As COVID-19 continues to remain a critical issue across the
country, an increasing number of employers that are allowed to
remain open despite shelter-in-place orders may be experiencing
staffing shortages. This is because employees may be increasingly
absent due to mandatory or voluntary quarantines. To maintain
operations, many of these employers are turning to areas of their
businesses or enterprises that may have a staffing surplus, and
temporarily reassigning those employees to the more essential roles
vacated by employees who are absent as a result of the COVID-19
crisis.
While it is generally permissible to reassign at-will employees
as needed, there can be unintended wage and hour consequences of
doing so. Below are answers to a number of frequently asked wage
and hour questions presented by the use of reassigned workers.
