Boss accuses employee of 'stealing' time after she takes all 30 minutes of her lunch break
'These places really act like we owe them our lives for $15/hr...'
The corporate world can be horrifying, particularly when you have a micromanaging boss monitoring your every move! That's exactly what happened to an employee working in retail. Their manager accused them of time theft for taking their 30-minute unpaid lunch break. The person (u/kingsolomon730) narrated the incident on Reddit on November 17. So far, the post has received 19k upvotes online. They had been working at a retail chain for two years when the incident happened. The employee had never missed a shift and had always covered for colleagues. However, their manager, instead of appreciating them for their service, accused them of something they never did.
"Yesterday, my manager pulled me aside, accusing me of 'time theft,'" they wrote. The supervisor wasn't happy that the employee was taking their full 30-minute unpaid lunch break. Instead, she expected them to resume work in 20 minutes like everyone else. "I told her if it’s unpaid, that time is mine. She said technically yes, but we expect more dedication from someone with your time here," the employee recalled. Ironically, the manager, they confirmed, takes 45 minutes off twice a week. "So yeah… I started job hunting on my full lunch break today. These places really act like we owe them our lives for $15/hr," they concluded.
Workers are entitled to take breaks, at least their lunch break, and utilize them to the fullest. Sadly, despite provisions, employees are forced to cut short their legal breaks and work instead. In fact, a survey by Hewlett-Packard (HP) found that 40% of working professionals entirely skip their lunch breaks to meet deadlines. The finding is from a survey (cited in The Worker's Union) of 1,200 employees. Among those 40% who skip meals, 23% confessed to being pressured to do so by their workplace culture. Moreover, they found that 22% of workers have also missed doctors' appointments because of work.
Meanwhile, the employee received overwhelming support from people online. They also called out the supervisor and insisted that the employee file a complaint against her. For instance, u/ricksebak commented, "There are probably two illegalities here that you should file with your state Department of Labor: if the break is required by law, then they are breaking the law by refusing to give you your break. They are also committing wage theft by forcing you to work 10 minutes unpaid." u/splampin wrote, "That’s insane. Everyone deserves better. I get a paid hour-long lunch that nobody tracks, and I work for a small nonprofit. Target could certainly afford it." Similarly, u/chickadee12345 recalled, "I get it. I was called disloyal for taking a week vacation that I had planned and told my employer about at least 6 months in advance."
u/low-abss2002 suggested, "Document everything and try to get proof that she is pressuring you to do that. What she is doing is illegal." u/tiberius_jim shared, "As someone who has been in retail management, I can't understand why a supervisor would have employees do this in the first place. Is mistreating your employees and violating labor law really worth it to have employees work an extra 10 minutes? Can a giant corporation really not afford to keep a store staffed enough so that employees can take their full breaks? I just don't see the upside at all, especially when there's plenty of downside if/when they get caught, in addition to just being a shitty person who abuses people."
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