4 ms·

Nurses also have this problem. On a busy floor, they rarely get to use their breaks or have to quickly scarf down some food and run back.

thebradbain 5y ago
(Not all, but many) Nurses/Doctors are exempt employees though, which has its own set of rules. Warehouse workers aren't, generally
- bluedino 5y ago
  Most nurses are hourly.
  - tssva 5y ago
    Hourly employees can be exempt.
chefandy 5y ago
When I was working in restaurants a decade ago, getting breaks was the exception rather than the norm.
- bluedino 5y ago
  Depends on the culture/management. Some placed I worked forced the staff to go on break. Retail is the same way.
  - Talanes 5y ago
    Well, and local laws. Making sure people get their breaks has been part of the supervisor/manager role for every food service job I've had, but I'm in California where breaks are mandated by the government.
    - chefandy 5y ago
      California is kind of a different planet than the rest of the country for restaurant work. A good example is that tipped workers still get paid well in California where in Boston they still get paid $5.55/hr, if anything because many places do under-the-table tips-only work. That was $2.63/hr less than 5 years ago... and it's why folks from California have a 'slight' reputation for occasionally being worse tippers than others. Breaks are legally mandated a lot of places where people don't get them. I've known many hundreds of people that have worked in many thousands of restaurants in all positions in the northeast cities— NY, Boston, etc. Breaks for restaurant workers— aside from 5ish minute cigarette breaks— though legally mandated, are nearly unheard of. More often than not, the much exalted 'family meal' is cheap leftovers eaten while standing up in a back hallway or while doing other work. It's also very common for cooks to be given rules like "don't punch in more than 30 minutes before service, or punch out more than 30 minutes after service" even though you've got 2+ hours of setup and cleanup which you'll get fired for not completing. It's obviously not legal, but restaurant back of the house workers are so disempowered on a whole, that it really doesn't matter. If you're interested in seeing more about the local restaurant work culture, check out the saga of a Boston-based pizza chain "The Upper Crust." Their brazenness was based in experience for how these things were generally handled. The fact that they were punished for their behavior is the exception rather than the rule. Almost all restaurant work complaints that get sent to the AG are ignore. I know because I've sent 4, personally, for outright wage theft and know many others that sent complaints in for similar problems. This is obviously not true in corporate environments with more uniform employment policies.
  - chefandy 5y ago
    At least in the urban northeast, the number of non-corporate restaurants that allow their employees anything more than a couple <5 minute smoke breaks is vanishingly small. I've worked in about 20 restaurants, clubs and bars and restaurants in several cities in this general area over 25 years, and had thousands of coworkers with the same experience. It's a very common griping topic.
- MomoXenosaga 5y ago
  Americans may think they are the kings of capitalism but I have seen things... I saw a Polish kapo beat someone who said he was too sick to work. It's almost a concentration camp out there but most of the public will never know. One day we will run out of folks to exploit but until then full steam ahead I suppose.
  - chefandy 5y ago
    Happens everywhere. I was friends/coworkers with a 19 year old Mexican American mom who had just extricated herself from a small, c-grade traveling circus in Texas. A few months after joining them, the ringmaster woke her up every morning demanding she start training on the trapeze immediately, and would punch her in the stomach every day she refused. She was 16 years old and pregnant. Check out this Frontline documentary on labor trafficking in the us: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/inside-the-hidden-reality-of-labor-trafficking-in-america/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/inside-the-hidden...
    - chefandy 5y ago
      Oh sorry, that's just an article. Here's the full documentary: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/trafficked-in-america/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/trafficked-in-americ...

thebradbain 5y ago

(Not all, but many) Nurses/Doctors are exempt employees though, which has its own set of rules. Warehouse workers aren't, generally

bluedino 5y ago
Most nurses are hourly.
- tssva 5y ago
  Hourly employees can be exempt.

chefandy 5y ago

When I was working in restaurants a decade ago, getting breaks was the exception rather than the norm.

bluedino 5y ago
Depends on the culture/management. Some placed I worked forced the staff to go on break. Retail is the same way.
- Talanes 5y ago
  Well, and local laws. Making sure people get their breaks has been part of the supervisor/manager role for every food service job I've had, but I'm in California where breaks are mandated by the government.
  - chefandy 5y ago
    California is kind of a different planet than the rest of the country for restaurant work. A good example is that tipped workers still get paid well in California where in Boston they still get paid $5.55/hr, if anything because many places do under-the-table tips-only work. That was $2.63/hr less than 5 years ago... and it's why folks from California have a 'slight' reputation for occasionally being worse tippers than others. Breaks are legally mandated a lot of places where people don't get them. I've known many hundreds of people that have worked in many thousands of restaurants in all positions in the northeast cities— NY, Boston, etc. Breaks for restaurant workers— aside from 5ish minute cigarette breaks— though legally mandated, are nearly unheard of. More often than not, the much exalted 'family meal' is cheap leftovers eaten while standing up in a back hallway or while doing other work. It's also very common for cooks to be given rules like "don't punch in more than 30 minutes before service, or punch out more than 30 minutes after service" even though you've got 2+ hours of setup and cleanup which you'll get fired for not completing. It's obviously not legal, but restaurant back of the house workers are so disempowered on a whole, that it really doesn't matter. If you're interested in seeing more about the local restaurant work culture, check out the saga of a Boston-based pizza chain "The Upper Crust." Their brazenness was based in experience for how these things were generally handled. The fact that they were punished for their behavior is the exception rather than the rule. Almost all restaurant work complaints that get sent to the AG are ignore. I know because I've sent 4, personally, for outright wage theft and know many others that sent complaints in for similar problems. This is obviously not true in corporate environments with more uniform employment policies.
- chefandy 5y ago
  At least in the urban northeast, the number of non-corporate restaurants that allow their employees anything more than a couple <5 minute smoke breaks is vanishingly small. I've worked in about 20 restaurants, clubs and bars and restaurants in several cities in this general area over 25 years, and had thousands of coworkers with the same experience. It's a very common griping topic.
MomoXenosaga 5y ago
Americans may think they are the kings of capitalism but I have seen things... I saw a Polish kapo beat someone who said he was too sick to work. It's almost a concentration camp out there but most of the public will never know. One day we will run out of folks to exploit but until then full steam ahead I suppose.
- chefandy 5y ago
  Happens everywhere. I was friends/coworkers with a 19 year old Mexican American mom who had just extricated herself from a small, c-grade traveling circus in Texas. A few months after joining them, the ringmaster woke her up every morning demanding she start training on the trapeze immediately, and would punch her in the stomach every day she refused. She was 16 years old and pregnant. Check out this Frontline documentary on labor trafficking in the us: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/inside-the-hidden-reality-of-labor-trafficking-in-america/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/inside-the-hidden...
  - chefandy 5y ago
    Oh sorry, that's just an article. Here's the full documentary: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/trafficked-in-america/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/trafficked-in-americ...