What are my rights if my employer states that the time you’re suppose to be at work is no later than 700 am but my department has “House Rules” and 1 of them states that we have a grace period of 5 minutes?
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What are my rights if my employer states that the time you’re suppose to be at work is no later than 700 am but my department has “House Rules” and 1 of them states that we have a grace period of 5 minutes?
Therefore we should show up no later than 7″05 am. One day I was given a reprimand for showing up to work at 702 and my department manager stated that they changed the time back to 700 but didn’t inform anybody. Should I be reprimanded for this?
Asked on October 19, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, Louisiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
"House rules" are not legally enforceable unless they are incorporated into an actual written employment contract between you and the employer. Otherwise, if not in a contract, they only represent the employer's policy, which the employer may freely change or even ignore.
Similarly, unless you have a written employment contract, you are an employee at will and may be discriplined, written up, or reprimanded or even demooted, suspended, or terminated at any time, for any reason, without prior notice.
So what you describe is certainly unfair, but it is legal.
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