My company eliminated my management job and offered a new management job with a salary cut. I accepted to make the job search process easy b...

Question

My company eliminated my management job and offered a new management job with a salary cut. I accepted to make the job search process easy but in the last few months my GM is asking me to do some of my old duties with no extra compensation. On top of it my new job is being changed to non-exempt and they want me to sign a paper where the new management position turns to be hourly forcing me to work 50 hours but the way they are calculating my hourly rate will make it look like they are paying me OT over the 40 hours but the salary I signed for is not changing. I will really get OT paid if I worked over 50 hours. If I work less than 50 hours expected I they will deduct the hours not worked and they will not fulfill the commitment of the job offer. Is this legal?

Answer

I assume you are an at-will employee, and that there is no collective bargaining agreement or other employment contract at issue.

Under these assumptions, an employer can reduce an employee's pay at will, so long as there is compliance with minimum wage requirements. An employer can also legally ask an employee to take on new duties without additional compensation. I cannot comment on whether the reclassification as non-exempt is proper. So long as minimum wage laws are respected, an employer can cut an employee's salary, so that it would take ten hours of overtime to reach the equivalent of the prior salary.