scheduling question for SC

Question:  Can a boss/owner of a small business in SC require that an employee change their shift at the last minute...less than 8 hours notice...to cover the shift of an employee that calls in sick, and then penalize the employee being "asked" to switch if they are unable to make the change?  The owner has a history of "punishing" his small staff if they are not able to meet his demands and his constantly changing schedule.  In the current situation, he made it clear that if the shift in question...in the early morning hours...was not filled by the employee being "asked" to fill it, then that employee would not be allowed to work at all on the day in question, ie their scheduled shift in the evening.

Can an employee legally penalize an employee for failing to meet the demands of a changing schedule when this is not possible for the employee to do this at the last minute?

TIA!

I don't know what you mean by "penalized" but, as long as you are getting paid for the hours you work, your employer can have you perform your duties standing on your head and fire you if you don't.

And there are no laws in any state requiring the employer provide XX hours notification of a schedule change.

Sorry, I thought I covered the "penalized" part..."penalized" as in, if the employee is unable to meet the owner's demand to change shifts due to an appointment as well as child care issues, then said employee is "penalized" by not being allowed to work the originally scheduled hours because they were unable to "help out" the owner with his demand to change shifts.  What was said was, "If you can't help me out, then don't bother coming in tomorrow afternoon for your shift."  Hope that clears things up.

I understand that there's no law that requires that a boss refrain from being a jerk, just wondering if he is allowed to take scheduled hours away from employees as "punishment" for not acquiescing to his mostly unreasonable demands.

jamichelli3:

just wondering if he is allowed to take scheduled hours away from employees as "punishment" for not acquiescing to his mostly unreasonable demands.

Yes, unless there is a bona fide contract guaranteeing XX hours per week.  Doesn't sound like there is here.