Conditions protected by law!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/23/8405/52995

Very interesting writeup on this! Frankly, I've been in a few of these scenarios in the past. Leveraged performance data and pay scales to get myself a coupla nice raises in the past! Employers, of course, would not like to see these things happen, but....

Tough Titty.

Good ruling, IMHO.

Two words. Self Employment.

Sorry to preach this again but you get past all this BS when you work for yourself.

Their quoting a DC appeals court, which only has jurisdiction in the eastern part of the country, until the Supreme court affirms it, it doesnt apply out here.

ANd most states are fire at will, you dont have to give a reason, so if they want to fire you, and just dont say anything, you ddont have a leg to stand on in a suit.

Which is exactly why you should know all your rights, make sure you add serious value and have alternatives planned should an issue come up.

Have had to do this once or twice in my early 20's. The first time is extremely tough, the second is a no-brainer. Working out of fear, or because one is trapped is unacceptable. It's just not worth it, but a lot of people don't know this.

Did the self employed bit too. I'm gonna do it again, once a few life situations resolve themselves. I could not agree with Chris more.

You don't want your job back in a lawsuit! If it gets there, you are working for the wrong folks. Either work for yourself, or find employment with people that are worth working for. At the very least, have the self-respect to not be exploited any more than is absolutely necessary.

The first employer, who tried the whole "don't talk about your pay" and "we just can't pay what you are really worth because..." bit, learned a coupla hard lessons.

1. My output then never again exceeded the output of the other, but far less productive employees, by more than 5 percent. Once in a while, I would produce far above that, for a short time, then return to the steady, just enough above the average to not be worth getting rid of level my pay scale warranted.

When they bitched about it, I made it really clear they are purchasing my services. How that value transfer happens directly impacts what they are going to get. Simple, direct and clean.

I also let them know I needed to maximize my personal time for my benefit. So, no extra off-hours training, abrupt schedule changes when other higher paid losers didn't show up, etc... I don't have the time, given their current investment.

After a few of these cycles...

2. Suddenly a lot of people knew how the pay scales worked, who got paid and what their output was. That was a fun week! I've no idea how that actually happened! Really, I don't!

Of course, I had already sorted out my career issues, made the changes needed and was well on my way out of both that job and that industry. I made sure they would not have any chance to matter to me, whatsoever. Didn't take that long either.

If only more 20-somethings knew just how flexible many of their lives are at that point! There is very little an employer can actually do to someone at that point that's gonna matter more than what a poorly treated employee can do.

The only thing to watch for is getting trapped. Don't commit yourself to too many monthly obligations and you too can be perfectly free to market yourself to the fullest and take no crap from cheapskates.

Sorry if that's ugly, but I personally am worth every penny I'm paid. I make completely sure of it. Everyone of us is, and that's the point of this whole thing. Empowering people toward this end is the right thing to do.

Don't want to pay many pennies? That's fine. I'll be looking for a better deal, not so willing to engage in heroics for the good of the company, etc... all the while, working hard to improve my marketability, and will return all the nasty favors in like kind. That's likely not the right thing to do, but hey ---I just was not raised to devalue myself and don't take crap, unless there is a really great reason for it.