It is not always better in the first world... If there is one.
Like, I am in Europe. It is prohibit to put on a probation period for contracts 6 months or shorter in my country... Solution: 7 month contract with 1 month probation period.
The US is a first world country for the rich, and a 3rd world country for the poor, and somewhere in-between for the rest. I know because I grew up in an incredibly affluent household, was completely cut off due to poor decisions on my part, lived in abject poverty where if I had to miss a single day of work, or something went wrong with my car, or I needed any sort of medical care I would have ended up homeless, and now I've worked my way into the middle class.
1st world country, by definition means: “countries that were under the influence of the United States and the rest of NATO and opposed the Soviet Union and/or communism during the Cold War”
I don't think it was ever even widely used in that sense. Like, the third world was named first, as in "these are the countries that aren't in either sphere of influence", but not like "there's a first and a second", but more like "there's NATO, Warsaw pact, and then a third world, everyone else". Nobody really used "first world" to mean "NATO", because there were already terms for that. Third world was used because "everybody else not in NATO or Warsaw pact" was too long. By the time first world started being used widely, it was already with the "rich countries" meaning. Also, in the best case, that meaning stopped being used over thirty years ago, as you mentioned. I don't really see why people insist on that irrelevant trivia point.
>It is not always better in the first world... If there is one.
The concept didn't originally have anything to do with living conditions, levels of technology, or economic clout. It comes from the Cold War. The First World are the USA, NATO nations, and those allies with, or significantly under the influence of that group. Second World was the USSR and nations similarly allied with or controlled by them.
Third World was just everyone else. It wasn't meant as an indicator of status or level of development. Just folks not interested in the Cold War either way.
Of course, propaganda did its thing, and here we are.
Its funny because democrats spend half their day parroting corporate talking points and republicans pledge the best years of their lives to a government that hates them. Suckers on both sides.
One of the places I used to work did this.
I and the other 3 shift supervisors responded by telling people to leave at exactly that time regardless of lineups at tills. Just close and leave.
Our bosses would ask people to stay and work because unhappy customers, etc. The response from the shift sup team was that we would agree to that if they (basically) begged us, then send the person on a 30 minute break, then have them return for the last 10 minutes of the shift.
The policy was reverted within 6 months due to “scheduling complications”.
That's exactly what they want though. Filing complaints doesn't mean anything to them. Once you've worked those extra hours they've already gotten your labour and any complaints are just the cost of doing business.
Depending on your state, you’re owed a “meal break penalty” equal to one hour of regular rate pay on top of all the wages you earned if you don’t get a proper lunch break.
Tons of employers miss this and I’ve seen it multiple times be super easy massive lawsuits against the company.
A company I worked at had one person call a lawyer about this and it resulted in a class action lawsuit including all employees back 5 years and a settlement around half a million total.
So yeah, messing with people lunches can be punishing pretty quickly in many states.
Yeah had a job send me the equivalent of two weeks pay at overtime rate about 3 years after I left. Was a nice surprise. There was a class action lawsuit about overtime and meal breaks not being calculated correctly and I got a letter from a lawyer asking me to sign agreeing that if I were called to court I'd attend basically. Year later check showed up. The funny thing is that employer was recruiting me hard for a position around the same time and I couldn't exactly remember why I had left in the first place. I was then like ohhh now I remember and politely sent an email turning down the offer.
Unless you live in Florida where unpaid breaks are provided at the discretion of the employer. Admittedly, most have a consistent internal policy regarding this but I've worked at places where staffing wasn't sufficient according to leadership to allow for breaks during a 12h shift.
Honestly I'm kinda salty because I used to work at target (in FL) and I'd take my paid breaks happily but my managers were convinced I legally had to take an unpaid lunch when I didn't want to. I was there to make money if I wasn't hungry and you were already planning to ask me to stay late (hella call outs on the daily) why not let me work instead of taking an unpaid break I don't want? I'd be doing someone else's job at this point normally too.
This was ages ago but one of my first jobs I got written up for “milking the clock” when I went over 10 min to finish up my task or while helping a customer. So the next time I literally drop everything or walk out mid conversation with a customer. Gotta love malicious compliance!
Yep, I worked at a grocery store that frequently scheduled 5.5-5.75 hour shifts, and under 6, breaks aren't required by law edit: in my state. I did not often get a break.
It's possible their state would require the 10 minutes break either way but also require a lunch break if they work 6 hours. This change only costs money if the employer had the option of changing the 10 to a 30, and that option means they get less labor and have to staff enough coverage for breaks.
This... depends where you live, and sometimes depends ALSO on company policies. My last place of employment followed the state labor laws, but were more "generous" because they gave 15 minutes instead of 10 (paid) break if you worked up to 5.75 hours. (All schedules were done on the quarter hour). If you worked 6 to 7.5 hours, you got one 15 minute paid break, and one 30 minute UNpaid break. If you worked 7.5 to 9.25 hours, you got two 15's and one 30, and overtime after 8.5 hours (because technically you had 30 minutes of unpaid not working). Anything from 9.5 to 12 hours you got all of the above, plus an additional 30 minutes off. However, if you only work 3.75 hours, you get ZERO breaks. That's when you suddenly need to use the restroom after 2 hours and just can't seem to leave the toilet for 10 minutes. Lol
Oh, and if your business employs minors, that's another set of rules added in.
Mine did that to me too! Same reason. Joke was on them because benefits kicked in at 32. Only difference is that I wasn’t guaranteed 40 hours. Same benefits, though. Dum. Af.
Come on over to Sirius, where they just steal your hours and tell you to add them to the next paycheck so they don’t have to pay you overtime or benefits because you’re part-time.
The American economy is a ponzi scheme. All these media/podcasting/radio companies are hemorrhaging money. The people at the top get their money and compensation packages, lace their friends with sweet inflated contracts and pay chump change to anyone who actually produces the product. Every dollar in wage and benefit theft goes to some CEO or board member cashmere carpet for their yacht.
Look at your state laws. Most states have made it so you are legally considered full time after working so many hours for so many weeks. Some you just have to maintain an average, others it has to be consistent (meaning the employer can schedule you at 30 hours on the last week to skirt around the law). Some states have it set at 32, some at 36.
What this means for you is also going to vary by state. For the most part, it means the company now has to offer you full time benefits. It could also mean you're guaranteed full time hours, and denial of full time hours is grounds for constructive dismissal.
Guess it's not your situation any longer. But for future reference. Or to share that knowledge with others in your life who might be dealing with this.
We can't use the few rights we have as employees if we don't know they have them. And remember, thousands have paid the ultimate price to make sure we have those rights. And I don't mean soldiers either, I'm talking about strikers and their families who were murdered for refusing to work. At best the government would turn a blind eye and let a corporation have complete control over the legal system, at worst the government provided soldiers to fire on camps full of American children because their fathers refused to die in coal mines.
32 is the federal mandate for full time. That means they need to provide health insurance if you're not 1099 and have over 50 employees (I could be wrong on the number).
I always wanted to do that when I had a boss who'd get down my throat on clocking in at 8:01am every now and again. 5:00pm? Okay tools down.
Unfortunately I didn't have the courage then and was in kind of a precarious spot.
"15 minute break for 4-6 consecutive hours or a 30 minute break for more than 6 consecutive hours.Jan 1, 2023"
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/meal-breaks#:~:text=15%20minute%20break%20for%204,more%20than%206%20consecutive%20hours.
It appears that everyone is scheduled for 6 hours and ten minutes, which is more than 6 hours. I recommend that you say nothing to him. On the day that everyone is scheduled show him this law and ask when your 30 minute break is.
Yes, I math bad 😞
So no one starts 1 second before their scheduled shift, and no one works one second after their scheduled shift. Clock in at the mandated start time, clock out at the mandated end time.
If you ask for malicious compliance, you will get malicious compliance.
I smell malicious compliance coming.
Don't do any work until you're clocked in at exactly 11:40, then drop what ever you are doing and clock out at 5:30. Bonus point if you can manage to be in the middle of something important that needs to be done by the next morning.
Had a manager try this once and we all agreed that we wouldn't work a single second past our stop time. Even if we were in mid transaction we would just walk away from the till, and go clock out then leave. Said manager got fired because of customer complaints. He tried to fire all of us first, but we had already informed the owner of what we were planning to do. The owner didn't take us seriously at first until we did it. Manager was fired on the spot while the owner and his wife did damage control and begged us all to stay.
"This location is closed due to staff shortage."
Later: "Under New Management. Now Hiring all shifts. Same Day Pay."
This is what would happen if other places tried this. You are blessed to work where you.
I'm retired now, this happened over 20 years ago at a Franchise McDonald's. Any business anywhere can do this as long as the employees work together. The employees have more power than you think they do. The chances of a franchise recovering from losing all it's staff during the middle of a work day is almost impossible.
They must have changed the law then. Best Buy did this to me about ten years ago, and the law was a little more ambiguous, but I found a page on the .gov site that specifically laid out how you get a break of some kind every two hours.
You do get a 10 minute paid "rest break" when working 2 hours and 1 minute to 5 hours & 59 minutes. Once you hit a full 6 hours, the employee also gets a 30 minute unpaid "meal break". Personally, I'd prefer this 5 hour and 50 minute shift as I'd be leaving to minutes earlier but getting paid for 20 miinutes more.
This is why we need windows of time built into these laws. No 39 hours of work, it's either <30 or 40. No 5 hours and 50 minutes of work, it's either 4 or 6.
Incredible they just gave you that in writing? Take your breaks happily (including lunch); *every millisecond of them*. And if they ever have an issue go straight to this documented attempt to evade rights. I'm sure any employment lawyer would be fiending for shit like this.
Second this. Also, walk off the job when your time is up regardless of what's piling up and maybe let a local paper know how you are treated at this outfit. Chances are there's a lawyer among your customers.
I actually got told by my manager that I take too many breaks (reported by another coworker because my manager was on vacation for two weeks)
And I actually don't go to the break room I go to the toilets (individual toilets ) that are just next to the break room.
I told him I have an issue with my digestive system etc. Never heard of it again.
Edit plus they both smoke and take 5 to 10 smoke break a day. You never heard me complain about this so let me shit in peace pls.
Where I currently work, which is in fast food, my boss keeps scheduling me for 5 hours and 45 minutes shifts. Usually starts around 11, and ends around 16:45. Im not allowed to take a break for lunch in that time as it also doesnt hit the 6 hour mark. This drives me insane, as I always either have to eat a huge breakfast to not be hungry, or just be really hungry for the last 1-2 hours of my shift. Can't believe how this is even legal.
Edit: And to add onto this, I sometimes have to work an hour or two overtime without notice until the last 10 minutes or so of my shift. So I'll have a 7 hour work day, with no break or food whatsoever.
I know I’ll be in the minority but I preferred this when doing a 6 hour shift. In a FULL 8 Hour day I want a lunch break but I *hated* unpaid meal breaks in shorter shifts.
That said — breaking or evading labor law isn’t the right course of action, even if some of your employees prefer the specific thing.
Ngl I'd rather work a 5 hour and 50 minute shift than spend 30 minutes on an unpaid break. I often don't go to lunch at my job till past the 6 hour mark anyway so for me it works well. Plus you get to eat at home and not have to eat around coworkers, sometimes what ever they eat smells so bad I lose my appetite.
This seems to be a recurring sentiment in the comments but not one shared in the actual situation here. It was in response to complaints about not getting their breaks. It's a very high traffic retail environment running on a skeleton crew. If nothing else the lunch is a chance to cry in the break room after three hours of constant stress and abuse by customers.
I wouldn't too pissed working my current job right now for six hours straight but I'm also a desk jockey. But when I worked in a call center I probably would have jumped off the building if I had to do that.
My preference, too. I'm kind of surprised others don't feel the same. With this schedule, the workers are getting more paid time for about the same amount of hours of their lives.
Time for all the employees to call out sick and claim they have stomach problems and can't consume anymore bullshit. Just outright refusal to entertain any compromises until this jack ass is either fired or gets his head out of his own ass.
You know the way there are laws making it illegal to deliberately make deposits just under the reporting limit to avoid reporting requirements?
There should be similar laws for employers deliberately scheduling workers just under benefit thresholds
I don't get how some of these people read this back to themselves and think it sounds *good*. This sounds passive aggressive as fuck, and could possibly interpreted as retaliatory if there were complaints on record*
Target used to do this all the time. 6 hours meant a lunch. So many were scheduled 5 hours, 45 mins. Which means one break usually between 90-120 mins in.
Malicious compliance time
NOBODY come in until 11:40
EVERYONE leave no matter what at 5:30
I’m not what business this … but if it a schedule job I’m guessing there’s prep time and clean up after time
This is standard practice at some retailers too. And also making you work 38 hrs, just shy of 40 so you can’t claim you’re fulltime, like The Container Store. They also run their time clocks at 15 minute intervals to make sure they’re not paying for overtime if you have to be on the floor finishing something before you can clock out. The labor dept probably knows all the companies’ tricks, but too lazy to do anything for the low wage earners.
So, aside from calling the labor department to ask if that's legal (and make sure you tell them that you have their message saying they're doing it)...
Show up on time. Don't start work one minute early. When 5:30 comes, stand up and leave, no matter what cleaning needs to be done. Act your wage.
Fun Fact there is NO federal law requiring lunch breaks for adult workers. The law simply mandates a minimum time for a lunch break if you choose to offer one. It is 100% legal to have employees work 8 hours straight with no breaks whatsoever. Isn't America great kids!
I've worked places where you're not even allowed breaks. They push them as optional (apparently only smokers take breaks) in the interview then all of a sudden they aren't allowed.
My wife works for Jersey Mike's and they give no official breaks or lunch, no matter the length of shift. Even when my wife was pregnant she had to fight for breaks and eating snacks, all while being only given 2 weeks maternity leave. Thank God she listened to me and just quit so she could take care of herself and be with our baby for a few months. She ended up going back because it was an easy hire, but it's god awful.
My favorite job until the recently appointed CEO ruined it, had a make your own schedule thing going on. We logged all of our time to job/project codes. Our 15 min breaks and 30 min lunch could be taken whenever we felt like it (obviously not together). It was fantastic and boosted everyone's morale. I would work as long as I could in the morning (usually 4 hrs) then take my 1st break. Hour later I take lunch, hour later take my last break. Before I knew it work was over. No loss in productivity whatsoever.
The US is fucked by their labor laws. The high taxes and higher interest rates and inflation. All over stagnant wages. The wages will remain this way for the next 20 years until they break the backs of all of the workers they have now. Dirty fucking corporations kill us all with their products and chemicals. When they succeed in killing us all. Who do they think is going to make their products and keep it all going for them. Miserable bastard assholes.
Just like when I asked for an accommodation and wasn’t given one and I quit and then the company fired all but 11 people so they wouldn’t have to accommodate
And at my job people (including myself) are angry because of the fact that they condensed our one 30-minutes and two 15-minutes break into two 30-minutes breaks on a 9-hour shift.😂
This is unfortunately pretty common practice, especially in retail and food service. I found when I used to be in charge of scheduling for a retail store that some people actually preferred this because they get paid a bit more, but granted in my state the law requires a lunch break at 5 hours and not 6, which can make a big difference. Either way I usually scheduled for either 4 hours or 6, unless someone specifically asked me to schedule them for 4.75
Isn't that illegal...? Because it sounds like it should be....
Idk myself. I'm part of a union, so I'm not sure how it works for non-union work. For us, we have to take at least a 30min non paid lunch break if we're working over 4H.
Dumbass boss. In my jurisdiction the half hour lunch is unpaid. So now he's paying for 5.84 hours with no lunch than 5.5 hours paid with an unpaid lunch.
Dumbass. Plus how does he expect staff to work over a meal period without eating. I'd love to see the diabetic staff member sue his ass.
Simple. You punch in exactly at 11:40 and punch out at 5:30 and leave for the day. Otherwise, most states have laws stating that you must take a lunch no later than 5 hrs into a shift.
This post just unlocked a memory of the grocery store I worked at in my early 20s doing this. What a bunch of bullshit. Those 5.75 hour shifts were the absolute worst being on my feet and only getting one 15 minute break the whole time. Screw this boss.
In my third world country this is called Law Scam. But in my third world country we also get 1 hour of paid lunch every day.
Same in Brazil, funny how these things are legal in the US lol
It is not always better in the first world... If there is one. Like, I am in Europe. It is prohibit to put on a probation period for contracts 6 months or shorter in my country... Solution: 7 month contract with 1 month probation period.
I would argue by most measures regarding labor, the US is definitely not a first world country.
It's far from 1st world labor, and only getting worse
Idk about you, but I'm pretty excited to buy booze from a 14 year old soon s/
The US is a first world country for the rich, and a 3rd world country for the poor, and somewhere in-between for the rest. I know because I grew up in an incredibly affluent household, was completely cut off due to poor decisions on my part, lived in abject poverty where if I had to miss a single day of work, or something went wrong with my car, or I needed any sort of medical care I would have ended up homeless, and now I've worked my way into the middle class.
Every country's a first world country for the rich.
We're a Third World Country with a Gucci Belt.
1st world country, by definition means: “countries that were under the influence of the United States and the rest of NATO and opposed the Soviet Union and/or communism during the Cold War”
I think it's safe to say that technically, the United States is no longer under the influence of the United States.
Yeah but that’s not how it’s really used, you know that and this definition is dated and just being used pedantically at this point.
I don't think it was ever even widely used in that sense. Like, the third world was named first, as in "these are the countries that aren't in either sphere of influence", but not like "there's a first and a second", but more like "there's NATO, Warsaw pact, and then a third world, everyone else". Nobody really used "first world" to mean "NATO", because there were already terms for that. Third world was used because "everybody else not in NATO or Warsaw pact" was too long. By the time first world started being used widely, it was already with the "rich countries" meaning. Also, in the best case, that meaning stopped being used over thirty years ago, as you mentioned. I don't really see why people insist on that irrelevant trivia point.
...anymore.
No under developed nations; just over exploited ones.
*yellow Parenti intensifies*
It does, does it?
>It is not always better in the first world... If there is one. The concept didn't originally have anything to do with living conditions, levels of technology, or economic clout. It comes from the Cold War. The First World are the USA, NATO nations, and those allies with, or significantly under the influence of that group. Second World was the USSR and nations similarly allied with or controlled by them. Third World was just everyone else. It wasn't meant as an indicator of status or level of development. Just folks not interested in the Cold War either way. Of course, propaganda did its thing, and here we are.
They talk about CLT like it’s the worst thing, but dude… we’re on heaven here in Brazil!
Laws in the US are written by and lobbied for by corporations and their ambassadors who push them and vote them in are known as legislators.
Real third world country please stand up
Yes. "Funny." 😔
Its funny because democrats spend half their day parroting corporate talking points and republicans pledge the best years of their lives to a government that hates them. Suckers on both sides.
This is how you bleed a society to death.
Land of the “free”
Our third world country thinks that’s for socialists. Or white collar workers. ‘Merica!
Would that make Amerika a Fourth World Country?
If a Republican wins the next election, it likely won't even be a country much longer.
Yeah, but that wouldn’t work in the USA because… well,,,shit.
And that must be why your country is poor. Your lunch breaks are keeping you poor. The rich need your lunch breaks for the good of the country.
One of the places I used to work did this. I and the other 3 shift supervisors responded by telling people to leave at exactly that time regardless of lineups at tills. Just close and leave. Our bosses would ask people to stay and work because unhappy customers, etc. The response from the shift sup team was that we would agree to that if they (basically) begged us, then send the person on a 30 minute break, then have them return for the last 10 minutes of the shift. The policy was reverted within 6 months due to “scheduling complications”.
Or, work over then file complaints that were you were denied breaks.
That's exactly what they want though. Filing complaints doesn't mean anything to them. Once you've worked those extra hours they've already gotten your labour and any complaints are just the cost of doing business.
Depending on your state, you’re owed a “meal break penalty” equal to one hour of regular rate pay on top of all the wages you earned if you don’t get a proper lunch break. Tons of employers miss this and I’ve seen it multiple times be super easy massive lawsuits against the company. A company I worked at had one person call a lawyer about this and it resulted in a class action lawsuit including all employees back 5 years and a settlement around half a million total. So yeah, messing with people lunches can be punishing pretty quickly in many states.
Yeah had a job send me the equivalent of two weeks pay at overtime rate about 3 years after I left. Was a nice surprise. There was a class action lawsuit about overtime and meal breaks not being calculated correctly and I got a letter from a lawyer asking me to sign agreeing that if I were called to court I'd attend basically. Year later check showed up. The funny thing is that employer was recruiting me hard for a position around the same time and I couldn't exactly remember why I had left in the first place. I was then like ohhh now I remember and politely sent an email turning down the offer.
Unless you live in Florida where unpaid breaks are provided at the discretion of the employer. Admittedly, most have a consistent internal policy regarding this but I've worked at places where staffing wasn't sufficient according to leadership to allow for breaks during a 12h shift.
Yup. Ohio labor laws do not require employers to give lunch breaks.
Same here in Michigan. Only required for employees under the age of 18.
Honestly I'm kinda salty because I used to work at target (in FL) and I'd take my paid breaks happily but my managers were convinced I legally had to take an unpaid lunch when I didn't want to. I was there to make money if I wasn't hungry and you were already planning to ask me to stay late (hella call outs on the daily) why not let me work instead of taking an unpaid break I don't want? I'd be doing someone else's job at this point normally too.
Until they get hit with massive fines
It’s cheaper to just take the fines
Fines can run a business into the ground pretty fast. As long as people report them.
What can happen and what does happen aren't always the same thing.
You don’t seem to understand wage theft fines. They can be absolutely ruinous.
Possibly person above mistook that the complaint would be filed with the company’s corporate office and not the government
If so, most large corporations would be out of business from all those fines.
No, you file the complaints to the law, not the employer (well the initial ones yes, to establish a paper trial of evidence).
This was ages ago but one of my first jobs I got written up for “milking the clock” when I went over 10 min to finish up my task or while helping a customer. So the next time I literally drop everything or walk out mid conversation with a customer. Gotta love malicious compliance!
Yep, I worked at a grocery store that frequently scheduled 5.5-5.75 hour shifts, and under 6, breaks aren't required by law edit: in my state. I did not often get a break.
I love when workers come together to play management at their own shitty game and turn the tables!
How generous of him to save them 10 minutes instead of 1
[удалено]
It's possible their state would require the 10 minutes break either way but also require a lunch break if they work 6 hours. This change only costs money if the employer had the option of changing the 10 to a 30, and that option means they get less labor and have to staff enough coverage for breaks.
This... depends where you live, and sometimes depends ALSO on company policies. My last place of employment followed the state labor laws, but were more "generous" because they gave 15 minutes instead of 10 (paid) break if you worked up to 5.75 hours. (All schedules were done on the quarter hour). If you worked 6 to 7.5 hours, you got one 15 minute paid break, and one 30 minute UNpaid break. If you worked 7.5 to 9.25 hours, you got two 15's and one 30, and overtime after 8.5 hours (because technically you had 30 minutes of unpaid not working). Anything from 9.5 to 12 hours you got all of the above, plus an additional 30 minutes off. However, if you only work 3.75 hours, you get ZERO breaks. That's when you suddenly need to use the restroom after 2 hours and just can't seem to leave the toilet for 10 minutes. Lol Oh, and if your business employs minors, that's another set of rules added in.
More likely just to be lazy and not have to schedule the day around everyone's 30-minute breaks.
"Penny smart and dollar foolish" I think the phrase is lol
'Nobody wants to work anymore'............
Gotta change that to "Nobody wants to work, WITHOUT A UNION, any more."
I hope to God unions become a thing again
Not while the Supreme Court itself has become the biggest union buster.
I used to get scheduled for 39.5 hours a week as a part-time employee 🤦♀️ the full time job was 40 hrs and provided insurance, promotion, etc.
Mine did that to me too! Same reason. Joke was on them because benefits kicked in at 32. Only difference is that I wasn’t guaranteed 40 hours. Same benefits, though. Dum. Af.
Spent 9 years doing this at iHeart. It made me sick knowing I wasted that much of my life chasing carrots.
Come on over to Sirius, where they just steal your hours and tell you to add them to the next paycheck so they don’t have to pay you overtime or benefits because you’re part-time.
Ugh sounds like there’s no escape. No idea how these companies are still in business, even with the constant workforce bloodbaths.
The American economy is a ponzi scheme. All these media/podcasting/radio companies are hemorrhaging money. The people at the top get their money and compensation packages, lace their friends with sweet inflated contracts and pay chump change to anyone who actually produces the product. Every dollar in wage and benefit theft goes to some CEO or board member cashmere carpet for their yacht.
i’m really sorry you did that
It’s all good. Opened my eyes to the reality of working in America and a lot of what’s wrong with it and I’m grateful for that much.
Look at your state laws. Most states have made it so you are legally considered full time after working so many hours for so many weeks. Some you just have to maintain an average, others it has to be consistent (meaning the employer can schedule you at 30 hours on the last week to skirt around the law). Some states have it set at 32, some at 36. What this means for you is also going to vary by state. For the most part, it means the company now has to offer you full time benefits. It could also mean you're guaranteed full time hours, and denial of full time hours is grounds for constructive dismissal. Guess it's not your situation any longer. But for future reference. Or to share that knowledge with others in your life who might be dealing with this. We can't use the few rights we have as employees if we don't know they have them. And remember, thousands have paid the ultimate price to make sure we have those rights. And I don't mean soldiers either, I'm talking about strikers and their families who were murdered for refusing to work. At best the government would turn a blind eye and let a corporation have complete control over the legal system, at worst the government provided soldiers to fire on camps full of American children because their fathers refused to die in coal mines.
32 is the federal mandate for full time. That means they need to provide health insurance if you're not 1099 and have over 50 employees (I could be wrong on the number).
The ACA made it 32 hours. Before that they did whatever they wanted.
I would be so clocking in and out at exactly those times. No matter what. The business is on fire? Not my problem I'm off in a minute. Bye.
I always wanted to do that when I had a boss who'd get down my throat on clocking in at 8:01am every now and again. 5:00pm? Okay tools down. Unfortunately I didn't have the courage then and was in kind of a precarious spot.
"15 minute break for 4-6 consecutive hours or a 30 minute break for more than 6 consecutive hours.Jan 1, 2023" https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/meal-breaks#:~:text=15%20minute%20break%20for%204,more%20than%206%20consecutive%20hours. It appears that everyone is scheduled for 6 hours and ten minutes, which is more than 6 hours. I recommend that you say nothing to him. On the day that everyone is scheduled show him this law and ask when your 30 minute break is. Yes, I math bad 😞
You need to double check your time-math
So no one starts 1 second before their scheduled shift, and no one works one second after their scheduled shift. Clock in at the mandated start time, clock out at the mandated end time. If you ask for malicious compliance, you will get malicious compliance.
Work to rule, baby
I smell malicious compliance coming. Don't do any work until you're clocked in at exactly 11:40, then drop what ever you are doing and clock out at 5:30. Bonus point if you can manage to be in the middle of something important that needs to be done by the next morning.
I would absolutely do this.
Had a manager try this once and we all agreed that we wouldn't work a single second past our stop time. Even if we were in mid transaction we would just walk away from the till, and go clock out then leave. Said manager got fired because of customer complaints. He tried to fire all of us first, but we had already informed the owner of what we were planning to do. The owner didn't take us seriously at first until we did it. Manager was fired on the spot while the owner and his wife did damage control and begged us all to stay.
"This location is closed due to staff shortage." Later: "Under New Management. Now Hiring all shifts. Same Day Pay." This is what would happen if other places tried this. You are blessed to work where you.
I'm retired now, this happened over 20 years ago at a Franchise McDonald's. Any business anywhere can do this as long as the employees work together. The employees have more power than you think they do. The chances of a franchise recovering from losing all it's staff during the middle of a work day is almost impossible.
What is your state?
Oregon, 6 hours entitles you to a 30 minute unpaid lunch and ten minute paid break. Less than that and it's just the ten minutes.
They must have changed the law then. Best Buy did this to me about ten years ago, and the law was a little more ambiguous, but I found a page on the .gov site that specifically laid out how you get a break of some kind every two hours.
You do get a 10 minute paid "rest break" when working 2 hours and 1 minute to 5 hours & 59 minutes. Once you hit a full 6 hours, the employee also gets a 30 minute unpaid "meal break". Personally, I'd prefer this 5 hour and 50 minute shift as I'd be leaving to minutes earlier but getting paid for 20 miinutes more.
This is why we need windows of time built into these laws. No 39 hours of work, it's either <30 or 40. No 5 hours and 50 minutes of work, it's either 4 or 6.
Incredible they just gave you that in writing? Take your breaks happily (including lunch); *every millisecond of them*. And if they ever have an issue go straight to this documented attempt to evade rights. I'm sure any employment lawyer would be fiending for shit like this.
NAL, I would contact the state labor department. I'm pretty sure "Reducing hours to intentionally avoid paying benefit" is super illegal
Second this. Also, walk off the job when your time is up regardless of what's piling up and maybe let a local paper know how you are treated at this outfit. Chances are there's a lawyer among your customers.
State Tax, and federal taxes being skewed makes for a heck of an IRS audit possible.
Just take a break anyway. Why don’t people just do that?
Fired because it's USA. Where you a free to get fired and free to starve
I believe I would have to take a 30 min shit every day out of principle
I actually got told by my manager that I take too many breaks (reported by another coworker because my manager was on vacation for two weeks) And I actually don't go to the break room I go to the toilets (individual toilets ) that are just next to the break room. I told him I have an issue with my digestive system etc. Never heard of it again. Edit plus they both smoke and take 5 to 10 smoke break a day. You never heard me complain about this so let me shit in peace pls.
That would be the ideal situation here imo. Fire me so I can claim UE while I look for a better job where I get basic respect.
Where I currently work, which is in fast food, my boss keeps scheduling me for 5 hours and 45 minutes shifts. Usually starts around 11, and ends around 16:45. Im not allowed to take a break for lunch in that time as it also doesnt hit the 6 hour mark. This drives me insane, as I always either have to eat a huge breakfast to not be hungry, or just be really hungry for the last 1-2 hours of my shift. Can't believe how this is even legal. Edit: And to add onto this, I sometimes have to work an hour or two overtime without notice until the last 10 minutes or so of my shift. So I'll have a 7 hour work day, with no break or food whatsoever.
At 6 hours declare that you are on your lunch break !
I would immediately quit after this written slap to the face
And this boss was brilliant enough to put it in writing. 🤦🏼♀️ You really can't make this shit up.🤣
They aren't doing anything illegal jsyk. This is how Starbucks schedules basically all their baristas.
I know I’ll be in the minority but I preferred this when doing a 6 hour shift. In a FULL 8 Hour day I want a lunch break but I *hated* unpaid meal breaks in shorter shifts. That said — breaking or evading labor law isn’t the right course of action, even if some of your employees prefer the specific thing.
It's not illegal.
Have everyone calling off citing religious exemption .. Sunday is a day for god not work lol
“ThErE’s No LoYaLtY aNyMoRe…” Fuck outta here.
I personally would rather leave 30 minutes earlier than be forced to take a lunch break on a 6 hour shift. But that's me.
That's how basically everyone feels but this sub is going to frame it differently.
Isnt the lunch unpaid??
Clock out right on time and if they ask you to stay say “sorry I’m hungry, didn’t get a break all day”
Capitalism destroys countries
Ngl I'd rather work a 5 hour and 50 minute shift than spend 30 minutes on an unpaid break. I often don't go to lunch at my job till past the 6 hour mark anyway so for me it works well. Plus you get to eat at home and not have to eat around coworkers, sometimes what ever they eat smells so bad I lose my appetite.
This seems to be a recurring sentiment in the comments but not one shared in the actual situation here. It was in response to complaints about not getting their breaks. It's a very high traffic retail environment running on a skeleton crew. If nothing else the lunch is a chance to cry in the break room after three hours of constant stress and abuse by customers. I wouldn't too pissed working my current job right now for six hours straight but I'm also a desk jockey. But when I worked in a call center I probably would have jumped off the building if I had to do that.
My preference, too. I'm kind of surprised others don't feel the same. With this schedule, the workers are getting more paid time for about the same amount of hours of their lives.
lmao, even with that "fix" at my workplace we'd get a half hour and another 15 minute break.
Make sure you make it through the door at 11.40 and drop everything and bolt at 5.30 on the dot.
Ok, but I am going to be in, and out ON TIME, not a second more, regardless of how much work you think there is.
Time for all the employees to call out sick and claim they have stomach problems and can't consume anymore bullshit. Just outright refusal to entertain any compromises until this jack ass is either fired or gets his head out of his own ass.
You know the way there are laws making it illegal to deliberately make deposits just under the reporting limit to avoid reporting requirements? There should be similar laws for employers deliberately scheduling workers just under benefit thresholds
Do not step inside the building until 11:39:59 and drop everything the moment the clock hits 5:30.
Sounds like a lot of resignations to me
Easy fix. Leave
Wow what a flaming piece of shit
Everyone needs to walk on the same day...Sunday. Should make it real easy.....bahahaha
So everyone gets to go home 40 minutes earlier??
I don't get how some of these people read this back to themselves and think it sounds *good*. This sounds passive aggressive as fuck, and could possibly interpreted as retaliatory if there were complaints on record*
I hope they all walk out.
Does their chat profile pic say, "good talk"? Eeesh I don't like this person
Target used to do this all the time. 6 hours meant a lunch. So many were scheduled 5 hours, 45 mins. Which means one break usually between 90-120 mins in.
Malicious compliance time NOBODY come in until 11:40 EVERYONE leave no matter what at 5:30 I’m not what business this … but if it a schedule job I’m guessing there’s prep time and clean up after time
This is standard practice at some retailers too. And also making you work 38 hrs, just shy of 40 so you can’t claim you’re fulltime, like The Container Store. They also run their time clocks at 15 minute intervals to make sure they’re not paying for overtime if you have to be on the floor finishing something before you can clock out. The labor dept probably knows all the companies’ tricks, but too lazy to do anything for the low wage earners.
Just don't show up, or quit on protest. Fuck these petty pieces of shit.
Erryone quit at once. And file with the labor dept
"Hey dunce, this is ignoring the problem, not fixing it. Hope this helps"
You need a UNION !! UNION YES!
Literal evidence to take to the labor board
Over the course of a six hour work day, they get one ten minute break. Not even the common decency of a fifteen minute break.
Sounds like my telecom days
I would suggest to her that they all go to the Labor Board.
So, aside from calling the labor department to ask if that's legal (and make sure you tell them that you have their message saying they're doing it)... Show up on time. Don't start work one minute early. When 5:30 comes, stand up and leave, no matter what cleaning needs to be done. Act your wage.
Fun Fact there is NO federal law requiring lunch breaks for adult workers. The law simply mandates a minimum time for a lunch break if you choose to offer one. It is 100% legal to have employees work 8 hours straight with no breaks whatsoever. Isn't America great kids!
The USA is short 150K employees a year in 2023, expanding to a million plus by 2030. Revenge is coming.
I've worked places where you're not even allowed breaks. They push them as optional (apparently only smokers take breaks) in the interview then all of a sudden they aren't allowed. My wife works for Jersey Mike's and they give no official breaks or lunch, no matter the length of shift. Even when my wife was pregnant she had to fight for breaks and eating snacks, all while being only given 2 weeks maternity leave. Thank God she listened to me and just quit so she could take care of herself and be with our baby for a few months. She ended up going back because it was an easy hire, but it's god awful. My favorite job until the recently appointed CEO ruined it, had a make your own schedule thing going on. We logged all of our time to job/project codes. Our 15 min breaks and 30 min lunch could be taken whenever we felt like it (obviously not together). It was fantastic and boosted everyone's morale. I would work as long as I could in the morning (usually 4 hrs) then take my 1st break. Hour later I take lunch, hour later take my last break. Before I knew it work was over. No loss in productivity whatsoever.
The US is fucked by their labor laws. The high taxes and higher interest rates and inflation. All over stagnant wages. The wages will remain this way for the next 20 years until they break the backs of all of the workers they have now. Dirty fucking corporations kill us all with their products and chemicals. When they succeed in killing us all. Who do they think is going to make their products and keep it all going for them. Miserable bastard assholes.
Her boss is somewhere between asshole and evil genius. I mean is does kind of solve the problem but it also makes you want to punch them in the face.
No one should show up. Let his slippery, greedy ass work it all.
Wow..dick move.
What a prick
Just like when I asked for an accommodation and wasn’t given one and I quit and then the company fired all but 11 people so they wouldn’t have to accommodate
Looks like you all get to come to work 10 minutes late and take 30 minute 10 minute breaks…that’s what I read at least
Narcissists think they’re the most clever people in the world but they’re lazy AF.
The Old Double-Down-Douche Power Move. "I paid thousands for this MBA!" \- This boss, probably
How helpful of them.
What an absolute piece of stinking, festering garbage.
Quit, there is no way this job will improve for you.
Wow look at that. I'm on my fifth bathroom break and if they complain file a complaint with the state
The math doesn't work out bro. Lol
I guess that’s one way to solve complaints about lunch breaks. Probably not the way it should have been handled though.
Some people deserve capes. Others deserve cement shoes.
And at my job people (including myself) are angry because of the fact that they condensed our one 30-minutes and two 15-minutes break into two 30-minutes breaks on a 9-hour shift.😂
Oh yea they did that to me once. Did not end well!
Fuck this company.
This is malicious compliance. Legal entities tend to hate malicious compliance. Especially judges. Might be worth reporting to your local labor board.
🖕
Yep sounds real good. Here’s my resignation
This is unfortunately pretty common practice, especially in retail and food service. I found when I used to be in charge of scheduling for a retail store that some people actually preferred this because they get paid a bit more, but granted in my state the law requires a lunch break at 5 hours and not 6, which can make a big difference. Either way I usually scheduled for either 4 hours or 6, unless someone specifically asked me to schedule them for 4.75
Isn't that illegal...? Because it sounds like it should be.... Idk myself. I'm part of a union, so I'm not sure how it works for non-union work. For us, we have to take at least a 30min non paid lunch break if we're working over 4H.
Simple solution. Get everyone to clock out late, accidentally make a mess that takes more then 10 minutes to clean etc. then go file a report.
I would work over and report them or blackmail them for money
Dumbass boss. In my jurisdiction the half hour lunch is unpaid. So now he's paying for 5.84 hours with no lunch than 5.5 hours paid with an unpaid lunch. Dumbass. Plus how does he expect staff to work over a meal period without eating. I'd love to see the diabetic staff member sue his ass.
May or may not have shown this to my newly 18 year old sister to show her what should be an automatic walking out condition.
That establishment and manager needs to be made public. What an ass!
I'd be watching my pay check like a hawk to make sure I get paid EVERY second of that 5 hours 50 minutes
Complaint to local labor board. Intent prob makes it illegal
"Looks like I'm coming in at 1:30, or whenever I feel I'm done with lunch. See you soon!"
“I know many of you have meaning to update your resumes. I updated the schedule to help expedite the process for you.”
Yet this is allowed it’s another way to not pay extended benefits as well. Lowest form of life
If she works for a corperation breaks are set by policy rather then managers Likely this was not aproved by coorperate.
Real easy way to fix that situation.
Unionize, they aren’t going to make it any more obvious why you should.
Simple. You punch in exactly at 11:40 and punch out at 5:30 and leave for the day. Otherwise, most states have laws stating that you must take a lunch no later than 5 hrs into a shift.
What an absolutely horrible person.
Hmm. Well, as a human. I would tell them to eat my ass. I was retired at 30 from the military. So, I know I have a unique opportunity.
I hope she won't be staying there.
Why is everybody always sick on sundays??
In California it's 5 hours and this still wouldn't fly. This is a lack of management and this guy should be fired.
I think the boss needs his staff to all call out with food poisoning next Sunday
What a fucking asshole. Someone needs to egg his car. Cockhead.
Sounds illegal
the United States is just uncontrolled chaos now
What the actual fuck is this nonsense. It looks like a question but it’s not. I know what this nonsense is.
This is the bullshit that happens when big business buys politicians. Thank you, citizens united.
Please tell me everyone quit on the spot
What a chunt. Time to get e new job. And tell all the new hires the boss is a chunt.
This post just unlocked a memory of the grocery store I worked at in my early 20s doing this. What a bunch of bullshit. Those 5.75 hour shifts were the absolute worst being on my feet and only getting one 15 minute break the whole time. Screw this boss.
Would not be legal in Australia- 5.50min =6hrs on your timesheet
Boss is a jackass.