Just out of curiosity, what is the law in your state?
California has a labor board… go there, they look out for their people.
It happens everywhere. Just look at the Secretary of Defense. Same thing happened to him by the US President.
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…and…
Sorry, that is not the way it works. State Labor Boards have no jurisdiction in cases like this. This is covered in code section 1256 of the UI Code. What that company did is common, not illegal and within their rights to do so. It is just in bad taste. Refer back to my earlier post.
Also? MOST of the time you are signing some sort of an agreement with the company when they employed you - which usually states a company policy about how much notice you are required to give (with Transocean it was a month) - SO - look through your new hire papers, see if there’s any “company policy” stating how much notice you are required to give. I hope you saved your signed copy of your letter of resignation and I hope you not only gave it out in person, but also through an e-mail. This would allow you to have a better shot at collecting unemployment.
If he has returned to work it is too late to file for unemployment. Unemployment is like Social Security. It starts the week you physically file. No back-dating (Code Section 1235a).
It doesn’t make it right but I think a lot of boat companies (in GOM) don’t pay holidays, travel, etc… because there are too many others that don’t and it creates an immediate financial disadvantage. A few hundred dollars per crew member for each crew change adds up to a good chunk of money each month. Paying your whole fleet holiday pay adds up to a lot of money. When you have competitors that are running on a shoe string budget it makes it hard to do these things and still stay competitive.
I know of several companies that would rather poach employees that already have training, of course paid by a previous employer, than hire good candidates and spend money on training them. I think in the deep water OSV market there are fewer players and they should be doing more for their mariners. But, I can’t tell you how many people I ran across over the years that only wanted to talk about their day rate during an interview. More often than note guys asked about pay and never asked about insurance, 401k, holiday pay or travel pay to and from work. So short sighted on their part.
I am out of the OSV business these days, working for less money but happier because the company I work for really treats their employees well. Excellent 401k matching (and 100% vested from Day 1), generous paid vacation, compensation time given for working weekends or exceptionally long hours, cost of living raise every year… and I could go on. I don’t miss the extra salary because I know my interests are being looked after by my company and I don’t feel taken advantage of. I don’t think many could make the same statement working in the GOM in the OSV business.
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It’s not just the GOM; it’s all along the coasts. State and Federal laws require Holiday pay for “Non Exempt” employees. Some companies pay more than the minimum number of Holidays required by the State. Mariners and “exempt.”
Although employers are not required to provide paid Holidays to Mariners, some do. I think it’s in most union contracts.
It just amazes me how a company will brag how much they care about their employees, how employees are their biggest asset, and how employee safety is Job 1. They’ll provide Holiday pay to 500 landbased employees, but then won’t pay it to the 50 guys on their boats.
Similar are the companies that provide insurance to all shoreside employees, but not mariners.
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