Employment is NOT SLAVERY.

[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.

[K Gardner]

1. K&R, and kudos for fighting this and posting the info.

[mdmc]

2. It is all in my sig line

God bless and stand your ground

[guitar man]

3. Contact your state labor board

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

[sandnsea]

4. Low income people need L-A-W-Y-E-R-S

If we had as many lawyers as we do "credit counselors", 90% of these abuses wouldn't happen in the first place.

There isn't one financial complaint being made today that low income people haven't been making for YEARS. If somebody had listened, you wouldn't be having your interest rates jacked up and losing your homes and jobs.

[JFN1]

6. Absolutely.

Justice for all, not just for those who can afford it. Our legal system is beyond broken.

But again I will say - you don't need a lawyer to stand up to your employer and assert your rights and demand their legal behavior. It's better to have legal representation, of course, but for the average person, knowledge of the law and the various agencies charged with upholding it, can go a very long way.

[sandnsea]

7. People get fired

and the state takes the word of the employer, all the time.

It takes people like you to stand up for those who can't.

Another option is to keep a record and then turn it in when you find a better job. I've done that and held an employer accountable. It works too.

[JFN1]

8. Documentation is the key

to winning such a fight. If you have a legitimate complaint, document it like crazy. Get the names and positions of people involved, including others who are being victimized and past employees. The more accurate information you can provide, the better your chances of winning with the bureaucracy. Because you are correct - the State often does work on behalf of the employer (especially if they are a large employer), so gathering evidence is the best shot one has at justice.

[raccoon]

46. Yes, people get fired, and somebody who is living hand to mouth

doesn't have the luxury of pissing off their employers, or being out of work while some state agency investigates the employer.

Good on you and your wife for standing up to these assholes.

[wolfgangmo]

49. It depends on whether or not you are in a so called right to work state

Those states have laws on the books that hold the employer almost completely free of all responsibility. I had an interesting chat with an employment lawyer who worked for a union in one of those states and he told me that unless you were in a union, you were screwed.

There is a case he told me about where a man was fired because he refused to kill another man for his boss. His boss fired him and he sued and lost. And then there wasn't enough evidence to go after the boss for attempted murder.

"Right to work" is a euphemism for right to be fired for any reason at any time without recourse.

[bertman]

72. I don't know where you live sandnsea, but where I live I've seen instances where it

was that way in some instances and exactly the opposite in others.

The proceedings should be neutral when there is a conflict between employee and employer. There are good employers and bad employers, just as there are good employees and bad employees. Every complaint should be evaluated on its merits without prejudice toward either party.

[LittleGirl]

39. We need Lawyers, is right

There have been several occurances in my 33 yr work career where I have been abused and discriminated against. I couldn't do a damn thing about it because I couldn't afford a lawyer to represent me or protect me from those abusers/employers.

How can the little people defend themselves? We can't and don't. We have to find other employers and hope they treat us fairly or we get fired for defending ourselves. It's a cycle of despair.

[JDPriestly]

79. Legal Aid lawyers used to cover a much broader scope of case than they do now.

Republicans in Congress passed laws made it more difficult for the lawyers that had previously handled a variety of matters for the poor to handle such cases.

If your employer is violating wage and hour laws, you may be able to find a lawyer who will sue on your behalf. In some cases, you may have a class action that could include other employees. You can probably find the wage and hour regulations that apply in your state on line. You can also ask how to find information on them at your local library. (They can't give you legal advice, but they may be able to show you some books on the topic.)

[earth mom]

5. Good for you! It's time to take this country back from greedy & abusive employers! nt

[OnionPatch]

9. I worked at a place that tried this.

In fact, they got away with it a bunch of times. My sister actually paid them $120 from her own paycheck although she was working for minimum wage. I know my sister. She's now an accountant, a highly valued one, and there's no way she made that kind of mistake. It turned out the manager who did this was later found guilty of embezzlement from the company, so we all sort of figured the "shorts" from the day's end register were fabricated. Don't let anyone get away with this. You're right, it's totally illegal and in many cases, it's a scam.

[RonHack]

54. I agree

It.s very suspicious that in a retail environment, they don't have a MANDATORY policy of counting your drawer before and after cashing in (i.e., opening and closing your register).

It happened to my brother years ago, when he was a cashier in Bradlees. Accused of swiping $20 from his register drawer, he was fired from his job (he said of the time, "good riddance"). Weeks later, checking in on the store gossip, he learned a supervisor was putting her hand where it wasn't supposed to be (guess!) and got caught.

I have worked retail before, before I realized I was smarter than that :D , and I always took pride in keeping counts accurate in my drawer. I have even caught the cash-in drawer short a couple of times. And the drawer was rarely, if never, shared.

Small place or large, every place I have worked has that policy.

Something is up, at that store.

[progressoid]

10. Get 'em!

Your wife and the other employees shouldn't have to pay for their greed and incompetence.

[old mark]

11. Good luck - seriously. Managers are trained to treat workers like shit

in this country. Many times laws intended to benefit workers have been perverted to persecute those who are desperately need to keep those jobs - those who are chronically ill or who have chronically ill family members. The personnel/human resources directors of various state agencies meet yearly to learn how to bend the laws to the disadvantage of their workers.

I worked for years for the State of Pennsylvania, and the number of lawsuits against the various state agencies by wronged employees amazed me. As a union Steward, I testified by letter in a lawsuit, and when I later called the lawyer in that case to seek help in a possible suit of my own,was told he was so busy with employee lawsuits against the state government he had no time to take any new cases.

This is the way America has worked for at least the last decade or so, and seriously I wish you good luck, but I doubt you will get anywhere.

mark

[nilram]

12. Wow, most people are not in a position to make waves

If you guys can, that would be awesome! Good luck.

[JFN1]

13. Thankfully we are, and we do.

I didn't fight for my country to stand by and allow greedy fucks to screw people over. Not on my watch...

[handmade34]

17. thanks for fighting...

what you are doing helps us all. My daughter once worked at a job where she was not allowed to go to the bathroom unless it was her break time... that is inhumane

[hfojvt]

20. the Supreme Court has ruled on that too

That employers are required to give bathroom breaks as needed.

http://www.ehso.com/cssdol/dolbreaks.php#federal

"There is not a federal law that specifically applies to the number and duration of bathroom breaks. However, there are Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations which require employers to provide adequate bathroom facilities, and prevent employers from imposing "unreasonable restrictions" on bathroom use. The intent of these regulations is that employees are able to use bathroom facilities promptly, recognizing that the frequency of bathroom visits necessary may vary among employees, depending on factors such as the temperature, medical conditions and the effects of medication, and fluid intake."

[moez]

14. On the other hand

If I had someone ripping me off blind, I'd be pissed off too...

[JFN1]

18. They have 38 cameras in their 1200 square foot store

The cameras go to the owner's laptop, if he is not in the store, and records to a server for daily review.

If an employee or customer can steal in that place and get away with it, I would be very shocked.

[moez]

19. have you

checked your wife's purse to make sure that there wasn't anything ...."extra"?

[JFN1]

23. She doesn't take a purse to work...

are you suggesting I should check her pockets? Careful...

[moez]

27. yep....

I'd shake her down...

[ejpoeta]

22. also, unless she was the only one handling that drawer all day,

which it sounds like that was not the case, they can't blame her for the drawer being off. i got taken by one of those people that mess you up when giving them their change by asking for ones and fives and all that and my drawer was off and i got written up or verbally warned but no one tried to take money out of my pay.

[CrispyQ]

25. If you suspect someone is ripping you off,

then each employee has their own till & they count it before their shift & after their shift.

I worked at a grocery store that decided to save time logging in & out on the cash registers at the fast lane & had community tills. Surprise! Those tills were always short (& significantly!) & there was no way they could trace where the shortage was. Even if they suspected certain checkers were stealing, they wouldn't have had a leg to stand on in a court of law, since multiple checkers had access to the till.

on edit: spelling

[Massacure]

75. I work retail, and our cashiers share tills.

However we pull cash pick-ups regularly to prevent the tills from accumulating too much money. The tills never come out exact, but we have a rough idea of how much is supposed to be in them. A few cashiers have gotten canned for incompetence, and one even arrested for stealing.

[billyoc]

15. The employing class begs to differ.

[tomreedtoon]

44. And now that jobs are in short supply...

...employers can really start turning the thumbscrews. What're you going to do, poor unemployed slobs? All you hunger-weakened jerks and your powerless unions can do is die.

And no, I don't have the money for a sarcasm icon, so I AM NOT BEING SARCASTIC. I am telling you the truths that unions and would-be "worker organizers" here on DU will not tell you.

[LooseWilly]

80. Have you ever read "Post Office" by Charles Bukowski?

... There's a nice little line in it somewhere, about how a parking lot can get dark, and disgruntled workers can usually afford a knife.

Just a counter thought to the "employers can really start turning the thumbscrews..." talk. Powerless unions may die... but they may not be the only ones...

[tomreedtoon]

81. Vengeance doesn't work. Union justice MIGHT.

But, as I've often said, it's been a long time since River Rouge. (Which, if you didn't know about it, is briefly summarized here: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/The_Battle_of_the_Overpass )

Unions organizing and striking against big organizations, including the US Government, could do something. Union people breaking into Rush Limbaugh's studio and confronting the fat bastard with his lies about work, union, and his own overpriced contract might wake people up. But unions don't have the courage any more; and that means courage of their convictions as well as physical courage.

[Ishoutandscream2]

16. Kudos to your wife.

I just came out of a meeting where me and my staff were royally chewed out over something that was out of our control. Employment shouldn't be slavery, but sometimes it sure feels like it.

[ejpoeta]

21. call the department of labor. i know that my husband's company

had a lawsuit or something for not giving lunches or breaks. a lawyer called my husband and asked him a bunch of questions.

also, my sister worked at a place that tried that with her. she didn't know what to do! they said they were going to charge her for some tshirts that were wrong or something. call the department of labor. don't put up with that!

[baldguy]

24. Employment is not slavery - but in a tight labor market it resembles it more & more.

Especially for low-wage & "unskilled" workers.

[Hannah Bell]

26. employment shouldn't be slavery, but sometimes there's little functional difference.

[Dappleganger]

28. Damn, I used to work for an asshole like that...

but I was young, easily intimidated and quit. So many times I've wondered what would have happened if I stood up to him.

Good for you...fight the fight.

[Critters2]

29. Honestly, you lost me when you insulted my home.

Why do people from the coasts think it's absolutely necessary to insult the Midwest whenever you talk about it?

You want my sympathy? Try describing the situation without making snarky comments about the place where my family has lived for 6 generations.

[Dappleganger]

30. What?

Show me where the OP is ranting against the midwest.

[Critters2]

31. I didn't say "rant". I said "insulted".

I doubt the word "boring" was intended as a compliment.

[Dappleganger]

32. You should get over it.

A lot of people describe the Midwest as boring, that is hardly an insult.
Unfortunately you've missed a great post because of the little chip on your shoulder.

[Critters2]

34. I read the whole thing. Just don't really find myself all that sorry

for someone who can't try to appreciate a part of the country some of us love. He really could have told the whole story without the snark. He chose not to. Now, I'm free to react as I see fit.
If he's bored, I'm sure that whichever coast he's from is still there.

[Dappleganger]

35. What part of

"we moved from the West Coast to the Midwest to help our family deal with an illness." did you miss?

This family is in a crisis and all you care about is that someone said that area is boring? BFD
I sincerely hope that in real life you are a much better listener than you are on this forum.

[fudge stripe cookays]

74. This poster lives to insult Chicago, too.

Do a search. A few years ago, that's all she did was bitch about it.

Irony, thy name is Critters. :eyes:

[Shell Beau]

67. You really got insulted by "boring"?

Really? Come on now. That is digging quite a bit. People dog the south all of the time. I may feel complimented if someone called it boring. And why can't he think it is boring? Maybe it is.

[Critters2]

71. It wasn't relevant to the story.

It was just unnecessary snark.

[whopis01]

40. Wow - if you take that much offense at the word 'boring' don't ever move to the south. n/t

[juno jones]

42. I grew up in Freeport IL, the product of generations of IL farmers,

Damn right the place was boring.

It's not bad, there just isn't much there. Especially since the Reagan years when all the good jobs got shipped out to whereever.

The OP was truthful but not as insulting as I've seen.

[wolfgangmo]

51. I didn't see it as an insult

Yes it wasn't a complement but rather an insult in your opinion. As you say, you are free to take that any way you want to. That is your choice.

You could choose another reaction unless you are one of those people who say things like "you can't control how you feel" or other such statements that identify professional victims. I suspect you are not like that but rather just touchy about this subject.

I live in the midwest in a rural area and yes, this area is boring, but what is wrong with that? Boredom is highly underrated, at least according to Einstein. Why not realize that some of us are country boys and some of us are city boys. And that is OK.

His opinion is that the midwest is boring. Having lived here and on the west coast I understand his opinion, but on the whole I find that the slower pace of the midwest is refreshing at this point in my life.

Have you also considered the condescending tone in your own post about him going back to whatever coast he came from. Frankly I find that very close to the Freeper battle cry of 'Merica. Love it or leave it. But I also understand that you likely didn't mean it that way.

Can we forgive and forget and move on with fixing our country now?

[Critters2]

56. I don't find the Midwest boring. I'm as busy with interesting activities

here as when I lived in Massachusetts. I'm not sure what kind of excitement people think they need in their lives, but mine is not boring. I've never been bored in the Midwest. I doubt the OP would be bored, either, if they actually chose to participate in the community where they live. I can't imagine being bored if you are active in your community--any community.

And I'm done with this. I'm tired of hearing people from the coasts bitch about life here. I said it. I meant it. I still mean it. No point in further discussion.

[Bill McBlueState]

63. this is a good point

I'm reading "Bowling Alone" by Robert Putnam which is mostly about the loss of community in the US since 1970. Most of the upper Midwestern states score well above average on metrics that measure community activism.

[datasuspect]

62. SOMEONE INSULTED YOU ON THE INTERNET????!!!!?!?!??!

seriesly, how do you manage to leave the house everyday?

[Critters2]

64. The actual people in my life are kind and respectful.

You?

[datasuspect]

66. how hard did you have to strain to find insult in "boring"

i mean, jeez, come on. that's quite a stretch.

[JFN1]

36. My wife and her entire family live here

and have for generations. She herself describes this area as boring.

I've lived here now for three years. Watching the corn grow may make you feel closer to nature, but it is still boring as hell.

The only things to do around here involve agriculture, bars, bowling, and hunting/fishing/camping. We're not really the camping types, I can't fish or camp due to my disability, and I wouldn't hunt for pleasure, ever. Don't get me wrong, its a nice, quiet place to live. No real crime, some exciting weather, and lots of scenery. But for me - this place is boring as all get out.

If you are insulted by this, sorry. I'm a city boy at heart - no escaping my basic nature. Perhaps a visit to one of our fine cities located on the West Coast will eliminate your need to feel offended by someone's valid opinion.

[Critters2]

57. There's no need in your community, no opportunity to volunteer?

Or is life really just about being entertained? As I said in another post, I can't understand how anyone involved in any community becomes bored. Boredom is a choice one makes, not the fault of where one lives.

[madmom]

52. I have lived in Ohio for 40+ years, so we are in close proximity, I find

it to be the most boring place in the world, that I know of. The biggest complaint around here is "all you see is cows and corn" and "there is never anything for the kids to do". I've heard/said that since I was a teenager MANY years ago. So really the op is right in lots of people's opinion.

[Critters2]

58. I heard "there's never anything for the kids to do" when I lived in a suburb

of Boston. I've heard that everywhere I've lived. All I can conclude is that kids don't really know what they want to do. Not a reflection on the community where one lives.

[madmom]

69. But when the adults agree, there must be something to it. If your are not into sports

there is nothing. Bars and churches that is all. Of course we have high school football in the winter(bla) but if we want anything else, zoo, museum, (hell they even closed our only roller skating rink) we have to go to the nearest bigger city at least 50 miles away. That's why kids get into trouble,IMO, out of boredom.

[Sentath]

53. Ok, look

Snark and sarcasm have their place, but I think you should have used an icon. People are missing the humor.

We've only been here 4 generations, but trust me, within a 100 mile radius of me its boring.

Other people might describe it as rural, or quiet living. And it does have those and its pretty friendly. But, don't go looking for some ready-made entertainment. You won't find it. The market isn't dense enough.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[LibDemAlways]

37. Good for you for standing up for your rights. I'm

a substitute teacher and have been in situations where schools have played loose with labor laws from time to time. Just the other day I was in a situation where I didn't get a lunch break. Frequently one middle school I've been assigned to will require a substitute filling in for a particular teacher to take another class during that teacher's "free" period. A friend of mine, who is also a "sub," agreed to take a 6-week job filling in for a 1st grade teacher last December. The teacher is still out on extended sick leave and my friend is still earning only her daily sub pay with no benefits - many thousands less than the teacher she's effectively replaced would have received. She is required, however, to do everything the regular teacher would normally do. What a racket.

I think the reason employers can sometimes get away with shady practices is that people are afraid to complain. In fact, employers count on it. Keep us posted as to the outcome.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

38. Working as a temp back in the 1980s opened my eyes to what pigs

some employers are, especially in making work unnecessarily uncomfortable or inconvenient for workers or nickel and diming them out of lunch hours or breaks.

[juno jones]

41. Good luck in your fight with this.

That sort of shit is endemic in the food industry.

At my current job, the employers pull all sorts of hijinks, not as blatantly illegal as that, but they will change up schedules and duties almost week to week, sometimes day to day as the fancy strikes them. My fellow employees suffer this quietly because, quote, "we've worked in places far worse."

There is a philosophy in this country that no one is irreplacable, that we are all BIC employees, all cogs of the same size and shape to be molded by management as they will. The fruits of the modern factory system.


We need a general strike in this country, but I doubt the sheep will be willing to risk all to do it.

As for me, the resumes start going out tomorrow.

PS I had something similar happen once. I was working at a record store where we had our own drawers. I made my $200+ deposit as usual into a sealed drawer they had for that purpose. The next day, I was notified that they had not found the money. Fortunately the manager kept me on. About two months later the drawer had to be dissembled because it was jamming. What was jamming it, you ask? My drop enevelope which had gotten caught in a metal strap on the top of the drawer. The manager was kind enough to apologize for ever having suspected me.

[CoffeeCat]

43. I'm in the Midwest too...

I'm not sure where you are, but your story reminded me of a recent lawsuit.

Casey's, a company that runs a chain of convenience stores, was sued by a couple of employees
because they were not allowed to take breaks and also because the store owners forced people
to work after their shift had ended.

These employees sued Casey's and won millions.

What this company is doing to your wife is highly illegal. You are correct...employees must be
paid for hours worked. An employer can't dock pay, for frivolous reasons. That's totally illegal.

I'm not sure what the exact legal issues are---but he's basically accusing her of committing a crime--stealing.
He can't just do that without proof. She could probably sue just for that. This boss has no idea whether
or not it was her mistake. The fact that the money isn't counted before or after her shift--means that there
is no way to blame her for this. This is so outrageous. Suggesting that he's going to cut her pay to make
up for the loss, is not only illegal (violating wage and labor laws), it's totally unprovable.

This boss is also violating wage and labor laws by not allowing lunch breaks and other breaks. I'm sure
the laws vary from state to state, but it's my understanding in our state, that for every 4 hours you work,
you're supposed to get a 15 minute break. And for every 8 hours, you're supposed to get a lunch break.

Glad you are making a complaint. What this business owner is doing, is disgusting.

[roody]

45. Goodbye, boring.

[Are_grits_groceries]

47. I worked retail a long time.

If I didn't count my till before and after, there was going to be a problem. Luckily there never was one.

[Toucano]

48. The employer is stupid. n-t

[spooky3]

50. I'm beginning to understand why the rural areas lean Republican...

my apologies to DUers in rural areas.

[Critters2]

60. Yeah, nothing like this ever happens in urban areas.

:eyes:

[Fran Kubelik]

55. I like milk in glass bottles. How dare you attack milk in glass bottles!!!

:mad:

j/k Excellent post. All good points. Thank you!!

[DFW]

59. Sounds like a small--and small-minded--employer

Petty and mean. I salute the two of you for standing up to this.

But these lowlifes that would make your lives miserable over $24 are not the model for
all employers away from the east or west coast. A company I know back home in Dallas was
having problems with one of their longer-term employees and wanted to fire him. His wife
had left him, and his work had gone downhill, and to boot, he was running around the
company trying to get people to become fanatic evangelical Christians like he had become.
He had become a drain, and they told him they were firing him, but they kept him on the
payroll in a reduced capacity for six more months for the sole reason that he would have
company health insurance for half a year while he looked for another job.

Not all employers are assholes, even in Texas.

[livefreest]

61. kudos to you. i bet many Americans find themselves in this situation

[sui generis]

65. typically that is why each staff change runs an "X" tape

and business close the manager runs a "Z" tape. It's checks and balances - but for it to work shift start or end requires a drawer count.

It's bad management - and your wife should say so to her boss - "if you want me to have faith in you as an employer then you can't leave things hanging and unaccounted, like drawer counts before or after the shift. If you want to have faith in me as an employee, then we have to trust each other and do things the right way. Whoever mans (or "womans") the drawer has to either count at start or count at finish, preferably both. Grief avoided, and you won't have to worry that I'm dipping in the register or making beginner mistakes, and I won't have to worry that you're stealing from your employees."

And they'll still respect each other in the morning.

[muffin1]

68. It sounds an awful lot like my old job.

Each of the store managers worked 10 hours a day - ALONE. No breaks...if you had to go to the bathroom, you had to prop open the bathroom door, so you could hear if the front door opened. Every shortage had to be paid back, no matter how many people had access to your drawer...three shortages and you were fired.
:evilfrown:

[4_TN_TITANS]

70. I wouldn't hold your breath for results on a $24 complaint.

Yes it's wrong, yes $24 is important to many people, but they system isn't designed to work for us. Now, if you stole $24 from your employer, that's totally different :sarcasm:

[bertman]

73. As an employER I want to tell all of you who have such shitty work environments that

I am very sorry for you. It's stories like this that make me angry as hell about how careless and disrespectful some employers are toward their employees.

My business partner and I try to provide a safe, respectful workplace for our workers. They are professionals and we treat them as such. Our philosophy is that we must provide a work environment where people are rewarded for honesty, skill, dependability, taking care of our clients, and hard work. We want them to WANT to come to work each day. We want them to have quality health care, paid time off, a retirement plan, and opportunities to learn and advance.

Most of the employees who have worked for us have shared in this philosophy; although, we have had our share of malingerers, thieves, and malcontents.

JFN1, your wife's employer put her in an untenable and, I think, illegal situation. As an employer, I wish there were some way your wife could have a face-to-face, private sit-down discussion with her bosses and lay her thoughts on the line. They need to be confronted about their abusive policies--rather LACK OF EFFECTIVE POLICIES. Maybe she, with her executive experience as her ammunition, could help them see how they could improve their way of doing business. She always has the trump card--filing a complaint--to play, if she needs it.

Too often there are employers who think that "that's the way we've always done it" is a legitimate EXCUSE for doing messed up things. Sometimes they need to be shown a better way to do things.

Good luck in this nasty situation.

[twitomy]

76. Had something like this happen to me

A chain convenience store I worked was franchised out; the new owner was whittling away the old staff and putting in his own people. Wasnt hard for him to do as he caught staff doing things they
shouldnt (stealing). Couldnt get rid of me. I didnt give him a reason. So he made one up. One day he told me I was responsible for making the drop in the safe for the PM shift. A safe only management could open. I made the drop. Next day he comes to me and askes me what happended to the drop. "In the safe where I dropped it" I replied. And thats abuot all I said and what needed to be said. I didnt yell and scream "I didnt steal it!!!"..not my style. At one point his guilty conscience must have gotten to him cause he asked bluntly "Did you steal it?" I said No!. He replied, "Then defend yourself dammit!!" Anyway he said this bullshit I was going to go thru with corporate is not worth the job and so why dont you just quit...So I did...Boy I wish I couldve taken that decision back.. The SOB dies of cancer few years later...

[Digit]

77. At one job, we were responsible if a customer's check bounced!

This was a shoe store and the check was made out to the store, of course.
They gave me the check to see if I could recover the money and I did. It just took me several times going to the customer's bank on my own time to check if there were funds in the account.
Oh, and BTW, I was just an employee, not a supervisor/manager.

This was in Virginia.

So good for you for standing up for your rights!

[1]

78. my .02 cents...

if the boss wants to recoup his lost $24, have the missus suggest that everyone that was involved in the cash drawer share equally in the loss.

your wife, the owner, the family members, etc... all share equally. divide the loss amongst all of the participants.


if the answer is no, then your wife should demand her own cash drawer that she counts before and after her shift.

if boss still says no, then your wife should quit. don't make a federal case of it. its a $24 dollar loss. no big deal. move on.

like i said, just my .02 cents...