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Hello everyone this isn't from my side but I had a chat with a really close person of mine, and he was wondering all day how he and his co-workers could ask their company to get a date of when they're going to get their real salary.

Since COVID-19 these guys have struggled with half salary on a high-demand job (idk what I meant by that but they can be called ANYTIME at ANY DATE at ANY HOUR to get the job done) usually known as "trust worker" or something like that.

They've been like this for 4 months already and well like common people not all of them have savings and commonly they're on debt with a lot of stuff.

The topic is getting hot among co-workers and they're planning a lot of stuff and it's even getting toxic.

Can someone advice me how could they ask politely to the company how to write an email about "Hey when is our salary going back to normal, it's been long enough." without being rude nor whatever it may sound as.

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    What country/state is this? Can they apply for partial unemployment? Are they working full time or half time? Is the current rate they're getting minimum wage in their area? Did the company apply for government funds? What type of company is this? Is this an essential service company? Is the company transparent with its finances? – Stephan Branczyk Jul 2 '20 at 3:18
  • Aviation, half salary is still beyond minimum salary, they keep working fulltime, Mexico – Napal Jul 2 '20 at 3:25
  • Passenger planes or cargo planes? Is there a Union? – Stephan Branczyk Jul 2 '20 at 5:38
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    Unionize. Then threaten withdrawal of your labor unless the salary gets back. Or they sign that you will get paid what was taken from you over the next year. Then do a strike. – jo1storm Jul 2 '20 at 10:56
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    Kind of hard to replace a pilot crew with the aircraft training that company has invested in that crew, but gathering up and threat a withdrawal to this kind of company is not a very professional move, it’s a chess game not some skirmish – Napal Jul 2 '20 at 15:23
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Dear (whoever the boss is)

We understand the hard times we are all going through and we have taken all the steps needed to keep this company afloat. We have been taking pay cuts while working all the hours required, even nights and weekends with little to no notice. At this point, both the stress of having mounting debts and the exhaustion from the work is taking it's toll.

Given this, we would like to know when and if our pay will go back to normal levels as our money is gone, and many of us are now in debt. We need to be able to plan for our families, and the uncertainty does not allow us to do this.

If there is a planned date to return to normal, please let us know that we, and our families may better plan our finances

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  • Thanks a lot this is a perfect email for the case, can't take away nor add anything else, it will go as it is. Appreciate it a lot! – Napal Jul 2 '20 at 21:18
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Firstly: You mentioned in the comments that this situation is in Mexico. So I'm guessing the common language at the office is probably Mexican Spanish. From what I've seen on this forum, it looks like most of the people here are not Spanish speakers, and asking what the right way to ask your boss about a company finance issue probably has a lot less to do with word choice and a lot more to do with cultural/linguistic nuance, which might be hard to get here. You are probably a lot more knowledgeable about what is/is not acceptable to say in Mexican Spanish to your boss than any of us here. So I'm not going to answer your question directly, and probably neither will anyone else here.

That said, I think you may be asking the wrong question. In any kind of labour dispute, the question is less about "how do I ask for a better situation?" and more about "what are my other options?". Let's say, you can continue working at this company, getting half pay, working 24/7 on-call hours, and going into personal debt to keep your family afloat, or you can go to another company, work standard 9-5, and get full pay; what would you do? The answer is obvious, you say "hasta la vista" to your current company and move on. On the other hand, what if you have the choice between staying at this company and whatever the situation is, or you can quit and now you have no income at all; what would you do then? Well then we have a more interesting question.

This is really the situation you are in. Your employer is not breaking any laws (unless they are and you haven't said anything). Therefore you have no grounds to sue them or bring a legal case against them, e.g. for lost wages or something else. So your choices are really "take what you can get", or "don't". What does "don't" look like? Is that option better than what you have, or isn't it? If it is better, then you should start looking for a new job, one that you can support your family. If it's not better, well then you don't have too many options...

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