Carrie Mason-Draffen

Can the boss share salary information with everyone?

April 11, 2008

DEAR CARRIE: My company recently merged with another, so we have a new district manager. He and I got off to a bad start because he divulged my salary and caused an uproar among my new co-workers.

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  • My salary is frozen -- Is it age discrimination?

    March 14, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: I am on staff at a major university. On Jan. 1, 2005, the school introduced a new salary- increase policy that caps your base pay once it reaches the maximum for your category.

  • When worker takes time off for incarceration

    March 7, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: I read with great interest when you wrote two weeks ago that an employer could legally require a doctor's note from an employee who was out several days because of illness. Would the same policy apply to prison time?

  • Graduation, without pay

    February 29, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: I am an instructor at a private secondary school. In the past, graduations took place on a weeknight twice a year, and evening classes were canceled so we could attend.

  • Can boss require a doctor's note for a sick day?

    February 22, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: Can an employer insist on medical documentation for unscheduled sick leave? I am a unionized employee and earn 13 sick days per year. If an employee calls in sick when a shift is understaffed, the managers insist on a doctor's note. When coverage is sufficient, documentation is seldom necessary unless an employee is out for more than three days. The union says that if management asks for a doctor's note when we are understaffed, employees must provide one. If they can't, management will dock their pay for the time off. Is this legal?

  • Employee wants pay for having to call in

    February 15, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: I work for a large company that posts its work schedules on the Thursday before the next workweek. Those of us who aren't in the office at that time have to call in to find out when we should report for work.

  • When is a lifeguard an 'exempt' employee?

    February 8, 2008

    From time to time, Help Wanted focuses on a single topic. Today's topic is exemptions from overtime.

  • Help, our accrued time is being taken away

    February 1, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: My colleagues and I are union employees at a large health care facility, which will soon have a new owner and a new benefits policy. Under that policy most of us will probably lose our accrued paid time off, in some cases as much as eight weeks.

  • The boss cut my pay -- What can I do?

    January 25, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: I am a exempt employee. My boss cut my salary 25 percent, while giving himself a raise. I am angry. What are my options?

  • Q. I detest my first name... but my boss insists I use it. Is that legal?

    January 18, 2008

    I've received a number of unusual questions over the years as a workplace advice columnist for Newsday, but an e-mail I received recently gave me pause.

  • When jobs are misclassified

    January 11, 2008

    From time to time, Help Wanted focuses on a single topic. Today's subject is the misclassification of employees.

  • He got age-dscrimination settlement -- Can he get unemployment, too?

    January 4, 2008

    DEAR CARRIE: I am a 54-year-old man who worked for a large New York company for 27 years. I believed I was forced out of work in 2005 because of age discrimination. So I filed a complaint with the Manhattan office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After over a year, I secured a settlement from my former employer.

  • When, exactly, is an employee late?

    December 7, 2007

    DEAR CARRIE: My employees are always cutting out your articles to show me what an unfair boss I am. After your column about whether it was legal to be docked 15 minutes for being a minute late, we had many acrimonious debates. Here's my side of it:

  • Company wants time off paid back when employee quits

    November 30, 2007

    DEAR CARRIE: My company just handed out a new employee manual and announced that, starting in January, it is combining all of our personal, sick and vacation time into a single category called "flexible time off." The amount of time is still based on years of service. But here's the rub.

Carrie Mason-Draffen

Carrie Mason-Draffen

 


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