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My wife has spent the last 15 years working for a well-known department store as an ambassador for an equally well-known high-end cosmetics brand. Essentially, she’s a makeup artist and skin care specialist, working for a good hourly rate + commission. Her job, until the pandemic hit and she was furloughed in March, was literally to spend the day touching people’s faces. We wondered then how it would ever come back. Now it’s pretty clear that it’s not.
Slowly but surely, things have started to open up here in New Jersey. Outdoor dining only. Malls are open with limited capacity. Masks are required indoors AND outdoors where social distancing isn’t possible. While there’s no shortage of vitriol hurled at our democratic Governor Phil Murphy, I’m grateful that he chose to listen to doctors and scientists as opposed the the current occupier of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Recently, some of her former co-workers are starting to get calls to come back to work.
Here’s what happens: An email is sent from the store, telling you to report to work, usually with 2 or 3 days notice. This week, due to some glitch, none of the half-dozen or so people who were sent an email received it. They received phone calls today, telling them to report to work tomorrow.
While my wife hasn’t received such a call, her former supervisor has. When this person asked if she would be working back at her cosmetics counter, she was told no. When asked if she would still be working on commission, she was told no. When asked what she WOULD be doing, they were vague. It might be clothing. It might be cleaning or straightening racks. Maybe changing price tags on sale items. It might be unloading trucks in the warehouse. Basically, it will be whatever the hell they tell her to do.
Here’s the rub: When this person asked what her wage would be, they “can’t say”. Just come in tomorrow.
What will happen, based on the experience of other former supervisors, is that they’ll show up, and a form will be placed in front of them, with their ‘new’ hourly rate. The rate has generally been far, far below their pre-pandemic wages, hovering around the $11.00 an hour NJ minimum wage. They can sign it and accept it, or not. But if they don’t, they’re effectively quitting, thereby giving up any unemployment benefits they’d been receiving up until now.
So, we’re screening emails and phone calls. I’m not a labor attorney, but it seems to me that a “job offer” over the phone that doesn’t tell you what your wage is, or if any benefits are provided, or even what your damn job description is, isn’t a job offer at all. In this case, it feels more like extortion.
