demotion without knowledge

Kentucky. I was put into training for a salaried position about 5 weeks ago. The training period was set to about 3 weeks under an hourly rate. I noticed that I was still set as hourly after my training period had ended and told my boss who stated that she would tell her boss to fix it and that I would be compensated. This past week I never received a monthly bonus check(for salaried only). When I confronted my boss' supervisor he stated that I am not a salaried employee eventhough I went through training, been reffered as, and have documentation stating that I was holding a salaried position at that time. Can an employer do that? Are my workers' rights being violated, and if so is there anything that I can do?

[mcarson]

OK, when you say salaried, do you mean salaried exempt or salaried non-exempt? There is a big difference. Exempt employees are not entitled to overtime, non-exempt employees are. Also, what exactly is it that you do? Please give a brief description of your job duties if you don't mind.

Well the position that I was in training for was salaried exempt. But the payrate for the duration of the training is an hourly amount that is equal to the salary I would have received assuming I worked all 50 hours. The job was for a quick service restraunt in managment. The duties included labor, inventory, and cash managment, as well as product quality control.

[mcarson]

Originally Posted by Unregistered Well the position that I was in training for was salaried exempt. But the payrate for the duration of the training is an hourly amount that is equal to the salary I would have received assuming I worked all 50 hours. The job was for a quick service restraunt in managment. The duties included labor, inventory, and cash managment, as well as product quality control.

If you get the same money either way, then what's the difference? The bonus check?
There's a couple things I will say:
1. Exempt is not usually desirable, it usually means long hours with no overtime. If they keep you non-exempt, feel lucky.
2. Furthermore, I'm not sure that you would meet the test for exemption anyway. I do not think the description you gave me of your duties meets the criteria for any exemption. Do you have the authority to hire or fire employees? Or are your suggestions and recommendations as to the hiring or
firing and as to the advancement and promotion or any other change of status of other employees given particular weight? Is most of your time spent doing management work or the same work as other employees? Those are just a few things.