My wife has had her hours reduced from 30 to 8 a week. Should she quit?

My wife works at a very large retail chain as a sales associate. She was working over 30 hours a week forabout 16 months. Within the last 4 weeks she has worked 46 hours and is not scheduled to work for two weeks. No answers for why she isn’t laid off. She has been asking for more hours to no avail. Yet they are still hiring people. Our baby is due in 9 weeks so should she just stick with it until she goes on disability, file for partial unemployment, or can she quit and receive unemployment?

Hi,

No, I don’t think I would quit. I’d file a claim for partial unemployment benefits.

If they are still hiring people, do you think the “reduction is hours has anything to do with her pregnancy? It’s illegal to discriminate ..

I can imagine her hours being reduced because they hope she’ll just quit.

I think i would even considering filing a complaint .. either with the EEOC or a state labor board if this has crossed your mind.

Comments for My wife has had her hours reduced from 30 to 8 a week. Should she quit?

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Feb 26, 2010
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Chris

by: Anonymous

We are in the process of filing a claim. While we were breaking down the history of the discrimination we remembered how the store would not accommodate my wife at all. She unloaded trucks when she first became pregnant. When we found out she was pregnant she immediatly asked for a transfer. They told her they didn’t have anywhere for her to move, while others were being moved at that time. Can she file a complaint for this? Assuming (CA) has a 300 day filing period since this ended just over six months ago.

Sorry, I’m no expert on
filing discrimination claim I only know when I think it’s going on:) And if you’ll notice, the time requirements for filing a claim can be different depending on the type of claim.

It seems to me though that if there is discrimination it’s continuing to this day because now they are severely limiting the time she is scheduled and it sounds like it’s because she is pregnant.

I do know California has some fairly liberal labor laws in favor of employees when compared to other states and when someone feels like they are being discriminated against .. EEOC isn’t the only option for complaints .. many states have there own reporting agency with stricter laws.

Feb 26, 2010
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Op

by:

How would we go about proving the discrimination? Is it as simple as filing a complaint and letting the eeoc take care of it? Also thank you very much for the help

Hi Op,

You just need to BELIEVE you are being discriminated against to file a complaint. If you’re still an employee, after filing a complaint, any subsequent action by the employer, even if it is a continuation of the discrimination has the effect of calling into question the employer’s motivation.

Filing a complaint, in my mind is a preemptive action. It alone puts the employer on notice that you’re someone who is not willing to be pushed around .. therefore the smart ones will tread more carefully.

The proof would be in the history.

I can’t advise anyone on law .. I can only provide information about how I think I would use the law to protect myself .. if it were me.

You’ve got to talk to a lawyertalk to a lawyer to get legal advice .. and you should at least have a bead on your issue before you do that.

Once you get to the page I linked to above .. click laws and you’ll see there is an act called “Pregnancy Discrimination Act .. which is really just an amendment to the Civil Rights Act.

Actual discrimination is the stuff of lawyer dreams .. it’s what they’re looking for .. that’s why I say talk to one before the end of the job .. because after the job ends .. it’s very difficult to prove that anything else motivated a discharge or even a voluntary quit for good cause.

And I might add “official complaints” are the stuff of employer nightmares, mostly because they might have to cough up money for a lawyer just to deal with a complaint .. be it valid or not.