My company was bought out by another company... Is this legal?

I have been working for a company for almost a year now. Recently this company had been bought out by another company and new management had taken over. I have years of experience doing this line of work and have no write-ups or complaints against me. My job performance has never been proven to be inadequate.
There isnt a whole lot of work, but I feel like I have been "put on the back burner" so to say. The manager has hired three more guys and now they are doing what I was hired to do. I am pretty much on-call now and barely get any hours at work and have to stay home most days. I feel like my rights are being violated because I have not done anything to deserve the treatment I am recieving. I am just as qualified to do this job as they are but I have been pushed aside for no reason. It doesnt seem right that I have been here the longest but get the least amount of hours. Is there anything that I can legally do???

Employees really have no rights. Employers have them all.

Your rights have not been violated. You are an At Will employee and that means if you are dissatisfied with your current employment, you are free to leave and seek better opportunities.

It's much like a relationship. Instead of falling back on what your "rights" are, you simply leave the relationship if it's not working out.

Again, they are not doing anything legally culpable.

Is there anything legally you can do? Yes. You can quit.

[Bricks41]

Apparently the Unregistered guest doesn't quite know what he/she is talking about in regards to employers having all of the rights. Depending on the issue, it can go in either direction. In this circumstance, they are not obligated to employ you at all. In most takeovers, you usually have to reapply for your job or you may just be terminated. They are not obligated to work you a certain number of hours. Granted it is the short end of the proverbial stick, but it is what it is. If you are in need of income, you should consider starting over with a new employer.

And apparently you are wrong. The Department of Labor will tell you if you call them that the employee has all of the responsibility and none of the rights while the employer has the rights but not the responsibility.

Just because you don't like the truth doesn't mean it's wrong by virtue of you being incapable of accepting it.

You ended up reiterating what was already said, even though you opened your own response by saying the poster before you didn't "quite know what they are talking about". How ironic.

Employees are constantly looking for laws that allow them to sue when they are humiliated by their employers but the fact is, you can't sue over low self esteem. Employment is AT WILL. Do you comprehend what that means?

Wow. nice little arguement. I am not trying to sue anyone and I have not been humiliated by my employer. I just thought that its unfair whats going on and wanted to know if there was anything I could do OTHER THAN quit my job..... Because I actually do like my job.

But what was said about being an AT WILL employee makes sense, and I believe I even read about it in the employee handbook saying something like employees can be fired for any reason at anytime or for no reason at all. I think it sucks that there's nothing I can do. I guess I really dont have a choice but to seek employment elsewhere.
I appreciate the help.

Take care.

[Bricks41]

I would appreciate you posting with respect. I simply stated that depending on the circumstance, the rights can be placed in the hands of either party. If you have a wealth of knowledge to share, please register and help answer questions.

If you have personally dealt with many of the issues relating to HR, you would know that the employer doesn't have all of the rights.

Mikeb, it's a bad position to be in and I wish you luck.

Bricks, if you are looking for "respect" on a public forum, and need it even from absolute strangers who are merely words on a screen to you, perhaps posting on a public forum is not the right hobby for you,as you seem more than a little sensitive in the emotion department.

Further, one does not need to register in order to share knowledge. It's unclear why you think that is necessary. There is a wealth of knowledge all over this forum, on several topics, provided (mostly) by unregistered posters. In fact, I find that the "Unregistered" users are much more knowledgeable than the people who have so little a life that they actually take the time to make up a screen name and post regularly. I find that it's these posters who use screen names who are trolls with little to no sound, well thought out advice to give. Such as Affa. As you can see by his posts, he's registered but his advice is about as good as taking a wooden nickel. Same goes for you.

Some of us "unregistered"s have a life outside of computer-land. Sorry.

It's very rare that the employer would be "rightless", but as you can clearly see, your comments do not apply to Mikeb's situation, so it's moot that you would even make such statements.

Mikeb, sorry, but the only legal right you have is to quit. Just because you like your job doesn't mean your situation is going to change. Why not channel your interests and passion and start your own business? The only way to go in this life is to work for yourself. It's the most rewarding person you will ever work for.