abusive employer and your rights at work.?

Question

Can a employer work you 7 days a week against your will.
deny you a 30 minute break?
If you go over 40 hours put the over hours on next weeks
timecard to avoid paying thime and a half.
assualting you like grabing you and yelling at you.
This happened when I worked at Bill Knapp's as a cook.
When I reported this to the district supervisor he said
to me If you would try to do a better job your boss would
treat you better.
Is there a way to get your employer arrested for doing
any of the above I mentioned? I worked 10 hours with
no break.

Answer 1

You are asking a lot of questions here, so there are a lot of answers.

It is clear that your employer is not abiding by U.S. labor laws. Since you work at Bill Knapp's, I assume you live somewhere in the upper Midwest, perhaps Michigan. You should be getting a break after a certain number of hours (it depends on your state). Your employer can make you work as many days as he wishes, but in a restaurant job, he must pay you overtime for hours over 40 each week. Assault, if it is physical, is against the law, and certain types of threats of violence and harm (called terroristic threats these days) are also illegal.

What you are able to do about all this is another matter. If you take any action against your employer, you are certain to be fired, so keep that in mind if you need the position badly. The assault and threats are something you might have to call the police about--but I'd call the labor board first. The labor violations are something you need to contact your labor board (usually a county or state agency) about--they can give you advice on how to proceed. You would also want to tell the labor board that your supervisor is using assault and threats to get you to manipulate you to work harder, and more hours.

The only cause for arrest is assault and threats, but the police would expect you to quit your job immediately. I suspect in most places the police will not take your concerns very seriously, as they won't consider it an important use of their time and resources.

If you haven't, you should be recording, in a notebook, people, events, and approximate times and dates. You can do this now, after the fact, if you wish. It shows anybody you speak to that you are sincere.

Another issue is that most restaurant jobs are not very good--the working conditions and the people are usually not the best. I was once threatened with assault in a restaurant job when I wouldn't take on additional work as a cook's personal kitchen slave (it was like an episode of "Oz"). I wonder if there is another type of work you can do. Also, in your other questions, I see a distinct pattern in which people treat you cruelly. In my opinion, this is a spiritual problem, with a spiritual solution. You are welcome to email me if you would like more information about this. I wish you all the best in your life.

Answer 2

Isn't Bill Knapps gone now? I thought they dissolved the company a couple years ago.

Grabbing you is assault and you should have called the cops if there were witnesses.

There are no federal laws mandating breaks or number of days worked. It is illegal to move hours from one week to another to avoid overtime pay (which is federally controlled).

As to the breaks and days of work, each state has different laws regarding this. In Michigan an employer does not have to give you breaks at all.

The best remedy for a situation for this is to find a new job. Or better yet, start going to college and pull yourself up out of low-paying crappy jobs.

Answer 3

You could start with assault, by calling the police. You might also try contacting an attorney. He/she might better direct you to someone who can help you. No one should have to take this kind of abuse. You might mention to the attorney that the district supervisor wouldn't do anything about the problem either. This place could be shut down and or possibly sued. Do you know of any employee's that are treated the same way? Because this could help your case even further.

Answer 4

Unfortunatly my answer is only useful if you are in the UK as I am a nightclub manager here.

If your on a rota that changes you can be required to work 7 days in a row although this should never be be in 2 consecutive weeks.

If you a paid time and a half for overtime then he can not list your hours seperatly as this would be classed as fraud or theft.

Assualt is assualt it is illegal and if in UK we have very strict rules on touching employee's

You would have a very good case if you took it to court if in the UK you can seek free advice from your local CAB (citizens advice bureau) you may have a simliar alternative in your country.

Hope this helps you and others who may be experiencing the same problems.

Xtreme

Answer 5

Contact your state Department of Labor. There are very specific state (and federal) laws covering hours, breaks, overtime, etc. I hope you have a different job with an employer who treats the employees fairly.

Answer 6

It's hard to get any employer to be accountable for bad behavior. However, it they touch you, deny you breaks, or do not pay you overtime, you have every right to report them to the labor board. If they are found guilty, they will be fined heavily. If they fired you, you may have what you need for a lawsuit - especially if someone credible witnessed this.

Answer 7

No they don't. You could file a lawsuit. But the employer better be seriously verbally abusive.

Answer 8

Contact the local Equal Employment Commission EEOC or there are many web sites you can find out more. It matters what state you live in on how some rules and laws go on hours.
GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 9

Seek legal advice. You are being treated unfairly.

Here is a website for free leagal advice:

Legal Issue? Find Free Answers
to Your Legal Questions at FindLaw
www.FindLaw.com

Answer 10

1) get a better job.
2) call the labour board and get all your O/T (hope you wrote your hours down & kept pay stubs)
3) have him arrested for assault (if witnessed...otherwise it's hear-say and hard to prove)

4) if all of the above fails: KICK HIM IN THE NUTS AND QUIT