Kinja reply list

Read More
Flm3454Hamilton Nolan
4/01/14 2:52pm
I never worked at a fast food chain but in high school/early college I worked in food service at a local place. We had the cost of our uniform, which was just a t-shirt, taken from our paychecks ($10). We weren't allowed to take breaks even when we worked during lunch time and we were on our feet for 6, sometimes 7 hours without breaks unless you used the bathroom. I mean, there was literally no where to sit except for the toilet so there's no way you could sit down. We had cameras set up inside where our boss could see if we were trying to lean on something to rest our feet (of course I understand that they were originally installed to catch stealing or whatnot, but I can't lean on a counter for a minute when there aren't any customers?) Once my manager, who was creepy as hell and flirted with the high school girls, kept me 2 hours after I clocked out to chat, and wouldn't let me cut off the conversation and leave without being rude. I think I was there until about midnight. Maybe these complaints aren't the worst but it was frustrating and I felt a little abused for my first job.
Reply
- Read More
  TohuwabohuFlm3454
  4/01/14 5:10pm
  Sad thing is, people who've never worked in the service or retail industry think this shit is exaggerated by the workers. Having "done my time" in retail, I find the stuff I'm reading in the comments and the above article all rings true.
  
  Companies cut corners like hell, treat humans like robots or money dispensers but want corporations to be considered "people", want as much as possible for as little as possible, and so on. That philosophy carries over to management and tidal waves over the little guys, making things a miserable experience all around.
  Reply
- Read More
  Flm3454Tohuwabohu
  4/01/14 5:38pm
  I guess I want my point to be, even though this is happening at a corporate level, it can also happen at a much smaller level. As long as those in charge do not see you as valuable (even outside of the minimum wage argument, which I made at that job, they didn't value me enough to let me sit down for a few minutes every couple hours?) they will continue to treat you this way. And this behavior, because the bigger guys do it, the smaller guys can do it too as it has become acceptable. I couldn't just leave to find another minimum wage job because I assume it would have been just as bad, or not worth the transition to a job that may or may not treat me better. Luckily, after going to college I do not have to work for minimum wage anymore, but at my $15 a hour, full time job I have much more financial responsibility related to my 4 years at a cheap public university.
  Reply
Read More
TheUnthinkableMollyHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 1:58pm

Have been required to perform tasks before clocking in, or after clocking out: 60%

Have not been paid for all hours worked or all tasks performed: 46%

Not allowed a break every time I worked a shift of 6+ hours: 43%

Have had the cost of uniform items deducted from my paycheck: 40%

Have received my paycheck late or been asked to wait a day or more before cashing it: 38%

All of these, plus having half an hour cut from my paid time due to a break I was not allowed to have. It sucks.
Reply
- Read More
  PseudoHermesTheUnthinkableMolly
  4/01/14 2:01pm
  I just don't get why this happens. Fast food companies are uniformly large corporations. They have their shit together. They have no need to do any of this. I can't believe that McDonald's has EVER been late on payroll. That's crazy!
  Reply
- Read More
  Falcongirl77PseudoHermes
  4/01/14 2:07pm
  I've never had a late paycheck when I worked for a large corporation, but when I worked shitty, minimum or near minimum wage jobs when I was in college, I experienced the rest of it. It seemed to be a function of the fact that managers often get bonuses for keeping employee costs down, including keeping hours under a certain number. While the corporations would probably claim to be shocked—shocked!—that this kind of thing was happening and would promise a full—full!—investigation in the event that they received a report of shenanigans like these, the fact is that turning a blind eye to it is an extremely profitable strategy.
  Reply
Read More
EldritchHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 1:58pm
I'm not shocked, this happened in retail too. Being ordered to work off the clock and not getting any breaks was the rule and not the exception when I worked at Borders. My store would close at 9:30 and I'd be there past midnight to clean, reshelve, etc without overtime pay. Godforbid if the regional manager was coming to visit! You'd be there until 2am. Combined with an insane manager who used to throw books at employees it was a fun place to work...
Reply
- Read More
  NolaLolaEldritch
  4/01/14 2:18pm
  Your Borders experience and my Barnes & Noble experience sound about the same. Never got paid overtime or anything like that during the midnight book releases either. I worked the last Harry Potter book release from 3:30pm-4:00am and still had to come back the next day for a morning shift. Not to mention the managers never did anything about the fact some dude was stalking me at the store after we closed up (always more than an hour after the store actually closed, as you know)...
  Reply
- Read More
  EldritchNolaLola
  4/01/14 2:38pm
  Don't even get me started on the midnight openings for Harry Potter and Twilight. We should have been given hazard pay but we weren't paid at all!
  Reply
Read More
JoshOfAllAgesHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 1:50pm
The job creators of this country need that extra money to trickle down into the economy. I don't see any fry-cooks leading the next stage of innovation in iPhones! How else are we gonna continue to the powerhouse of the world if you keep stifling job creators ability to have abundant cash-on-hand?
Reply
- Read More
  toothpetardJoshOfAllAges
  4/01/14 1:51pm
  Right? Probably none of them will have a seat at the table at the next killer IPO.
  Reply
- Read More
  450X_FTWJoshOfAllAges
  4/01/14 1:57pm
  I also don't see a shortage in fast food workers who don't have iPhones.
  Reply
Read More
CleverUsernameHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 2:11pm
Shiiiiiit. I have a Master's degree and I've experienced wage theft.

In my first job out of college, I had to use a time-clock, complete with a punch card. After working something like 8 hours of overtime and not seeing it in my paycheck, I asked to see the records. After retrieving the actual card from the secretary, I saw, clear as day, where the owner had scratched out my overtime and and reduced it to only a day's worth of work for the over-worked days. She had also rounded down to the nearest tenth.

After weeks of threatening action, I was finally paid. I found other employment.
Reply
Read More
Cherith CutestoryHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 3:28pm
When I was in high school and college I worked at a hotel and after a couple of years there a really stringent HR person came in. And suddenly everyone had to take a half-hour break (which is by law). Some managers, especially at night, would have people clock out for their half-hour, work the whole time, and then clock back in for their half-hour.

But the really funny thing is she is how people just wouldn't do it. Like people were so used to the idea of not getting to take breaks that the idea of taking one seemed wrong.
Reply
Read More
raincoasterHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 7:25pm
For a brief, disastrous period in University I had a job as a waitress at Denny's on the graveyard shift. I got fired because when the district manager said, "You give me the impression you think our customers are inferior to you," I replied, "They are." And they were. But not as inferior as the manager.

He was a line cook of voracious ambition who'd been promoted well beyond his competence level because things were so profitable under his reign. Of course they were. He condensed the 12 hours of training I was supposed to have into 1/2 hour (audiostrips, does anyone remember those? He started one running, buggered off, and when I went to tell him that he had the wrong audio with the video, he had left the restaurant). He "trained" me on cash by having me ring in a receipt. I rang it in including the tip and he didn't tell me till after I had rung it through, then explained, "I can't give you your tip now, because you rang it in." He told me that I was only allowed to have green salad as my staff meal (the staffers later told me I was allowed anything, but couldn't have it "when he can see").

I sincerely hope he's doing time now, and if he pulled that shit on me now, he would be up on charges instantaneously. Back then, I thought that was just how work worked; they screw you for eight hours a day, and that's why they have to pay you.
Reply
Read More
450X_FTWHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 1:56pm
When I worked at Little Caesars for 3 years (2 in high school 1 in college) if you smoke you were allowed to take breaks, but if you didn't smoke you couldn't take breaks. Is that still allowed for fast food workers?
Reply
- Read More
  Arturo450X_FTW
  4/01/14 2:17pm
  That's how it was at every job I've ever had. At one job some of the shift managers decided to allow me hourly "vitamin breaks" because I was one of the few people that didn't smoke so I was basically working 4-hour chunks at a time.
  Reply
- Read More
  450X_FTWArturo
  4/01/14 2:18pm
  If the manager smoked and you didn't, you could pretty much forget about getting a break similar to their smoke break
  Reply
Read More
CleverUsernameHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 2:17pm
This kind of exploitation rationality isn't new.

My father told me about his relatives who used to unload boxcars in the early 20th century. The warehousing/distribution company would let them clock in to be paid only for the time when a box car was present to be unloaded.

Between boxcars and when there was a scheduling issue, no one was paid. So, a manual laborer would be there for 12-14 hours, but only get paid for 8-10.
Reply
Read More
Southern_BealeHamilton Nolan
4/01/14 2:12pm
My VERY first job was as a gift wrapper at a drug store in Brentwood, California. I was 13 years old and I worked weekends over the Christmas break. I was paid an hourly wage (I think it was $3.50/hour, it was back in the 70s so hard to remember), and I remember I was paid CASH but they still took out taxes. I did not know at the time that if you pay someone cash you do not take out taxes. Again, I was 13 years old. What did I know? I would have been pissed off when I learned about the wage theft but my girlfriends and I shoplifted cosmetics shamelessly from the store, so in the end it all evened out.
Reply
- Read More
  ArturoSouthern_Beale
  4/01/14 2:15pm
  Of course you were paid cash because working at 13 violates all sorts of child labor laws.
  Reply
- Read More
  Southern_BealeArturo
  4/01/14 2:28pm
  Well that too … actually, since it was just a weekend job and limited hours, I'm not sure that it did violate child labor laws in California, but you could be right.
  Reply