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No Breaks
I worked for a non profit agency that regularly held fundraisers. One
of our biggest fundraisers is a weekend long bike ride that is held
annually at an out of town location. All of the full time employees
are required to work the event. We were given minimal information in
advance, and later found out why……
On Friday morning we were given our specific assignments and drove
two hours to the event location, where we were immediately put to
work. There was no lunch break, and no food available. Dinner time
came, and again, no break and no food. We worked until 11pm that
evening–a total of 15 hours. Finally we went to our motel where I
had to share the room with four other women, and sleep in the same
bed with my boss.
We were awakened at 3am after about 3 hours of sleep and put to work
again, making breakfast for the cyclists. We were told that if there
were any leftovers we could have something to eat. We then worked all
day, no lunch, no dinner, and finished at 11pm. 3 hours sleep, up at
3am, same drill. The event ended Sunday evening and we had to clean
up the event site. Around 9pm we were finally headed home, but had to
be back at the office the next morning to empty the trucks of all the
gear. Our agency president spent the entire event shmoozing with the
fundraisers and getting in the way. I still don’t know how it is
legal to treat employees this way!
38 Comments to No Breaks
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‘ I still don’t know how it is legal to treat employees this way!’
It’s not.
You and your coworkers are idiots for letting yourself be treated like that. Any intelligent person would have put the brakes on, and frankly that’s a situation that deserves a mutiny.
It isn’t legal to treat employees that way.
One quick call could fix this situation. Did you know you’re entitled to OT too? And it’s completly illigal to force you to work with less then 8 hour break between shifts.
I call BS on this story. No one is this dumb!
Totally agree with Post #2 (Deborah) You’re not a 5 year old kid, you need to speak up
It’s NOT legal! You ALL should have stopped working and demanded breaks and food, at least! And sleeping in a bed with your boss? Are you nuts???
You and your coworkers only got what you all deserved. You should have left your boss high and dry and dared him to fire you for it.
I read the comments more than I do the actual posts. What a bunch of experts on everything there are in here. Half of you don’t even work, the other half wouldn’t have the balls to follow their own advice. It is easy to say ‘stop and demand’ when you aren’t in her shoes. Do us a favor on these boards and STFU!
Young lady, if you still work there, you did the right thing.
It is not legal in any way. Two words: Labour Board.
You should be beaten for being so stupid. What kind of a moron submits to such treatment. You and your entire office deserve everything that happened to you… idiot.
I would have walked. I go too long without eating at least a Power Bar or something and I get headaches.
Ditto what Deborah said, there should have been a mutiny, and on some level ALL of you should be ashamed for allowing yourself to be treated like that.
This is totally illegal and nobody would be dumb enough to work with no break. This would also mean you were not allowed to use the restrooms. Fake story nobody would do this.
Yeah, I have to agree either BS or Stupid because it’s not legal and it’s stupid to fall for that.
Contrary to what people say about scheduled breaks, it is not illegal for an employer to give you lunch/dinner or any kind of break except for like 5 states.I work 8 to 11 hour days and in my state the law says they dont have to unless you are a minor. the companies policies also decide on breaks and a lot of companies allow their employees break time. unfortunately some dont like mine.
OK, some of the commentors are clearly just trolls, and I’m not going to feed them…Anyway, I can understand that maybe you were just afraid to rock the boat, but you do need to stand up for yourself in the future. I guess no one in your group was diabetic, because they would have surely gone into a coma from low blood sugar. I don’t have any particular health issues, but no boss would want to make me go more than 6 or 7 hours without food…I start to get really mean after that.
@Jim Bear: WTF!? How the he’ll do you know if these people are right if you read the comments and not the post? I agree with you on some level that people can be self righteous ass hats thinking that they know everything. But if you actually read this post, you’d know that the poeple that told her that what happened wasn’t legal were absolutely right. OSHA has very specific rules for what an employer can and cannot require of their employees. These laws are federally mandated, so it doesn’t matter what state she was in. And non-profits are not exempt.
That is not legal at all. If the company your with does not fix a lot of problems its going to have a huge lawsuit going up its ass.
It is not legal to treat people like that. You are entitled to a break if you are working for an 8 hour or longer shift.
I call BS. If you and your coworkers actually worked in those conditions, more than a few people would have fainted or collapsed from exhaustion.
Bullllllshit. You guys are fucking idiots if you worked that event under those conditions. Sounds like an extreme exaggeration
Wow! You’re really easy to take advantage of. Um, if you don’t speak up for yourself, nobody else is going to do it for you (generally).
I’m really amazed at how much punishment people here actually put up with. Damn, speak up!! Demand FOOD!!
Yes, jobs are hard to come by these days. But is ANY job worth your health? Will you let somebody crap on you, day after day? My God! Have some self respect!! Just amazing….
One thing people like you don’t realize, is you’ll probably get better treatment if you DO stand up for yourself. They’re walking all over you, because they can. Show them they can’t, and you’ll generally get treated better. Worked for me almost every single time.
This story may be true, but a little exaggerated. However, BEAR is an idiot and is completely wrong for saying we don’t work. I was in the military and would have went AWOL for that shit!
@Jim Bear, you’re a moron.
I’ve more than once “straightened my bosses out” when they’ve stepped over the line with me, yet I still have my job. How? I guess when they hear somebody unashamedly tell them the facts of the matter, they realize what asses they’ve been.
You think I wouldn’t have *done* something if I’d have been in her shoes? I’d love for you to be the boss who treated me like that… there wouldn’t have been any talking, there would have been YELLING, and maybe an ass whooping. At MINIMUM, somebody would have been told something in a tone of voice that would have let them know what they were doing wasn’t right, and I’d have left, with an attempt to convince as many others to leave with me as possible.
Not everybody is as much a candy ass as you appear to be.
There is no way in hell that this is true. You mean to tell me that you worked 3 days with 9 hours of sleep and no food? Yeah right. And @Michelle, depending on how long “too long” is in your book, that is a sign of diabetes or some other health problem. Please see a doctor.
@Jim Bear
“You did the right thing”
So, you’re saying that being used illegally is the right thing?
Oh, and by the way. I have a job, and HAVE told employers to shove it (the last one being, literally, “Take this job and shove it”)
#1 Call DOL (Department of Labor).
#2 Call a lawyer.
This sounds awfully like Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. They have made a regular business of cheating and abusing their workers, many of them college students. And when their workers complain about conditions, they are often told that they are not “passionate enough”. Better Business Bureau should be notified.
Good grief, if you’re not intelligent enough to realize how badly you were treated, then you deserve what you get.
Wow. You’re really willing to put up with a lot of crap. I’m betting you’re not very intelligent. Are you married? I live in CA. Want to meet?
(just kidding folks… don’t wet your little panties)
Lots of people on here are idiots. I live in Michigan, and there are NO laws regarding breaks except for minors. They do not have to provide you with food or breaks at all. There are also no laws here about the amount of time between shifts. I used to regularly have to close at midnight and open at 6:30 am. I looked into the laws–it’s not illegal at all.
HOWEVER, having to sleep in a bed with your employer… there’s no getting around that. It could VERY easily be construed as sexual harassment.
Either way, I would’ve probably organized a mutiny; he can’t fire everybody and do it himself, now can he? It’s easier to say outside of the situation, though.
I work for a non-profit too. Personally, I’ve never been worked that hard, but trust me, during a special event (like the one listed by the OP) I easily work 18 hours or more a day for days on end. And I don’t get paid overtime because I am salary. However, I *am* fed (at their expense) and I get my own private hotel room. And while I don’t get paid any extra, I get comp time after the event (usually it’s not 1:1 with hours, but I get time off).
OP, if I were you, I’d leave that job. I am not sure about the laws in your state, but it might be something to report as well. There are plenty of non-profits. You might work just as long on a fundraiser weekend, but you will still be treated fairly.
One other thing, OSHA is health and safety (Occupational Health and Safety Administration)… they have nothing to do with overtime laws, etc. The mandate things like safety standards (such as how much exposure you can have to a certain chemical or safety gear required for a job). They police and fine companies when there are safety violations (like equipment accidents, etc). They don’t have rules about hours worked, meals, etc. That’s a state labor board or equivalent. Just a little clarification.
Laura, even in Michigan, under federal law the OP would have to be paid overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week unless she was a salaried employee. And she clearly would have exceeded 40 hours during this one event. However, the employee’s best recourse is to find a better job.
I didn’t check on overtime (because salaried employees don’t get that) and this website was pretty clear and easily understood: http://employeeissues.com/breaks_meals.htm
Basically, it says it’s not required in many states, for employees to receive breaks. However, very few employers are that heartless and cruel. I believe this story is plausible, if exaggerated.
I love how the assumption is that the OP lives in the US. Chances are they do, but there’s always the chance that they may be Canadian or from any other country.
Up here in the Great White North, those labour conditions are illegal. I don’t know about sharing a motel room, but everything else is wrong. A 30 min unpaid lunch break is required for shifts of 8 hours or more; a lot of companies will give it for a 6h shift or more (time not including break). Also, I believe, there must be 11 hours between shifts. Finally, OT would be required for that amount of time spent working.
And perhaps others were sneaking snacks? I don’t know, but I don’t believe that nobody would have fainted due to exhaustion/starvation.
ok, here’s my 2 cents – I used to manage, with 2 assistants under me and then my staff. Some of my staff were not the brightest crayons in the box (I inherited most of them from our previous manager) Our handbook clearly outlines our policies on breaks, mileage, etc and all the employees signed an acknowledgement form stating they understood these policies. We used to schedule meetings offsite so that customers weren’t constantly coming by and asking if we were open. After about our 3rd meeting offsite I realized no one was filing expense reports for their mileage to and from the meetings, I asked my assistants and they told me that the employees were unhappy about these meetings because they weren’t getting paid mileage, and they weren’t filing expense reports because I hadn’t specifically told them they could. (handbook CLEARLY states that they are to be paid mileage)
Anyway, the point of this story is to point out that just because your boss doesn’t specifically say you can go on break, be a grownup and go find yourself some food, doesn’t mean that you can’t. Use some common sense for pete’s sake. You’re boss is not a kindergarten teacher.
What a bunch of crap.
I agree with hrundle. I manage a nonprofit, and when there are events and fundraising campaigns going on, I easily work 12-15 hour days without any overtime.
While I don’t think your employer did anything illegal, there are ethical issues here. Instead of acting like a child and storming out or leaving the organization high and dry in the middle of the event, use this as an example for when the next event comes along. Tell management how inappropriate it was and tell them in a professional manner that you will not expect to work like that again without breaks and time for food.
If this event was run by staff, that nonprofit has some serious organizational issues going on. However, if there were volunteers involved or in charge, sometimes you just have to take your lumps for the free labor.
But, use this as an example to speak up BEFORE the next event to prevent this from happening again in the future.