Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Wednesday, March 19, 1997

Canceled part-time hours
not covered by state law

I am a part-time worker at a retail store, where I get a different schedule every week. Recently, my posted hours for Friday were noon to 5 p.m. and for Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. But when I arrived at work, I found my hours were canceled and I received no pay. What is the law on this?

This probably comes down to "employer-employee relationship" and not a matter of state law, said Patrick Stanley, spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Employee Relations.

The wage-and-hour law does not address the question of hours worked. In a nutshell, this is what that law says, Stanley said:

You get paid for the work you do. If you work overtime, more than 40 hours a week, you get paid time-and-a-half. If you're terminated, you have to be paid within 24 hours. If you resign, you must be paid by the next pay period.

"Any provision about hours is considered a benefit and not a right or legal requirement," he said. "Notices about changes in hours would be a matter of company policy," much as breaks and lunch hours are considered a benefit, unless you're under 16. (This is apart from any labor contract.)

"Labor laws are pretty limited and simple. Most things are (considered) benefits and the employer needs no rationale to hire, fire or to control the conditions of work, with the exception of discrimination, whistle-blowing and so forth," Stanley said.

There's also the matter of contractual agreements, Stanley said.

If a company has a personnel policy or employee handbook that says hours will be posted and they don't do that, "that would come into the realm of a breach of contract," he said. "Sadly, when we hear that sort of thing, we have to say talk to your attorney."

He said talk to your employer to try to resolve your concerns.

What is happening at Kahekili Highway, between Likelike Highway and Kulukeoe Street? One property has been receiving special attention for months. How much extra is this costing?

It's not costing taxpayers anything more and nothing special is being done, said state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali.

Workers needed access to the area behind the new highway wall to rebuild private walls torn down for the highway widening. Although construction of the public wall was mostly finished, the wall in the area you cite - with its two openings - is not expected to be completed until the end of the contract, Kali said.