Posted: 8/19/2011 4:47:10 AM EDT
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I am a manager trainee at a very well known fast food chain, franchise store. I have been working 10+ hour days for the last couple weeks and have yet to recieve any overtime. Since I finally have access to the payroll computer I checked my punches last night when I went into work and my punch from the day previous had been altered to reflect 1 hour and 45 minutes less than I actually worked.
It is my understanding from what other managers have told me that this is a common practice by the franchise in regards to hourly employees, as a way to prevent paying overtime. The corporate handbook however states that all edited time punches must be agreed upon by both the hourly employee and the person doing the altering, via a signed form. And that employees must be payed for all hours spent on work related activities. Furthermore the handbook says that employees must be compensated for time spent training outside of work, such as e-learning and shift manager classes, which also doesn't happen and it mentions "stationary time" wherein employees are forced to stay in the store but not allowed "on the clock" until there is work. This happens frequently in my store but is not allowed by the corporation. I will be contacting corporate human resources as soon as they open at 0930CST, which as I understand it will initiate whistle-blower protection for me under Ohio law because there are some labor violations going on here. But I would like to know what other legal recourse I would have should I find myself without a job after this is done. From what I understand there is enough going on in this store to warrant class action, and the owner operator is in direct violation of the corporate policy so I doubt he would get any support from the company. |
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Start with reading up on the fail labor standards act. The biggest issue you will face is PROOF. Do you have PROOF you worked the hours and PROOF they changed the time in payroll? If you do...Lawyer up, get a fat check, and be happy!  I have time stubs from punching in and out. I also forgot to mention that the timekeeping software that the corporation uses saves a report every time a punch is changed that shows the original punch and the one that is altered. The intent is that when somebody forgets to clock out they call the manager, manager fixes it in the system, they sign a report next shift, once in a blue moon kind of thing, however in this store it is used daily by the shift managers as a tool to "balance" labor percentages. |
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I am a manager trainee There is your problem.....Are you sure your an hourly employee? or Salary? I'm hourly until I'm offered salary after a 90-day review. This is happening to a lot of the kitchen staff also. ETA: one of my overnight cooks was shorted 15 hours on his last check. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I am a manager trainee There is your problem.....Are you sure your an hourly employee? or Salary? This is pretty key... ETA: Saw your response right above....you probably will have a pretty decent case. Being it's a franchise, I'm assuming the "owner" is trying to save a little money? |
| yeah, this would seem to be a clear violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. pretty much any non-exempt employee must be paid for all time worked. however, maybe you are considered an "exempt" employee according to the FLSA 'cuz you are training for a management (supervisory) position? I'd talk with the following people (in this order): 1. your immediate supervisor. 2. whoever does the payroll/hr stuff for the store 3. a lawyer |
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Since it's so widespread, other managers know about it, and nothing is being done I'd strongly suspect corporate knows and is turning a blind eye. I'd spend another few weeks getting documentation before going to corporate. You may also want to consult with a labor attorney.
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