As an employee, you certainly hope that your boss does not decide to cut your wages. However, as long as you are still being paid more than minimum wage, your employer often does have the legal ability to reduce your pay rate. Maybe you were hired at $30 an hour, for example, but the business has been struggling to pay its bills and wants to reduce your pay to $25 an hour. It is not automatically illegal for them to do this.
However, it is important to note that the pay cut cannot be for an illegal reason, such as discrimination. If your employer decides to reduce the pay for everyone in a certain ethnic group or for everyone who follows a specific religion, for example, that would be illegal. If they cut the pay of all female workers and raise the pay of all male workers, that would also be discriminatory.
This is sometimes important to keep in mind, especially if there has been a recent change in your circumstances. Maybe you have recently become pregnant or converted to a new religion. If your boss cuts your pay in response, you may be able to argue that it is discriminatory in nature.
It also cannot be done as retaliation
Another important thing to keep in mind is that your pay cannot be cut as retaliation for something you did, if that action itself was legal.
For instance, perhaps you experienced sexual harassment on the job or witnessed it happening to another employee. If you spoke up about it or filed a report, and then your boss cut your pay in response, that could be an illegal form of retaliation.
Taking legal action
While many pay cuts are legal, you can see how some of them can still be problematic. If you believe that your rights are being violated, be sure you know what legal options you have.
