Boy, it just doesn't get any better than this. Been working for this outfit for the past year, and because of something that was said a few months back, I started checking my punch sheets that we get with our paychecks. WOW! What an eye opener. Why hadn't I been doing this all along. It seems that, for one reason or another, most of the days that I worked through out the past year, I ended up not taking a half hour lunch. meaning, I worked straight through the day. Maybe taking a short smoke break or two, but no lunch. Lo and behold, this outfit didn't care, never said squat about it, but went ahead and deducted one half hour per day anyway. Now, I'm looking back thru all my time sheets and adding up these half hour deductions, and pretty soon, I'm up and over thirty hours that I've honestly worked, but haven't been paid for, because of these deductions. So, I'm thinking, windfall. Right! I then go to payroll, thinking there has been some computer glitch, and calmly broach the subject, by asking, "say, about these lunches I worked through and the time was deducted anyway. How do I go about getting paid for them. Its a lot of hours." Well, I was threatened with being wrote up, told I was getting a verbal, and then was handed the written company policy, which stated that the time clock automatically deducted the half hour if no out punch was detected at the five hour mark. WOW! I then went back over the time sheets, and checked the days that I did punch out for a lunch. Surprise surprise. The days that I did punch out for a lunch, but punched out after the five hour mark, you guessed it, still deducted that half hour. WOW! it just keeps getting better and better. Double bummer. No kiss, AND no Vaseline. What the hell. Something is WRONG with this picture. Besides that I'm in it. So, being the dog with a bone that I sometimes am, I check out the state and federal websites on the rules of engagement between employers and employees. It so happens, that its just not kosher, not to mention, illegal to do employees this way. Federally speaking, some heavy fines are involved with this type of "time adjustment" so to speak. Like X amount per in fraction. So, I started questioning my fellow employees, most of whom have worked there much longer than I, and it seems that this practice has been going on for YEARS. WOW! What do I do now? Blow the whistle and put maybe hundreds if not thousands out of work, because its a company with many facilities, and I'm sure it has to be a company wide practice, which means that with the potential fines and back pay involved, bankruptcy would not be out of the question. Or, keep my mouth shut, and take it like a man? Hm mm. What to do. Oh yeah, they do this funny little thing on overtime too. Something about when they start their work week and how your work wee seems always to fall between two of theirs, so what overtime? Your in two different weeks. How convienient. How illegal. Lets see...... Me x many others = a whole lot of wages not paid that should have been paid. Now, I wonder where that money is going. Who knows about it, and of course, how many different sets of books are kept to safeguard all this dinero? And most importantly, have they been practicing safe sex with us all? Now, just where did I put that whistle?
Codynus
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4 comments:
Uncle Cody, Maybe you should print out the federal law that you've found. Approach the person who wrote you up, and explain that if they don't do something about it, you're going to take them to the cleaners. If they don't do anything about it, or give you any problems ie: threaten your job, then you have even more ammunition against them, because, I'm sure that is illegal too.
Love you. Good Luck
Good post, brother. By the way, I want you to know how much I appreciate you working through MY lunch on Tuesday night. You really saved my bacon. (Yeah, right! Skinny-assed dishboy ain't got no butt and everybody knows it.) As to what Lexey said, I wish it were that simple. The problem is, as you know, Nevada is a "right to work" state. That means an employer can terminate any employee at any time for any or no reason. By the same token, an employee can quit at any time without notice. Once you get in their face over any issue, you can expect the hammer to fall. There must be some way to get thier attention and make them do the right thing, like paying overtime, remunerating for breaks never taken, and so forth. I guess we could just walk away and go pick pooh pooh with the chickens but that just doesn't seem to be part of our DNA. I'm not sure anymore if I trust the state and federal beauracracies any more than I do our employers. I think we all know who butters thier bisquits. Thanks again man, for being there when I needed you.
If it is a right to work state, I would suggest (as does Jeff) contacting a lawyer and getting some free consultation. They may give you some good advice.
How about this? You said that they are a huge company....? Are they a corporation? If so then I would check and see what their corporate policies are. We here at SMG are a corporation and we also in California are a "Right to Work" state, but SMG does not follow those guidelines......Explain that? I can't..... So I would check that out. Then I would pull out my retired brass whistle and blow the shit out of it. If only to do what is best that is carrying the burden of doing all that work for free. You are not slaves and by not saying anything you are almost lowering yourself to that level.
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