Can an employer reduce wages if2 weeks notice is not given?

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Can an employer reduce wages if2 weeks notice is not given?

My employer had her employees sign a statement saying that if we do not give a 2 week notice, we would not be paid our full salary for our last check but be paid minimum wage. Is this legal? Does she have to pay our salaried wage?

Asked on September 30, 2010 under Employment Labor Law, Georgia

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 13 years ago | Contributor

If you have signed an agreement to that effect, it is legal:

1) Employers may not retroactively reduce wages for work done--i.e. they can't announce a change that affects what you'd be paid for work done prior to the announcment--but they may set terms and conditions going foward that affect pay;

2) As long as at least minimum wage is paid, and a nonexempt worker  is paid for all hours worked (including at time-and-a-half for hours worked past 40 in a week), an employer can pay anything he or she likes.

3) Contracts, including employment contracts, are generally enforced as written.

So going forward, your employer has set the term or condition that unless you provide at least 2 weeks notice, your last check will be only for the legal minimum wage. On the face of it, that is unorthodox but legal--you have warning and you've agreed to it.


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