Overwhelming Stress at Work

[Daddy2B]

I'm new to thelaw.com; I really don't know where to start, so I'll try the beginning. I've been with my company now for about 25 months. I left a higher paying job to come to my company in order to work fewer hours and enjoy the perks that my current company promised. Right as I started there was a change in leadership. The previous president was reduced to VP, and the VP took over as Pres. I recieved an offer letter which detailed my job responsibilities and indicated that after 6 months, the year mark and each year after that I would recieve a raise between 3%-6%. that I would recieve 15 days of PTO, and other perks.
Since this time the President seems to personally attack myself and the other employees and remark how easily replaceable we are. He gets offensively loud and storms around the office in a threatening manor and looks for small errors in performance so he can victimize employees verbally. Each time it's always followed with "Don't take this personally, I just want you to be the best you can be." We tried going to the VP and due to the recent power struggle it's obvious that he's just trying to keep his head down. And the owner of the company is the current presidents older brother. Still I tried approaching the older brother with the hostile work enviorment and the (Carrot on a stick feeling with possible replacement) and he didn't seem to care.
Aside from the personal attacks, I started as a salaried employee with the job description as internet sales manager. This ended up being only 1 of my MANY job responsiblities and I'm expected to arrive as early as needed and stay until all my responsibilities are done. (AVG 65-70 hours/week). Now I don't have any employees under me, I don't oversee anyone, and I feel spread incredibly thin as of late I'm the office handy man as well using a previous background of finish carpentry to do everything from hang dry well, use powered tools and basic IT work.
I feel that I am being taken advantage of especially in the expectation to work so many hours. Is there anything I can do, or are there any laws that protect me in my situation?

 

[Gidget62]

It doesn't sound like it. You are a salaried (exempt) employee, right? That means you work whatever hours your employer deems necessary. I don't think there are any laws to protect an employee from being taken advantage of. It also appears that your co-workers are treated as badly as you so it sounds like your employer is an "Equal Opportunity" harasser. Your best bet is to hang in there as long as you can and start looking for a more employee-friendly workplace. Good Luck to you.

 

[de_novo]

While there may not be any recourse available to you to ge the employer to stop treating you the way that it is, you may have the ability to quit this position and collect unemployment, depending on the situation. First thing that comes to mind is that the possiblity of the job being a hostile work environment. However, I would not go with this as a primary reason for quitting. Establishing this is sometimes hard and most employers have ways to get around this. However, since there was the changing of hands of power between the VP and President and all the "problems" this has caused, you may be eligible for benefits under the rule of futility and cause of a necessitous and compelling nature. This states that that the self-termination was consistent with ordinary common sense and prudence under the pressure of circumstances that were real not imaginary, substantial not trifling, and reasonable not whimsical, and which would compel a reasonable person under the same circumstances to act in the same manner. However, you must at least TRY to communicate the problem to the employer to allow the employer the opportunity to accommodate your problem. In a situation like yours, this may not do anything, but will illustrate the fact that you tried.
As for the long work days, you really can't do much about that, only if they aren't paying you for the overtime you work. I would still recommend contacting an attorney first though or seeking free legal aid.

 

[Daddy2B]

There is my Problem

One of my problems is that I am working such long weeks and not being compensated for it. Though the President has mentioned that we are able to take breaks and lunches, none of the employess take breaks and lunches except the occasional "run out, grab food and bring it back". Because we don't want to deal with the closed door meeting of harassment. I worked 5 days a week, get to work by 7:45 am and often don't leave until 6-7pm at night. I am a salaried employee, but I don't get any overtime.

 

[de_novo]

Yeah, that is a big problem with salaried employees. As a salaried employee, you won't be eligible for overtime pay due to your salary status. As long as they need you to get the job done, it is legal for them to keep you there. Also, 15 minute breaks are not a guarantee under Federal laws, so if they are sticklers of you working during these times, it is legal for them to do so. As for the lunch period though, it is NOT legal to have you work your whole day without one. Under Federal mandates, a worker is guaranteed at least a half an hour lunch for working a minimum of 8 hours in a shift. While I am not an attorney, I would recommend seeking one for actual legal advice.