Cut hours!

[notsogrimreaper]

Ok so I have been job hunting so hopefully I can get away from this toxic environment. But that being said my job is very much based on seasonal business, during the off season due to me not being able to work my regular overtime which helps to make up for the less amount of pay that I get below industry standards, My hours were cut so I took on the additional role of cleaner for my office that way it would being me the over time needed. Now because I called out sick 1 day my hours were cut and I'm down to regular time again and can't afford to leave with out another job, and can't afford to stay. My direct supervisor knows about my disability. I don't know what to do ? Do I just suck it up till I find another job, or fight the hour cut? Also we are in the busy season usually I can count on at minimum of 50 hours but not with my hours cut they way they have been and I haven't had a raise in 2 years. I just really need advice!

 

[sunkacola]

So sorry to hear this.
If you think there's any chance that fighting the hour cut will bring about a positive result, then you would certainly be within your rights to do that. But only you know what the situation is, and whether that might get what you need or might just make someone annoyed to the point that they cut more of your hours or let you go.

One thing to find out if you can.....whether your hours were cut as a direct result of your calling in sick one day, or if there is another reason. Unless you have been told directly that it is a result of your calling in sick, you don't know for sure.

And if it is a direct result of it and you have been told that, you might want to check the employment laws to find out if, in your kind of work, an employer can respond to your taking a sick day by cutting your hours. Most jobs are required to give a certain number of sick days, even if they are unpaid, and are not permitted by law to cut a person's hours for taking a sick day. If the law is on your side, you could pursue this.
Best of luck! And I hope you find a better job soon.

 

[kap]

The only way to find out if your hours were cut due to one day calling off is to ask for a reason in writing. Fibromyalgia is considered a disability and an employer cannot discriminate because of it. It's listed at the bottom of the ADA statement on every job application (electronic versions anyhow) along with other autoimmune diseases/syndromes.

 

[sunkacola]

Fibromyalgia is considered a disability

This is not, unfortunately, strictly true.
Since the ADA doesn't have a list of what is federally considered a disability under the law, things like fibro are usually taken on a case-by-case basis and some people will be determined to have a disability while others will not. It is not a given that one can fight a case based on fibro being a legal disability. An employer can discriminate because of time lost to fibromyalgia if they choose to and to fight that could be pretty challenging. You would have to prove that your fibro constitutes a severe impairment to you which limits your ability to do your work. Such a thing would be lengthy and exhausting and expensive.

If a challenge were to be made in this particular case, it would be better made on the basis that one day of sick leave should not result in cut hours.
However, the employer can of course give any reason they like for the change in hours, and it would be a matter of who was believed in court.

And it's true that the only way to proceed would be to get the reason for the cut hours in writing. I would be willing to bet that the employer would never write down that they cut someone's hours due to one day of calling in sick. The employer usually has the upper hand in situations like this.