Workplace Transfer – Can they do that?

Workplace Transfer – Can they do that?

Can my Employer cause me to suffer a workplace transfer?

The Answer to that questions here in Connecticut, is Yes, your employer can make you suffer a workplace transfer.

Connecticut is an at-will employment state.  What that means is that assuming there is no contract of employment (which are rare these days), an employer has the final say on what the employees’ job duties are, including how they are performed and where they are performed.  This means you can be transferred internally or externally at your employers whim.  If you refuse… you could potentially be terminated and yes, they can do that too.

In fact, an employer can go even further, they can decide to transfer you into a lesser paying job, they can choose to lower and/or higher your salary, invoke policies or even change policies regarding vacations, personal time off and holiday pay.  Vacation and PTO time are considered employer paid benefits and they are not legally required as outlined on the CT Dept. of Labor’s website.  As long as none of the above transpired as a means to discriminate against you or a class of individuals, it is fair play by them.  Of note, there is a CT law regarding sick time.  An employer of 50+ employees, must, by law provide its employees with 5 days of accrued sick time each year as outlined in the CT Sick Leave Law (you can read about that HERE).

That is not to say that you should not seek out the advice of an attorney if this happens to you, there may be other available avenues for you for redress, such as potentially being eligible for unemployment if the transfer results in a hardship to you.  Give us call, if we can’t assist you, we will be happy to refer you to someone who can!