Being forced to work off the clock?

Question

About 2 months ago I got a job as an assistant manager. Well my lunch has gone from, don't clock out, to you don't get a lunch, to you have to clock out but still work. My boss has even added my lunch to the computer system. If I don't clock out she will write me up, if I do and refuse to do all the stuff I'm told to be doing then she will write me up. I'm also the only one who's not allowed to leave, I'm not even allowed to go sit in the back away from customers while I eat. Part of me is thinking she's trying to get me to quit, she loved me at first then it was like out of no where she started pulling stuff like this on me. She has also sent her dad to harass my mom. I guess she knew my mom would go to the higher people about it and made to where they won't take her calls. She keeps writing me up for bogus things and has told me that if she writes me up one more time then she will fire me. Can she really fire me when what she's doing is illegal? What can I do about this?

Update:

Also an example of one of the things she wrote me up for. Someone complained I was sitting there eating and kept going outside. I wasn't clocked in and my boss knew that.

Update 2:

I'm hourly so for me it does matter. I would quit but I need a job. I don't have very many choices where I live. Its an hour and a half drive to the city. I don't get days off so I can't even go look.

Update 3:

I don't know the numbers.

My mom wasn't going to complain for me. She was going to complain about being harassed.

Tinker · Answer

It's time to start looking for another job. Anything you do will probably not make your job any better. On, the other hand, now is prime time to start documenting everything that goes on with times and dates. Get you a notebook and keep some good notes on the situation. As far as I know, you really can't make someone work off the clock. If you're salary (not paid hourly) it doesn't matter, you make the same amount of money no matter what. About the lunch break......most states have laws that protect employees on breaks. Check out your local and state laws.

JackC · Answer

This isn't an easy answer, not least of all if you're American (which I suspect you are) - organise your colleagues and join a trade union. The USA has some of the most draconian anti-union laws in the world, but unionisation really is the only way that workers can get more rights, fair pay and better treatment from their bosses. Membership requires a monthly fee, but the amount tends to be small and in return you'll be backed up by the sort of legal teams that you couldn't ever even hope to afford on your own.

Google "trade unions X", with X replaced with the industry you work in (ie; retail, electronics) and see which unions operate in your area.

? · Answer

The employees need to report this to the Department of Labor.

twistedtart · Answer

Call your state labor board. They WILL put a stop to that bs. You also need to call Corporate and complain about what she's been doing. Don't have your mom do it, YOU do it.

Anonymous · Answer

That is illeagal. Call corporate or your local labor board!

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Being forced to work off the clock?

5 Answers