Help With Employer Issue

[tennisray]

My wife’s healthcare job (physical therapist) instituted a 20% pay cut due to covid. They furloughed a lot of the staff, but my wife kept working throughout. They also announced that they are paying out paid time off and employees will no longer accrue PTO.

Our issue is that they are only paying out up to 80 hours (my wife has well over-our travel plans were canceled), plus they are paying her at her current salary. We don’t feel that this is fair since she accrued most of the hours at the full salary rate.

I suggested speaking with HR and offering to defer compensation (but at the full salary rate) for the PTO for a year (we don’t need the $ right now and understand that the company needs time to get back to 100%). We both feel the company will be successful (physician owned multiple sites practice that focuses on elective ortho surgeries) so little risk in company folding.

Any other ideas/suggestions?

[Playing with Fire UK]

Search if that is legal where you are. Most places can't change your compensation retroactively, which this would be doing (according to my local laws).

[Paul der Krake]

If the company is large enough to have a real HR department, somebody was given a spreadsheet and told to cut expenses by a certain number before the end of the day, and this is what they came up with. Then it was run by the company's lawyers, who okayed it. When across the board cuts are made like this, there are no room for individuals negotiating their own deal.

Unless there are local laws on PTO that say otherwise, the reality is that they don't owe her anything and she should consider that money lost. Sorry.

[tennisray]

If the company is large enough to have a real HR department, somebody was given a spreadsheet and told to cut expenses by a certain number before the end of the day, and this is what they came up with. Then it was run by the company's lawyers, who okayed it. When across the board cuts are made like this, there are no room for individuals negotiating their own deal.

Unless there are local laws on PTO that say otherwise, the reality is that they don't owe her anything and she should consider that money lost. Sorry.

My wife tends to agree with you. However, I’ve always found that most employers have wiggle room and will negotiate if they want to keep an employee. We haven’t checked the legal side, since we see this more as principle. If they don’t think she’s worth negotiating with, then the company is not worth staying with, IMO. We are FI, fortunately.

[LightStache]

I'm normally all for pushing companies and negotiating aggressively, but in this case I'd just take it. People are taking haircuts and if your DW goes in to demand more during times of austerity, it will likely be perceived as selfish.

If they don’t think she’s worth negotiating with, then the company is not worth staying with, IMO. We are FI, fortunately.

That attitude only works when the job market is strong and you can hop to another company. In weak markets, companies don't have to be as accommodating to employees. Blame free markets.

[tennisray]

That attitude only works when the job market is strong and you can hop to another company. In weak markets, companies don't have to be as accommodating to employees. Blame free markets.
[/quote]

But isn’t that a good thing about fi? If the market is weak, isn’t it a good time to stop working when salaries are down 25%? It’s less of a hit financially.

[tennisray]

Just got good news, salaries returning to pre covid rates.