My Boss Cut My Hours After I Complained—Is That Retaliation in New York?
You complain to your manager or Human Resources about discrimination, harassment, unpaid wages, or another workplace problem. Soon afterward, your schedule changes. Maybe you were regularly working 40 hours per week and suddenly receive only 20. Perhaps your best shifts disappear. Or your employer stops scheduling you altogether without formally firing you.
Can cutting your hours after a workplace complaint constitute retaliation in New York?
Potentially, yes. State and Federal law prohibits retaliation against employees who engage in legally protected activity. Depending on the circumstances, reducing an employee’s hours, shifts, or compensation can constitute retaliation. But a reduction in hours after a complaint does not, by itself, establish a retaliation claim.
Was Your Complaint Legally Protected?
The first question is what you complained about. Depending on the circumstances, employees may be protected when they complain about:
- Workplace discrimination;
- Sexual or other unlawful harassment;
- Unpaid minimum wages or overtime;
- Improper deductions or other wage violations; or
- Other conduct protected by applicable employment laws.
Not every workplace complaint is legally protected. Complaining that a supervisor is rude, that you dislike your schedule, or that a workplace decision is unfair does not necessarily constitute protected activity. The substance of the complaint matters.
Can Cutting My Hours Be Retaliation?
Yes. An employer does not necessarily have to fire an employee to retaliate against them.
Potential retaliation can include:
- Reducing scheduled hours;
- Removing lucrative shifts;
- Eliminating overtime opportunities;
- Moving an employee to less desirable shifts;
- Reducing compensation or responsibilities; or
- Leaving an employee off the schedule without formally terminating them.
For example, suppose an employee regularly works approximately 40 hours each week. She complains to management that she is not being paid overtime. The following week, management reduces her schedule to 15 hours while comparable coworkers continue receiving their normal schedules.
That does not automatically prove retaliation, but the circumstances may warrant examining whether the wage complaint played a role in the reduction.
Does the Timing Matter?
Timing can be important evidence.
If an employee works a consistent schedule for a year, complains about discrimination, and suddenly loses half of her hours the following week, the close timing may support an inference that the events were connected.
Timing alone, however, does not necessarily prove retaliation.
Other evidence can include statements by supervisors, changes in how the employee is treated, inconsistent explanations for the reduction, and whether similarly situated coworkers also lost hours.
What If My Employer Says Business Is Slow?
Employers can have legitimate reasons for reducing hours.
Seasonal demand, declining sales, staffing changes, employee availability, performance issues, and other business considerations can all result in lawful schedule changes.
The question is whether the employer’s stated reason actually explains what happened.
Relevant questions may include:
- Did other employees also lose hours?
- Was the reduction planned before the complaint?
- Was the complaining employee singled out?
- Did management give different explanations for the change?
- Had the employee previously received consistent hours?
- Did anyone connect the schedule change to the complaint?
For example, if everyone’s hours declined during a slow season, that may support the employer’s explanation. If only the employee who recently complained lost substantial hours, the circumstances may warrant closer examination.
What Evidence Should I Preserve?
If your hours change after a workplace complaint, consider preserving relevant records while you still have access to them.
- Schedules: Save copies or screenshots showing your hours and shifts before and after the complaint.
- Pay records: Keep paystubs and time records that document your historical hours and earnings.
- The complaint: Preserve the email, text, or written complaint showing what you reported and when.
- Communications: Save relevant messages with supervisors, HR, and management concerning your complaint or schedule.
- Performance records: Preserve evaluations, positive feedback, disciplinary notices, and similar records.
- A timeline: Write down when you complained, who knew about it, when your hours changed, and what was said about the change.
Employees should not improperly access confidential information or take company records they are not entitled to possess.
What If I Complained About Unpaid Wages?
Federal and New York law contain protections against certain forms of retaliation for employees who assert wage-and-hour rights.
Depending on the circumstances, an employee who complains about unpaid minimum wages, overtime, or other wage violations may therefore have two separate issues: the underlying failure to pay wages and retaliation for complaining about it.
The same general principle applies to certain complaints about unlawful discrimination and harassment under federal, New York State, and New York City law.
What Should I Do If My Hours Were Cut After I Complained?
Preserve your schedules, pay records, complaint, and relevant communications. Create a timeline while the events are still fresh.
Most importantly, do not assume that a reduction in hours is either automatically unlawful or automatically permissible simply because your employer did not fire you.
Whether a schedule change constitutes unlawful retaliation depends on the nature of your complaint, what your employer did afterward, and the evidence connecting the two.
Speak With a New York Employment Attorney
If your employer cut your hours, reduced your shifts, or otherwise reduced your earnings after you complained about discrimination, harassment, unpaid wages, or other potentially unlawful workplace conduct, the circumstances may warrant further review.
Naidich Law represents employees in Brooklyn and throughout New York City in workplace retaliation and other employment-law matters.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Reading this article or contacting Naidich Law does not, by itself, create an attorney-client relationship.