Legal question
 

So I work an odd shift (4am to noon). The boss has scheduled an all-employee meeting for the end of the regular workday (5pm) that I can't attend due to a prior family commitment. He told me to change my plans. I told him I can't. I'm feeling pressured. I work my regular hours and go to all other meetings, but this I can't make. (I'm on a salary but my paycheck every-other-week shows "Hours: 80". I work more than that, but that's not the issue.)

If you're classified as an "at will" employee, it's possible that he could fire you for missing the meeting in some states. If you really can't change your plans, I'd ask him for his advice after explaining the importance of the other event.

If he pushes back hard, I'd think very hard about skipping the family event. This has all the warning signs of big important changes that you need to hear.

You need to weigh the meeting and event and determine which one is more important...finding out how important the meeting really is should help you carefully weigh the two because if it's a meeting on employees not flushing the toilet or washing their hands then, no matter what the boss thinks, the family thing is more important. Best luck to your having to decide what to do.

There isn't enough information to answer from a legal standpoint, what state you're in, your exempt status, etc. It may be that failure to attend could cost your job and there is nothing you can do about that.

So, I think the best advice is, you'll probably change jobs 5 or more times during your career. Changing families is hard to do... you will have to weigh the importance of the commitment against the importance of your job.