[ChihuahuaMomma]

So this is the situation. I work in the Optical department of a very large retailer. I'd prefer not to disclose which one, but if it has a bearing on the answer and precise help, I will.

Anyway, I just had my 90-day review. At the review I was told by my department manager that because of my great review I was going to receive a $0.40 raise. I was pretty excited about it.

Today, a week later, she approaches me and tells me that a policy was recently put in place that abolished 90-day-review raises, and she didn't know before telling me.

Is this right? Can they do this? I was lied to. My hopes were up, and I was severely let down.

[liz28]

Your manager could be right and if anything could have review the policy before informing you about the raise. Did she/he tell you when you could be able to get a raise? Also, is this policy available for employees to see and do you have a HR office to inquire about this policy?

[JudyKayTee]

So this is the situation. I work in the Optical department of a very large retailer. I'd prefer not to disclose which one, but if it has a bearing on the answer and precise help, I will.

Anyway, I just had my 90-day review. At the review I was told by my department manager that because of my great review I was going to recieve a $0.40 raise. I was pretty excited about it.

Today, a week later, she approaches me and tells me that a policy was recently put in place that abolished 90-day-review raises, and she didn't know before telling me.

Is this right? Can they do this? I was lied to. My hopes were up, and I was severely let down.

The legal side of this would be whether this was one of the factors on which you based your decision to take the job. Did you not take another job because you planned on the 40 cent raise - ?

When ARE you eligible for the raise?

Your damages would be the difference in pay between the 90-day review/raise and the actual raise.

- if you want to take it that far.

With a non-union store (and I assume it is), this is a tough situation. Do you have an employment contract? Is the optical department store owned/operated, subcontracted out?

- this is purely from a legal standpoint, of course. Managers should be up to date and not confused but welcome to the real World (I guess).

[excon]

Hello momma:

In the "at will" workplace, there really aren't any promises, except those in writing. Even if they gave you the raise, they can take it back. They can even lower your present wage and ask you to clean the john. In fact, they can fire you for no reason whatsoever...

That's actually a GOOD thing. It makes the work place a competitive environment. Consequently, if you're as GOOD as I think you are, tell them that if they don't accept your bid (give you what you want), you'll sell your services elsewhere.

This, of course, assumes you ARE that good, and that you CAN sell your services someplace else. If you can't, then you're going to have to wait for them.

excon

[ChihuahuaMomma]

Hello momma:

In the "at will" workplace, there really aren't any promises, except those in writing. Even if they gave you the raise, they can take it back. They can even lower your present wage and ask you to clean the john. In fact, they can fire you for no reason whatsoever......

That's actually a GOOD thing. It makes the work place a competitive environment. Consequently, if you're as GOOD as I think you are, tell them that if they don't accept your bid (give you what you want), you'll sell your services elsewhere.

This, of course, assumes you ARE that good, and that you CAN sell your services someplace else. If you can't, then you're gonna have to wait for them.

excon

So a promise in writing? Such as a written 90-day review where it states that I am getting that raise?

[ChihuahuaMomma]

[quote=JudyKayTee]The legal side of this would be whether this was one of the factors on which you based your decision to take the job. Did you not take another job because you planned on the 40 cent raise - ? <--Please explain this part to me.

When ARE you eligible for the raise? 9 more months.

Your damages would be the difference in pay between the 90-day review/raise and the actual raise.

- if you want to take it that far.

With a non-union store (and I assume it is), this is a tough situation. Do you have an employment contract? Is the optical department store owned/operated, subcontracted out? NO, it's owned by the store.

- this is purely from a legal standpoint, of course. Managers should be up to date and not confused but welcome to the real World (I guess).

[JudyKayTee]

So a promise in writing? Such as a written 90-day review where it states that I am getting that raise?

For the sake of argument - even if you have a promise in writing that you will get a raise and then you don't get the raise, what happens next?

Well, you can sue them, I suppose, for damages, which is why I asked when the 90 day raise will arrive, whether this raise was a factor in accepting the job.

I think I'd express my surprise at the information to your manager - assuming this is employment at will, no contract, no union, maybe he/she can relax the rules a bit and in the future will give correct info to employees.

Or maybe you can charge discrimination but I don't see that.

I just don't see what legal options there are for broken promises outside employment contracts.

Now - I would think that if you stretch things a bit, quit and file for unemployment they very well MAY have difficultly withholding unemployment, if that is what they attempt to do. Of course, it will be your word against their word and it's a drastic step.

[ChihuahuaMomma]

I don't want to go through all that. I want to keep my job. It's at will employment. I wouldn't qualify for unemployment because I have another full-time job.

[JudyKayTee]

[QUOTE=ChihuahuaMomma]

The legal side of this would be whether this was one of the factors on which you based your decision to take the job. Did you not take another job because you planned on the 40 cent raise - ? <--Please explain this part to me.

I was thinking in terms of damages - if you refused another job and took this job thinking in 90 days you'd be making more money than offered at the first job, then you are damaged.

[JudyKayTee]

I don't want to go through all that. I want to keep my job. It's at will employment. I wouldn't qualify for unemployment because I have another full-time job.

As I said, it's not an easy road.

I don't see you have any remedies other than maybe the manager will budge.

[ChihuahuaMomma]

[quote=JudyKayTee]

I was thinking in terms of damages - if you refused another job and took this job thinking in 90 days you'd be making more money than offered at the first job, then you are damaged.

I didn't know about the raise until I accepted the job. There were no other offers, otherwise I would probably have taken something else, simply because I don't fancy the retail side of Opticianry.

[ChihuahuaMomma]

As I said, it's not an easy road.

I don't see you have any remedies other than maybe the manager will budge.

She already said that she put up a fight about it, and said the store manager wouldn't budge. I don't want to cause a scene at work, and want to keep my job. I was just wondering if there was an alternative. Thank you for your advice though.

[JudyKayTee]

She already said that she put up a fight about it, and said the store manager wouldn't budge. I don't want to cause a scene at work, and want to keep my job. I was just wondering if there was an alternative. Thank you for your advice though.

Well, so much for that suggestion.

Then I don't see anything much you can do. You could see when the policy changed, before or after you were hired but, again, don't see that being much help to you. Unfair but...

Didn't know you're working two jobs - yikes!

[ChihuahuaMomma]

Yeah, I was really just posting to see if there was an alternative to quiting and "showing them" but as it's a huge company they really wouldn't care. Thank you for your help.

Yeah, the two jobs is really difficult but well worth the pay as I've gotten myself back into some debt. I just got of two 19-hour shifts in the past two days and ended up sleeping for 12 hours today.