Boss falsified company profit data to deny raise

[yoop2012]

Missouri/US

Here is the situation: The business owner denied the management staff further raises based on poor business performance on the P&L statement for last year. It has come to my attention (and the manager in question) that our boss purposefully altered the 2014 financial statements to understate the net income for the year by many, many thousands of dollars as evidence of the lack of funds/their own poor performance as reason to deny salary increases.

I realize that unless contractually obligated, an employer needn't have any reason to deny a pay increase to an employee, but this just stood out to me as a particularly egregious action against his employee and was wondering if they have any legal recourse against him. (I am accounting staff, so I know the 'actual' numbers.)

Thanks.

 

[Zigner]

Missouri/US

Here is the situation: The business owner denied the management staff further raises based on poor business performance on the P&L statement for last year. It has come to my attention (and the manager in question) that our boss purposefully altered the 2014 financial statements to understate the net income for the year by many, many thousands of dollars as evidence of the lack of funds/their own poor performance as reason to deny salary increases.

I realize that unless contractually obligated, an employer needn't have any reason to deny a pay increase to an employee, but this just stood out to me as a particularly egregious action against his employee and was wondering if they have any legal recourse against him. (I am accounting staff, so I know the 'actual' numbers.)

Thanks.

Really?

 

[cbg]

Barring a legally binding and enforceable contract or CBA, an employer needs no reason to deny a raise. The only - only - time an employer is required by law to give an employee a raise, is if minimum wage is raised by the appropriate legislative body, in which case any employee who is earning less than the new minimum needs to be raised to the new minimum. There are no other circumstances whatsoever in which the law requires that an employee get a raise.

So why should they have any legal recourse for not getting one now?

Now, depending on exactly what you mean by "altered the financial statements" and the structure of the company, the boss might be in for disciplinary action at best and criminal prosecution at worst. But no, the employees have no legal recourse because they didn't get a raise based on his actions.

 

[PaulMass]

If this is a publicly held company, publishing false financial information can have serious repercussions.

 

[cbg]

If this is a publicly held company, publishing false financial information can have serious repercussions.

Quite true. But those repercussions do not include the employees having legal recourse due to not getting a raise.