First time Reddit post, and given the situation, I'd like to acknowledge that we are in a very fortunate position overall.
Background
Husband (DH) holds two positions in a health system. First, he is a salaried doctor working at a clinic/hospital. The terms of this job are covered in an employment agreement signed 3 years ago.
His second position is director of his specialty department. The details of this job were put in an amendment to his main contract 3 months after the original effective date. In this role, he is paid hourly for his work and must provide timesheets every month – no timesheet, no director pay. His contract says that he can bill for a maximum of 20 hrs/month. The actual time required to do these tasks has averaged approximately 30 hours/month (10 more than they allow). He has always reported his actual time. His employer never once told him to stop working extra hours, and in fact, he cannot work fewer director hours due to the urgency of certain meetings, reporting, & conflict resolution.
First Question
Part of the pay for his main job is incentive compensation. This is specifically detailed in his employment agreement. In one section it states that the physician must be employed on the final date of the quarterly calculation period to get the bonus. There is a separate exhibit that gives examples of how the bonus might be calculated with percentages and categories of performance goals. The example section repeats that the physician must be employed on the final day of the calculation period, but it also says that the incentive compensation program is subject to change.
Last year, management changed the eligibility rules. Now, physicians must be employed on the payment date of the bonus, which is about 2 months after the end of the calculation period. This change was communicated verbally, and management admits there is no written policy document that can be shared with us.
Is this wage theft? This is a non-discretionary bonus, especially because it is scheduled and is described in DH's contract. He has not been given anything in writing (other than an informal email) and he has not signed anything agreeing to change the terms of his incentive pay. In case it matters, we're talking about ~$15,000 that they are trying to keep.
Second Question
In his director role, are they allowed to limit the number of hours they pay for? The extra time has been listed on his timesheet every month. DH made requests to make the job salaried or remove the cap on paid hours. Management refused. We know that if he reports fewer than 20 hrs/month, he would only be paid for the actual time.
I'm not sure if the pay rate affects this issue. This job pays $150/hour (= $3000/month or $36000/yr). If this is wage theft, it has taken place for 33 months and could add up to over $40,000 in missing pay, without interest or penalties.
In our ideal world, DH would receive his final incentive bonus, even though the deposit would come a month after his last day. We'd ignore the unpaid director hours. But if they play hardball and force our legal hand, it would only be worthwhile to us if those unpaid hours are included.