Can My Employer Cut My Pay If I Suffered an Injury?
If your employer has cut your pay because you suffered an injury, like a slip or something fell and hit you, your employer may be breaking the law. The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to ensure that you understand your rights as an employee and to ensure that justice gets served if you employer has broken the law and cut your pay if you suffered an injury.
- Can I sue my boss if my pay was reduced because I am injured?
- Can my employer reduce my pay because of a workplace injury?
- Can I file a lawsuit if my hours were cut due to being injured?
- Can I file a discrimination claim if my salary was reduced due to an injury?
- Can I sue if I am forced to go on furlough because of an injury?
- Can I sue my boss for not giving me my bonuses or not giving me my commission, and reducing my hours since I am injured?
- Can I sue my company if they discriminate against me for being injured? For claiming workers compensation?
Here are a few things you need to know before you file a lawsuit against your employer if you got your salary reduced while you recovered from an injury.
Can My Employer Legally Deduct My Pay After an Injury?
Getting injured can really affect your ability to work. If you require the use of both your arms but an injury breaks one of them, you may be out of work for a few weeks to even a couple of months. You get paid to do your job, and so if you can’t do it how are you to get paid?
Many people, when they suffer a workplace injury, file a workers’ compensation claim in order to help them through the time during which they recover. Workers’ compensation is an insurance plan that employers get for their employees to help them pay for medical bills and lost wages as they recover from those injuries, in return the employee does not file a lawsuit against the employer.
Some employers may be inclined to lower your pay because you filed a workers’ compensation claim. This action may be against the law, which may give you the right to file a lawsuit against your employer. The reason that it is illegal is because employer-employee retaliation is considered, in many cases, unlawful. In this case, you cannot suffer retaliation in the form of a pay cut just because you were injured on the job and applied for the benefits to which you are legally entitled. Retaliation can come in many forms, not just lower pay. Employers are not allowed to threaten, discipline, fire you for being injured, or perform any other negative actions which would affect their employees.
It is also considered illegal if your employer deducts your pay because of a disability that arose because of your workplace injuries if you are still able to perform the essential job functions required by your job. The essential job functions of any job are those tasks which require the job to exist in the first place. For example, the essential job functions of a mail carrier are to deliver the mail on time. If you get injured on the job, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for your disability, unless the reasonable accommodation would cause your employer “undue hardship” – small business who can show they have very limited resources are often exempt, while larger businesses are expected to provide the reasonable accommodation. If you are able to perform the essential job functions of your occupation and your employer deducts your pay anyway, such an act could be considered disability discrimination. The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits such actions from employers.
If you are unable to perform the essential job functions of your job, your employer may station you to another position as you recover from your injuries. In this case, your employer may deduct your pay if they so choose to do so. If your injuries are temporary and will return to action soon, your employer must reinstate you to your normal position or one that is very similar to the same rate of pay as soon as you regain the ability to do so.
When Your Employer Can Cut Your Wages
Employers are allowed to make cuts to your pay if it classifies as a legitimate business reason. The key is knowing when an employer has cut your hours for legitimate reasons or if it is in retaliation for filing your workers’ compensation claim.
If you were having performance issues before your injuries, or if the company was cutting back the hours for everyone in your department, that may be enough evidence for your employer to prove that their intentions were legitimate business reasons.
If, however, you had no performance issues before your injury and your salary is the only one that has been affected, the wage cut seems to look like retaliation because you filed your workers’ compensation claim.
Does Workers’ Compensation Make Up for Lower Wages?
Some employers may be able to get away with paying you lower wages, but make up the difference with workers’ compensation installments. Arrangements such as these may be constrained by your state’s compensation.
Employees that work for their employer on a contract basis, should see no lower payments in their pay. Lower rates may legal but only if you and your employer have signed off on it through a new agreement.
Free Consultation with Experienced Attorney
The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to ensure that you get the damages to which you are rightfully entitled. If you believe that you have suffered wage cuts or have been terminated while you were injured because of an injury you sustained, you have a right to take your employer to court and collect compensation. We are aggressive lawyers who will pursue the maximum possible compensation for you. We offer free consultation and the zero-fee guarantee. Free consultation gives you the opportunity to sit down with one of your attorneys and explain your case to them, free of cost and with no financial obligation. They will give you their initial thoughts, like whether they believe you have a case or not, and then you are free to hire our services or walk.
The zero-fee guarantee is our promise to our clients that we will use every available resource to prove your case. If we are not able to prove your case, then you do not pay for our services. This removes all financial risk from you, and puts it on us. Contact the California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group today to see what we can do for you!
