Can my employer move me to lesser paying job within the company without my agreement?

I would seriously look into this. Check with the labour board or your equivalent.

About a year ago, while Mr. Fiance was working as a restaurant manager, a franchise management company bought the franchise from the former franchisee, and was making all kinds of changes.

Mr. Fiance had been working there for nearly 8 years, and had recently gone from full-time to part-time in order to go to university. When he made that change, the general manager decided that, rather than change his salary to an hourly wage, he’d pay him 60% of salary for 60% of the hours worked in a full-time week. (I hope that makes sense.) In effect, they created a part-time management position for him.

The new company decided that they didn’t like the arrangement, and offered to pay him an hourly wage which worked out to be just over half what he was making per hour on salary.

It was considered legal because they said that they would either cut his wage or lay him off – they were eliminating the position of part-time manager, so it would be considered a lack of work.

Luckily, Mr. Fiance was able to get unemployment because his termination was classed as a layoff.

Check it out – there may be some kind of loophole that allows your employer to do this legally, but it sounds a little fishy to me.
Sorry I can’t help with the legality of it all; I just thought I’d throw my example out there as it seemed somewhat similar.
Good luck.

@Scooby did you work swing shifts or were you hired to work a specific shift and that hasn’t/doesn’t change? Do you get paid a set amount per hour with an extra amount added per hour for the second or third shift?

I don’t think you can ever receive less pay, unless all employees are effected equally, unless you agree to this or your employer did this personally to you for just cause. This is why most employees form unions.

Is this person replacing you, a family member of your boss? If so, if you file a lawsuit for discrimination, you can use this information to add to your list of defenses, in your case.

Check with a local attorney for more information.

This would be affected by the laws in your state. If you’re that concerned, check with a local lawyer before making any other moves. In any case, be very cautious about saying or doing anything that could adversely affect your employment.

I find it hard to believe he can’t. I mean, he can fire you, so why not move you to a lower pay position? Do you have a specific employment contract? Its surely a good idea to check with a lawyer but don’t get your hopes up.

By the way, if you are going to talk to a lawyer, spend some time beforehand writing down the conversation, any information on past performance reviews, etc… If you are being demoted for an improper reason you might have a case and having all the necessary data at your fingertips is useful.

And don’t forget to inquire about possible discriminatory action, which might well be your only recourse in this. If you are female, a minority, disabled, or over 45, you might have a case.

I think it depends on the terms of the contract you have with the company and the amount of time you have worked for them. In the UK and Japan, at least, there are certain rights that come with working as a part-timer/casual worker for a set amount of time. In japan, for example, an employee who has filled the same part-time role for three years is considered a full employee under employment law.

You need to take legal advice.

Considering you didn’t mention where you live, I will say this…

In my state (Wis) employees are considered “At Will”, meaning there is no implied contract and the employer can do as they wish with your hours, your wages, etc because employees work “at will” and can leave as they please.

As long as the base rate of pay is not lowered, I think he can probably get away with it. You are losing money because of shift allowances, which are probably considered bonus money of some type.

Are you a member of a union?

@Supacase

Perhaps as a shift incentive to compensate for having to work unpopular hours, such as ten PM to six AM.

First off, thanks for all the replies……..

Turns out there’s been a breakdown in communications ( not unusual ) on the management level, so panic over for the time being….
I’ve been earmarked to do a specialist job within the company, one which there are only two other men with suitable qualifications& experience who can do it but can’t …. As one, the guy who is currently involved is leaving & the other is going through re-training on another level…. So that’s what’s happening to me…
Apparently I haven’t been used to my full potential !? For the past seven years Lol… There’s a lot of re-structuring going on throughout the company as the increase in demand from our current customer base just keeps on increasing… I’m told that after a number of interviews for this particular job, that I’m now earmarked for, no suitable candidate was found to fulfil the role.
Then someone ( who shall remain nameless ) apparently mentioned my name when the powers that be decided to review the current employees CV’s (curriculum vitae)…

I have been pushed into a corner even so, as they see it as a step up & they see it as “an opportunity for me to draw on my knowledge & past experience to help push the company forward through the Burdon of demand it’s now faced with”.. :-/

A bit long winded I know…. Still the plus side is I’ll be staying on three shifts 6–2, flat rate, 2–10 + 15% & 10–6 + 25% also it was mentioned the possibility of the hours increasing in the short term as I need to be brought up to speed on the process involved in the job before the guy who’s doing it now leaves ( Retires)… also weekend work too, which I’m no stranger to, I must admit I did think the worst myself, there is a lot of nepotism throughout the company & I did think I was being replaced by “one of the boys”! :-/
Also I’m not getting any younger, a bloke of forty four, seeing all the younger faces being employed does have an affect..Especially with ageism apparently being so prevalent these days….
I’ve worked in various shipyards & module construction yards over the years & seen a lot of nepotism particularly..

Now I think about, I’m quite looking forward to the change , also the job will be very secure as it’s one of the main processes in the company that only I will be doing.. So job security all round, I am really looking forward to getting stuck into it…………. Thanks again for all the advice, quite remarkable I feel a little less humbled :-/

@Scooby – Glad to hear that you’re looking forward to the change! Good luck!

@Seelix

Thank you…

@Scooby – Good good!