Alphabet Primitive thinks employers are slaveowners.

[Freeper]

JFN1  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Wed May-13-09 03:55 PM
Original message
Employment is NOT SLAVERY.   Updated at 3:55 PM
   
Edited on Wed May-13-09 04:09 PM by JFN1
So, many of you know some of our story - we moved from the West Coast to the Midwest to help our family deal with an illness.

Before we left, my wife was an executive in the credit department for a major semi-truck manufacturer. I am retired from the military.

So we've been back here now about three years. It's rural, lots of farms, and boring.

So my wife decided to get a part time job, working for a small retail dairy store (they still sell milk in glass bottles). She's been there for a few months now.

Yesterday, she came home from work furious. It seems the day before, during which she worked four hours, the cash register came up short $24. She doesn't get to count the drawer before or after her shift, and the owner and his family work the drawer alongside their employees all day.

So this morning, her boss told her that since the drawer came up short, and she worked the day of the shortage, the missing cash would have to come out of her check.

He told her this is how they have always done it.

Folks, this sort of thing is ILLEGAL. The law says employers must pay employees for the hours they work; risk, and profit, are solely the owner's to assume - not the employees.

Now, I know for a fact my wife did not make a mistake on the drawer - in her career, she's counted out some $1.5 million in cash, and has never missed as much as a penny. And she knows she made no mistakes. So she told the boss, if her check is short $24, she would not tolerate it. So we will see, next Monday, who blinks.

Did I mention there are no breaks or lunch hours for any employees? Some of them work ten hour shifts with no breaks, no lunch, and if their drawer turns up short, they pay for it.

My wife asked the owner if overages in the register were paid to the employee. He answered, "No, of course not."

Many people allow their employers to do this sort of thing to them, and I want you all to know - you do not have to tolerate such abuses.

EMPLOYMENT IS NOT SLAVERY.

Stand up for your rights, and don't be afraid to turn your employer in for illegalities and abuses. The Department of Labor, if the abuses are egregious, will sue the employer on your behalf - and award you the winnings.

And your employer is NOT allowed to retaliate against you IN ANY WAY if you turn them in. if they do, you can sue the shit out of them.

I, for one, am finished with businesses abusing the law for profit. Small business or massive corporation, the law is there to protect you. Don't be afraid to enforce the law and stand up for your rights.

And one final note: We are finishing up a complaint to both the State and Federal departments of labor about my wife's employer. We will be mailing it off tomorrow, as we will not stand idly by while this employer abuses his employees.

Illegally profiting from employees must be stopped, else we are little more than wage slaves for an abusive, uncaring elite.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5648108

Actually when you work the cash machine it is common practice that you come up short you pay for it. It is not illegal, it is one of the conditions you agree upon when you are employed. Now if the employer is truly scamming his wife that is illegal and if she can prove it the employer should be punished. But Frank's law clearly states, that dummies lie all the time so, odds are the story is total bullshit.

This thread sums up pretty well how dummies think though. That jobs should be given and no consequences for errors.

[Freeper]

guitar man  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Wed May-13-09 04:00 PM
Response to Original message
3. Contact your state labor board
   
Edited on Wed May-13-09 04:48 PM by guitar man
File a complaint. I don't know about where you live, but unauthorized deductions from an employees' paycheck is something our state labor commission here in Oklahoma will go after an employer for. Tell her not to sign anything authorizing any payroll deductions.

good luck

When you handle cash, reimbursement of any loss, caused by the employee is an authorized deduction.

[thundley4]

Every small business that I know of allows for counting the drawer at the beginning and ending of the shift.  In some places, each employee has their own drawers.

[jtyangel]

Every small business that I know of allows for counting the drawer at the beginning and ending of the shift.  In some places, each employee has their own drawers.

Exactly! I actually would have been ticked at this too though seeing as other people were using the drawer. Would have made more sense if the owner split the shortage between all those who used the drawer because in places where I worked that this happened if it was over 5 bucks, the write up happened to ALL the individuals who used that drawer.

If it was his wife, I don't care how much cash she's handled, she's still human and people do make mistakes. I've handled a boatload of cash, checks, wires, stock certificates, and other assorted odd things considered tender. I have made mistakes that took me some time to figure out what I did wrong and I've had a drawer be off a couple/few bucks a time or two also. People sometimes make mistakes..most employers allow for it and generally only look for patterns unless the loss is a ridiculous amount.

[BlueStateSaint]

I held up an express line at the supermarket 1/4 mile away earlier in the week, as I made the cashier pull the two bills I had given her--a $20 and a $5, as the cost was $24.51--and she was giving me $10.49 back in change.  I looked at her and said, "Are you sure that I'm supposed to get that back?  I gave you a twenty and a five."  She must have had other things on her mind (she was in her 60s), because it took about 30 seconds for it to register in her mind.  When it did, she thanked me profusely, and I walked off.  Hopefully, the people behind me learned a little lesson in honesty--but probably not.

What goes around, comes around.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Sounds like a bouncy...stretchy at best. Woebetide the former executive reduced to mere milk maid. He even started with "So..." 4 times.

[JohnnyReb]

SO, what's a DUmmie worth on the open slave market?

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

SO, what's a DUmmie worth on the open slave market?

I'll give you 2 Canadian nickels and half a can of warm Tab.

[RobJohnson]

I held up an express line at the supermarket 1/4 mile away earlier in the week, as I made the cashier pull the two bills I had given her--a $20 and a $5, as the cost was $24.51--and she was giving me $10.49 back in change.  I looked at her and said, "Are you sure that I'm supposed to get that back?  I gave you a twenty and a five."  She must have had other things on her mind (she was in her 60s), because it took about 30 seconds for it to register in her mind.  When it did, she thanked me profusely, and I walked off.  Hopefully, the people behind me learned a little lesson in honesty--but probably not.

What goes around, comes around.

Well we all know people in their 60's can't count. 

[MarshallLaw]

I'll give you 2 Canadian nickels and half a can of warm Tab.

Dude, you're getting hosed on that deal.

[JohnnyReb]

Dude, you're getting hosed on that deal.

No he's not. The only thing of real value is the can the TAB came in.......and in this Obama economy, that ain't much.

[RobJohnson]

I have known more then one business that tries to past this cost of doing business, to the employees.

It happens, and it happens alot.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Well we all know people in their 60's count count. 

Ummm, Rob, just how old are you, by the way....?

 

[Wineslob]

EMPLOYMENT IS NOT SLAVERY.

Your'e right DUmmie, she can quit anytime she wants.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Your'e right DUmmie, she can quit anytime she wants.

Well...It is a dairy farm.

Maybe they have his wife hooked up to one of those milking machines. 

[JohnnyReb]

Well...It is a dairy farm.

Maybe they have his wife hooked up to one of those milking machines. 

Now that's utterly tasteless.

[Wineslob]

Well...It is a dairy farm.

Maybe they have his wife hooked up to one of those milking machines. 

Why does the song "Old McDonald" come to mind.......................

[RobJohnson]

Ummm, Rob, just how old are you, by the way....?

 

Ha! I fixed my typo.

[TheSarge]

Folks, this sort of thing is ILLEGAL. The law says employers must pay employees for the hours they work; risk, and profit, are solely the owner's to assume - not the employees.

Bullsh*t.  Every retail place I've worked satates very clearly that if YOUR register comes up short...YOU are responsible for paying back the short amount.

[RobJohnson]

Bullsh*t.  Every retail place I've worked satates very clearly that if YOUR register comes up short...YOU are responsible for paying back the short amount.

 

Chances are, since this was a post on DU, it's bullshit. We all know that DUmmies don't have jobs. 

[jtyangel]

Well we all know people in their 60's can't count. 

How did you read that, RJ? I read it as establishing that she was a mature, likely dependable, employee who also had other responsibilities that might distract her, not that she was senile.

[jtyangel]

Bullsh*t.  Every retail place I've worked satates very clearly that if YOUR register comes up short...YOU are responsible for paying back the short amount.

I've worked in several and it was never the case at any of them, however, coming up short repeatedly could be documented and used as grounds for termination. Coming up as short as she did and you were the only one on the register would have got you a pretty good write up. I don't know if things have changed.

If she was sharing the register, then I do find it a bit unfair that she's the only one charged for it because there is no telling whose mistake it was. The owner and his relatives working there are capable of making errors too. But, this is a DUmmie story so who knows.

[GOBUCKS]

Stand up for your rights, and don't be afraid to turn your employer in for illegalities and abuses. The Department of Labor, if the abuses are egregious, will sue the employer on your behalf - and award you the winnings.

And your employer is NOT allowed to retaliate against you IN ANY WAY if you turn them in. if they do, you can sue the shit out of them.

This DUmmy's screed is a lie from top to bottom, except for the part about the female DUmmy snaking $24 from the till, but he gives a good picture of the DUmmy attitude toward work:

Sue your boss - a key step in development of a successful career. And the main reason members of "protected classes" have a hard time finding work. Of course, I'm probably making the mistake of thinking that DUmmies aspire to a successful career, rather than bouncing between minimum wage retail and unskilled labor jobs.

[TheSarge]

I've worked in several and it was never the case at any of them, however, coming up short repeatedly could be documented and used as grounds for termination. Coming up as short as she did and you were the only one on the register would have got you a pretty good write up. I don't know if things have changed.

Best Buy was that way...so was Toys R Us.

An ex-gf of mine worked in the cash office at the HEB in Midland and I'd see her go back up there after her shift to help a cashier find 5 cents.

If she was sharing the register, then I do find it a bit unfair that she's the only one charged for it because there is no telling whose mistake it was. The owner and his relatives working there are capable of making errors too. But, this is a DUmmie story so who knows.

And as we all know DUmmies lie...all the time. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

My experience with family-owned businesses is that the people most likely to steal from the registers, and least likely to be held accountable for it, are the family members.