Boss cut your hours? Here’s what you can do!

[toniwilliams]

When your hours are cut you can file for unemployment and still work. Its called being underemployed. Check the unemployment laws of your state.

[winstonscates]

My boss did that because I was the senior and highest paid employee and he wanted to downsize his salary payment. But he didn’t know I had some passive income. I let that go on for a while doing the bare minimum work. Customers complained that they weren’t being taken care of. It finally got so bad that he increased my hours to overtime to get caught up with the customers. 2 days later I retired. I’ve never been happier. I highly recommend retirement.

[davidkrie]

Had that happen. Told all the other workers if they want a day off I will fill in for them. In three days I had forty hours in and couldn’t work my one scheduled day. Was awesome watching them scramble to find someone to cover it.

[heith]

Had an argument with my boss. They cancelled the night shift I was in charge of. Never told me or told me to show up for dayshift. So I figured I was fired. They said I quit because I didn't show up. Well I got a lawyer now and it's getting good.

[d-anger-noodle]

This happened to me when I worked for Walgreens. I'm disabled after having a stroke and the store manager saw me as a liability. Cut my weekly hours from 40 to 21. I went to him and told him I couldn't afford to pay my bills with that much of a drop in income and he did nothing. I went over his head and spoke with the district manager and he told me that he'd "see what he could do"... I then had my hours cut even MORE to 14 hours a week. Eventually, I left Walgreens and went to rideshare driving and not 6 months later, the old store manager was fired for his behavior lol.

[savagehippie]

Thank you. I am currently going through this very issue at my job. I am a biomedical engineer technician and I feel that management is retaliating against me, HR refuses to help me in anyway and they are taking the managers side no matter what I say. My manager literally sent me an email telling me that “if I don’t like it I can resign” I told him I’ve never quit anything and I’m not gonna start now. I just sent an email to HR stating what you just said. Thank you for helping me to see light at the end of this tunnel…

[kimberlygabaldon]

My boss cut my hours to 4 hours per week, but said she didn't want me to get another job, because she needed me on call. I quit and filed for unemployment. She disputed it, so i went to an unemployment hearing and explained the situation to the hearings officer, and won. The hearings officers and magistrates have seen it a million times.

[Keith_WBVUO]

Came back to work after a jobsite-related accident and subsequent double knee replacement. Worked for 15 months and then was told that I was "Old and Crippled, and slowing down the crew..." Straight hourly and worked on a daily call basis. They just stopped calling me.

Went back to a former employer and said I was available if they had work. Started putting in 55 - 70 hours a week, yep Old and Crippled me...

5 months later and HR at my "real" employer called me and asked, "Do you still work for us? We don't see any time cards..." I suggested that they talk to the Field Manager as he never calls me to come in because I'm "crippled" Got 5 months of vacation and sick pay and a notice of termination (Field Manager got canned!) Worked the new job for another 5 years and retired.

I win!

[Wetskelly]

I was a manager at McDonald’s for three years and they did it to underperforming workers I asked one of them and they said “ We call it silent firing just cut your hours to nothing till they just stop showing up then we claim they quit and alls good.” Knowing that information concerned me about my future at that place glad to say I work for a much nicer happier kitchen.

[Krankie_V]

When my hours got cut without notice, I quit without notice. Started working for someone who values me more as a person and now my pay doesn't get cut even if I miss a day or two. If an employer treats you like crap, give it right back.

[Grabthar]

If they cut your hours, filing for unemployment is usually a good move. They can bring you up to at least a portion of what you are used to and it might influence the employer to increase your hours to avoid increases in their unemployment taxes. Unemployment does take time, and evidence though. So it is always good to make sure you have funds in savings.

[boingbong]

Depressing how American workers have to put up with this. Here in Europe I am guaranteed a certain amount of hours each week on my contract

[TheTrueEcho]

Really wish I knew this when I was working at Office Depot. I knew something was fishy when my hours kept getting cut more and more, yet our "Help Wanted" sign stayed up and everyone kept complaining about the lack of people working.

And I wasn't the only one; everyone, even the GM, had their hours cut.

To this day I cannot figure out if the store was in genuinely dire straights, or if someone was trying to cycle out employees for cheaper labor, but it's still a dick move.

[amyrussell]

I worked in hospital that liked to get nurses to retire @62. 1 LPN resisted because she wanted to retire @65. They cut her hours to 8/wek. She got full unemployment benefits and didn't have to look for work.

[elisabethbarbour]

This happened to me during Covid and I had no clue what to do or where to turn so thank you for teaching other how to handle it ❤

[GGPlex_]

The worst part is this is way more common than you think.

[BraddahSpliff]

Just start doing things to make them want to fire you that's not necessarily going against your work contract. Stop doing work that is not in your contract. Take your full breaks & don't ever work through a break. Start talking to your coworkers publicly about your pay rate & work hours. Keep bad mouthing your manager to HR & complain all the time. Talk to your coworkers about the other jobs you're looking for that will pay you lot more.

They'll eventually get tired of you & fire you. Trust me. I used to do things like this all the time to get fired. Because quitting didn't let me collect unemployment.

[bijou]

"Nobody wants to work, anymore!"

No, nobody wants to work for companies like this, anymore.

[knight]

I'm so glad this man has come up now that most of us gen z and Gen x are getting into the work force and ofc we know nothing and get talked advantage of thank my man

[startledhamster]

So real advice, read employment laws for your area. Note that being employed and working as a contractor are two waaay different things