[gbronner]

This is an unfortunate outcome:

under the argument offered by the company, they can lower your salary, and you can choose whether or not to take it. If you keep working, you have a new job at a new salary.

Under the employee's theory, they have the option to keep working, and then sue the company for constructive termination. From the employer's perspective, this is a disaster, as legal fees overwhelm any reduction in salary.

So given that salary reduction is off the table, the employer now has to fire all employees that are drastically overpaid, or make everyone sign a release. This is not good for the large number of employees who would prefer to keep working at a lower salary rather than be unemployed -- it produces a worse outcome.

[Drakim]

The power imbalance between the company and the worker is too great for this to practically work out. When a company loses a worker, it's a small inconvenience until they get replaced, but when a worker loses their job it might mean loss of food, shelter and medicine for them and their family.

Having logic like "If you don't instantly walk away from your job on the spot after a salary reduction then you accept it" can practically end up being blackmail: Accept the salary reduction today or go hungry tomorrow.

[nigamanth]

Financial insecurity is one of the effects of this, everyone's so insecure about their job because they think that the employer's going to have to fire all the employees that are overpaid.

As a result all the employees who get fired have to look for jobs in which they get paid less, and other factors such as a recession or a crashed market just worsen the situation.

[dathinab]

while I agree part of the decision was based on that in that specific cases the "reduced" salary was still more then most people do earn and it was overturned in apeals curt.

So this isn't applicable to most people.

still any form of unilateral contract change being legal is just absurd IMHO, and saying that because person didn't stop working completely it's like accepting the change is pretty absurd too. I mean if that wasn't a valid change wouldn't that mean that the person is still employed under the old contact and in turn had to come to work?

[KevinGlass]

I don't think these "large number of employees" who want to keep working after having their salary slashed 70% exist.

[boring_twenties]

At the very least they might prefer to keep working for a little while until they find something better. Especially if the job market isn't so hot at the moment.