Can an employer hinder or prohibit an employee from a secondary education?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can an employer hinder or prohibit an employee from a secondary education?
At my work (field of criminal justice), employees are subject to mandatory overtime, known as “drafts”. Past practice has been when an employee is enrolled in school, he or she may submit a memorandum requesting “draft exemption” for the duration of school. These were routinely approved. The administration is now stating that any employee that is not a criminal justice major will be denied a draft exemption. Employees who refuse to work mandatory overtime, regardless of the reasons, are subject to progressive disciplinary procedures up to and including termination.
Asked on February 15, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Your employer most probably mandate this. The fact is that majority of employment arrangements are what is known as "at will", and PA is no exception. This means that an employer can hire or fire someone for any reason or no reason whatsoever, as well has increase/decrease salary/hours, promote/demote, and generally impose requirements as they see fit (this includes education exemptions)). An employee in turn can work for an employer or not, their choice.
There are however certain exceptions that may apply to the above. For instance, if there is a stated company policy contrary to this, or there is a union/employment agreement that does not allow for such action, or this situation has arisen due to some type of discrimination (i.e., for reasons due to your race, religion, age, disability, sex, national origin). Absent anything oof such a nature, your employer's action does not violate the law.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.