What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I am a computer systems analyst in California working for a local city government. I am an exempt employee and have been since I started my job. I have been "On-Call" since the day I started, 6 years ago, and I regularly work 50-60 hours a week and I have been very happy doing so from that first day.
Recently negotiations between the city and my union broke off and our union members were given a 4% pay increase based upon what was negotiated. This comes after our union conceeded to forgo pay increases last year due to economic conditions.
As a result of the 4% increase, the city has sent a letter to some, but not all, union members stating that since economic conditions will not allow the city to be able to afford such a raise that my position will be immediately and permanently reduced to a 0.9 Full Time Employee (FTE) and my work hours will therefore be reduced from 40 to 36 hours per week and that I will officially work 8AM-5PM Monday - Friday with alternating Fridays off but that I am still an exempt employee and therefore I am expected to, in reality, remain On-Call as needed as well as I am expected to continue to work as many hours as are necessary to complete my job IE 50-60 hours a week even though officially my hours are being reduced by 10% to offset my 4% pay rasie resulting in a net pay reduction of 6%.
So my questions are:
1) Since my hours are being reduced to compensate for my raise, am I still really an exempt employee?
2) If I am no longer exempt, can I request back pay for overtime?
3) If I am still exempt, can I refuse to work outside of the hours stated in the letter (8AM-5PM Mon-Fri with alt Fri off) without reprecussion?
Thanks
CB
I am a computer systems analyst in California working for a local city government. I am an exempt employee and have been since I started my job. I have been "On-Call" since the day I started, 6 years ago, and I regularly work 50-60 hours a week and I have been very happy doing so from that first day.
Recently negotiations between the city and my union broke off and our union members were given a 4% pay increase based upon what was negotiated. This comes after our union conceeded to forgo pay increases last year due to economic conditions.
As a result of the 4% increase, the city has sent a letter to some, but not all, union members stating that since economic conditions will not allow the city to be able to afford such a raise that my position will be immediately and permanently reduced to a 0.9 Full Time Employee (FTE) and my work hours will therefore be reduced from 40 to 36 hours per week and that I will officially work 8AM-5PM Monday - Friday with alternating Fridays off but that I am still an exempt employee and therefore I am expected to, in reality, remain On-Call as needed as well as I am expected to continue to work as many hours as are necessary to complete my job IE 50-60 hours a week even though officially my hours are being reduced by 10% to offset my 4% pay rasie resulting in a net pay reduction of 6%.
So my questions are:
1) Since my hours are being reduced to compensate for my raise, am I still really an exempt employee?
2) If I am no longer exempt, can I request back pay for overtime?
3) If I am still exempt, can I refuse to work outside of the hours stated in the letter (8AM-5PM Mon-Fri with alt Fri off) without reprecussion?
Thanks
CB