I have grown accustomed to working for 40 hours each week for the past 10 years, but my boss just reduced my hours. Is that legal?

 

A: Although you are used to a certain number of hours and therefore a certain amount of money reflected in your paycheck, an employer is allowed to reduce the number of hours an employee works.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, as long as an employer is paying non-exempt employees the federal minimum wage and earned overtime pay, there is no law or rule against reducing hours.

An employer is also not required to pay an employee for a full day's work if that employee only worked half or part of the day, even if they were scheduled for the whole thing. For example, suppose John is always scheduled from 9:00 a.m. To 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and depends on that 40 hour per week paycheck. But on Tuesday and Wednesday, the tasks are completed early and John leaves at 2:00 p.m. both days. The employer is only required to pay John for the 34 hours he worked, and not the originally scheduled 40 hours.

If you have questions regarding this issue, or you feel that your paycheck is suffering from unpaid overtime, contact the Texas overtime attorneys at Kennedy Hodges for your free copy of The Ten Biggest Mistakes that Can Hurt Your Wage and Overtime Claim by calling 888.449.2068. You can also fill out our online form to schedule your free case evaluation.

The Texas overtime lawyers at Kennedy Hodges represent workers nationwide and across Texas in:
Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Pasadena, Laredo, Sugar Land, Lubbock, Illinios, New York, Massachusetts, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Columbus, Charlotte, Detroit, and more.