cause your boss got up on the wrong side of the bed. Yes in most states it is legal. Not fair, but legal.
Unless you are in a minority class with a claim under some other area (and being female won't do it) you are most likely out of luck.
Let me clarify for the "Family Leave Act" group answers. True technically the act does provide protection if you qualify for it but only in as much as the position that was held by the employee or one that is equal to it is at the company upon return. Because the company appears to have eliminated the position she held in favor of temporary employees (outside contractors) the position is no longer valid and therefore not covered by the leave act. Sorry but true.
Actually it is kind of surprising that a small company is savvy enough to understand this. It is a "work around" large companies use to release employees during a downsizing that would otherwise be covered.
2007-01-12 09:57:30 · answer #2 · answered by MtnManInMT 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes it's legal. Is your work full time still? If they significantly reduced your hours or pay rate then you could file for partial unemployement and receive it and still work.
Think of the issue this way though. Your employer hired you to do a job. You had to leave the job to take care of pressing matters, but the job remained, so they had to hire additional staff to cover. And since you were gone for so long, they pretty much replaced you in that job. They didn't have any choice in the matter.
If you are as good an employee as you say you are, then keep up the good work and they will not be sorry they kept you on. Make them need your work every day, show them that your are committed to the company and that they can count on you. You'll be put in a place deserving of your talents soon enough.
2007-01-12 09:57:32 · answer #3 · answered by kb6jra 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Technically they can because the temps do not work for them, they still iget paid by the Temp Agency. The logic they are probably using is that they need the extra hands sometimes, but not full time, and with a full time worker they have to give you your 40 hours, regardless of the workflow. Temps on the other hand have no such guarantee, if the work slows down, the Temps can be sent home on the spot.
It gives the company much more flexibility with scheduling, and in a world where the workers no longer matter, flexibilty and cost saving is all that companies think about.
2007-01-12 09:56:25 · answer #4 · answered by answerman 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes it's legal. You probably had benefits that was part of the companies cost of employing you. Benefit cost such as health care is skyrocketing. The temps and part timers have no benefits. The company also have no payments to social security on your behalf,This is the trend in smaller businesses now. Sad, Huh?The company that I used to work for now has no employees, just contract workers. A lot of the same workers but now contractors instead of employees.There goes Social security!
2007-01-12 10:16:39 · answer #5 · answered by Del C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There has to be a reason he prefers to pay temps substantially more (take their hourly rate and add at least 50% for the temp fee).
It must be because Jan and Feb are slow months for almost everyone in the country (except ski resorts and tax accountants), and he would rather bet that he can work the temps a few days and get rid of them rather than work you a full month when he doesn't need you.
2007-01-12 09:55:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like you might have a case against this company for laying you off. I would get an opinion from at least two attorneys.
As far as your daughter goes, you did the right thing. Companies expect you to put them first before family. When you look back on this you will be glad you were at your daughters side.
Hope she is doing well..........
2007-01-12 09:58:57 · answer #7 · answered by Incognito 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with Silverbac... You need to talk to a lawyer. The family and medical leave act prohibits firing or laying someone off for such a reason.
I would talk to the lawyer before I even mentioned it to the employer.. If you try to press the law on them they will just invent a different reason for letting you go. The lawyer will be able to tell you exactly what to do.
2007-01-12 09:57:34 · answer #8 · answered by Jason 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
IF you have in writting and or a wittnesss to the person saying you had no worries about time off you hAVE A SOLID CASE FOR A LAW SUIT Seek the advice of an attorney
2007-01-12 09:55:25 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Get a lawyer...the family medical leave act protects you and your family...you have federal protection if you or a member of your family becomes ill and you have to take off work...he does not have to pay you for your time when you are gone but I believe you have 8 to 12 weeks of protection.
2007-01-12 09:54:07 · answer #10 · answered by silverback487 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋