Salary increase communicated then revoked

[debra_nebraska]

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

My daughter worked for a non-profit disabled child care facility for 14 months. Her last day was yesterday. Their company policy states that employees are eligble for a merit increase at the time of their annual review. Her annual review was due in August. Her review was not completed until mid-October and at the time her manager rated her performance a 4 out of 5 and told her that her merit increase would be .27 an hour, retroactive to her merit review due date in August. They didn't know that my daughter was looking for a new position at the time, and about 3 days after her review discussion she put in her two weeks notice. Yesterday, her last day of employment, they notified her that the communication of the increase was a "mistake" and that they would not be providing her with the additional retroactive pay.

It probably isn't enough money to fight over, but we are wondering, is this legal?

[anteater]

Yes, it is legal.

[debra_nebraska]

Thank you, this is just what I told my daughter - it can be considered unethical - but not illegal. It's behavior like this that made her leave the employer in the first place. Thanks for confirming.

[cbg]

Few if any employers would implement an increase to an employee who had given their notice.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by cbg

Few if any employers would implement an increase to an employee who had given their notice.

**A: that would be tantamount to giving a raise for quitting.

[debra_nebraska]

I suppose you are right, I guess I am just spoiled. I'm retired from a Fortune 500 company where I was a V.P. - worked there most of my career. We were required to keep our commitments and to do all reviews on time with appropriate increases submitted by their due date. Even if an employee had already given notice, we would have paid that additional .27 from the time it was due. This was one of many employee sensitive HR policies. So, unfortunately, both my daughter and I have high expectations regarding an employer just doing what is right. I mean afterall, had they done the review when it was due months ago she would have had that increase this entire time. I'm sure you know what I mean but I am sure you are right - most employers would do exactly what this one did. Sad.

[debra_nebraska]

homeguru, I respectfully disagree. Had they done the review in August as their HR policy states she would have had that increase on her paycheck since then. She worked their in good faith for those months with promises of "we'll get to your review next week", "sorry I haven't had time", etc. and believing that she would get the merit increase she had worked all year for. She worked hard to meet her assigned goals and objectives to get that high rating of 4, and gave them the benefit of the doubt that they would keep their promise to do a merit review and increase at her 12 month point. So by retracting it the day before her last day and claiming they made a "mistake" is nothing short of dishonest. But, I understand, no employer is legally required to give any employee a merit increase, even if their performance meets the criteria set for them.

[cbg]

"Eligible for an increase" and "guaranteed to get an increase" are not synonymous.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by cbg

"Eligible for an increase" and "guaranteed to get an increase" are not synonymous.

**A: exactly.

[ecmst12]

I was worried my last job was not going to give me my retro increase for my evaluation that was FIVE MONTHS LATE and came AFTER I'd given my 2 weeks notice. I think though, that my supervisor would have gotten in more trouble for giving my review so late if I HADN'T gotten the retro pay, so that worked in my favor. I ended up getting the retro-pay, my unused vacation payout, and my final paycheck all at once. But I knew I was lucky.

[cbg]

To put it bluntly, barring a bona fide contract or CBA that specifically says otherwise, there are NO circumstances under the law (save one described below) where raises are required at all, let alone retroactively.

The ONLY circumstance where an employer would be legally obligated to provide a raise would be if minimum wage was raised by the appropriate legislative body and the employee's wage was then under the new minimum.