Wages

[zheron]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

A number of years ago my employer had all IT staff on call on a rotating schedule. They were not paid any extra, but it was assumed your pay included this. Union hourly employees were however given 'beeper pay' for whenever they were on call and in addition were paid a minimum of one hour for each call they got while not actively working and a minimum of four hours of pay if they had to come on site. Only union hourly employees received this. Salaried did not. We were told that on call pay was included in our salary. Are they able to do that?

Second question. A number of years later they decided to start paying even salary employees this 'beeper pay'. Everyone except me. All IT salaried employees are on call for two weeks and then it rotates to another person. They get 1 hour of pay each day they are on on call. As a senior technician I am not technically on call for end users but I am on call to the technicians. I am on call to help them if they need it 24/7/365. Shouldn't I be getting beeper pay every day? Once again they claim that this is included in my salary, but I am at a loss as to why everyone in the entire department should get 'beeper pay' except me.

Can they do this? Are they allowed to pick and choose who this policy applies to? I've looked for a written policy but the only one I can find is the union one, which apparently doesn't apply to me...

 

[cbg]

1.) If you were salaried exempt, yes they can. An exempt employee's salary covers all hours worked, regardless of how many or how few.

2.) Unless you have a valid and supportable reason to believe that you are not receiving "beeper pay" BECAUSE OF your race, religion, national origin, or other characteristic protected by law, what they pay other employees has nothing to do with you.

 

[zheron]

While I do have a disability, and I was told by my former boss once over breakfast that management would not promote me due to numerous absences related to my illness, I am not sure what proof I would have other than his statement. Or even whether there was any discrimination in this particular incident. I assumed that this was simply retaliation by my former boss. I've asked my new boss about it, but since he's still only a few weeks on the job he was reluctant to discuss it or make any changes.

 

[Antigone*]

While I do have a disability, and I was told by my former boss once over breakfast that management would not promote me due to numerous absences related to my illness, I am not sure what proof I would have other than his statement. Or even whether there was any discrimination in this particular incident. I assumed that this was simply retaliation by my former boss. I've asked my new boss about it, but since he's still only a few weeks on the job he was reluctant to discuss it or make any changes.

I wouldn't promote an employee who couldn't get to work everyday either. Now if you are covered under FMLA and the disability is a valid disability then my answer would change.

 

[zheron]

I wouldn't promote an employee who couldn't get to work everyday either. Now if you are covered under FMLA and the disability is a valid disability then my answer would change.

Well, when you say it that way yeah it sounds bad, haha but my absences were a) all approved in advance b) nothing unreasonable. I mean I take off every 6 weeks about 2 hours early to get some blood work done. All in all I still work around 50+ hours a week, so I think it would be a bit over the top to call my 'absences' anything worthy of overlooking me for a promotion. On a related note, I don't think I've taken more than a handful of sick days in seven years, which is why his statement floored me so much. Of course I would understand a reluctance to promote someone who had a history of tardiness or poor attendance, but that is most definitely not the case here. I asked for and received a special work accommodation because of a chronic illness and I more than make up for the hours in call outs and actual on site work hours. Whether that's FMLA covered I wouldn't know.

I do have one follow up question if I could impose further. A few years ago I called in sick in the hospital. Out of simple courtesy I told my boss why I was out so they would know I would probably be out for a few days. When I got back I discovered that he had emailed the whole company telling them not only that I was out sick but why. He even mentioned my specific illness I was in the hospital for. When I got back I had people asking me about it, and it was really uncomfortable having to discuss my personal medical issues with people. I felt this was a serious breach of my personal privacy. Are there any laws prohibiting employers from doing this and if so what kind of statute of limitations would there be on something like that in Florida?

Anyway, thank you for your responses so far. I'm very grateful to you folks for providing your time and expertise free of charge to people like me.

 

[cbg]

Information that you yourself provide is not covered under HIPAA, and it's unlikely that your boss is subject to HIPAA anyway. It's conceivable that it might fall under the ADA but if so you've waited too long - the window of opportunity to do anything there closed on day 300 after the incident at best - day 180 is possible. If this happened several years ago you're out of luck.