One Freedom Fighter Down

Yesterday marks a sad day that the Restaurant. One of the managers was "Laid Off", supposedly for financial purposes...but honestly, I think it was because she was the only one of the managers that would speak out for the workers. She repeatedly would come to us to let us know how she would speak to the owner about how she was unhappy and didn't feel like she was able to make the changes she was hired to make. The owner would respond that she just had to deal with it, that changes couldn't really happen, especially not that fast.

Anyway, she was the one that helped get me moving to administer the surveys. She has been the "behind the scenes" manager that sheds a little light on how things work there. She has a beautiful soul and is a constant source of love and light whenever we work. Everyone is really sad and upset about her being fired.

The only good thing about it is that I have a feeling the "Shadyness" of her release will inspire our co-workers to take a more active roll in making change. It's perfect timing for the surveys, I hope.

That being said, so far we have 14 surveys in. I want to double check to make sure all the functions in the Excel are correct, as I have a slight feeling something may be off. That will be a project soon.

Also! I have decided that Dreem Reality will also take on the hours and overtime project I have been working on. Basically, I keep track of my hours and tips every shift. Then when I get my paycheck I enter my hours into an Excel I've created that calculates how much I SHOULD be getting vs. how much I am. Things look pretty accurate so far except for maybe some screwyness with Overtime pay.

I found out that the workdays have been set from 4am to 4pm, then 4pm to 4am. This means that in any given day there are two work days...which means that its MUCH more difficult to be paid for overtime, even if you have been working from 12pm to 11pm. This doesn't effect me quite as much because my work days are usually only about 5 hours, but there are a LOT of employees that have that type of schedule. They should be able to keep track of their hours, but most IMPORTANTLY become aware that the workday split is there. Even though it is legal, it seems unfair to the workers and honestly makes workers feel like they aren't cared for.

Here are some Q&A about holiday pay and overtime:

Q.Last week I worked eight hours on the 4^th of July holiday, which fell on Wednesday. For the whole week I worked 40 hours. When I got my paycheck this week I was paid for 40 hours at my straight time rate. Aren’t I entitled to extra pay, of at least double time, for working on a holiday?

A.There is nothing in state law that mandates an employer pay an employee a special premium for work performed on holidays, Saturdays, or Sundays, other than the overtime premium required for work in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek. Unless your employer has a policy or practice of paying a premium rate for working on a holiday, or you are subject to a collective bargaining or employment agreement that contains such a term, your employer is only required to pay you your regular rate of pay for all the straight time hours worked on the holiday, and the overtime premium required for work in excess of eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek. Since you did not work over eight hours on the holiday, or more than 40 hours during the workweek, you were paid correctly.


Definitions of Work days and Work weeks:

workday

Any consecutive 24-hour period beginning at the same time each calendar day. The workday may begin at any time of day. The beginning of an employee's workday need not coincide with the beginning of that employee's shift, and an employer may establish different workdays for different employees. Once a workday is established, it may not be changed unless the change is intended to be permanent and is not designed to evade the employer's overtime obligation.

workweek

Any seven consecutive days, starting with the same calendar day each week beginning at any hour on any day, so long as it is fixed and regularly occurring. "Workweek" is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour periods. An employer may establish different workweeks for different employees, but once an employee's workweek is established, it remains fixed regardless of his or her working schedule. An employee's workweek may be changed only if the change is intended to be permanent and is not designed to evade the employer's overtime obligation.

That's all for now.

~Dani