Archived There are weird things going on in the front of the store.

[Cel]

My state requires no breaks or lunches for anyone, (nor vacation days, pay for jury duty days, paid sick days, etc.) thanks to our republican/libertarian leadership. I won't say which state but you might be able to guess considering they make the news a lot recently for being backwards a-holes.

Anyway on the topic at hand, I always take my first break (or only break if <6 hours), and my lunch of course. I rarely if ever take my 2nd break unless working >9-10 hours. Just never have enough time to drop everything and do it, and still get the stuff I need to do done.

 

[Triscuit]

At our store, Food Ave and Starbucks have to skip their 15 min break every night since we don't have enough cross trained cashiers to cover. When this was brought up to the execs, it was told that they will talk to other stores to see how they do it, and of course there was no resolution.

At my store, if we don't have anyone to cover, they just shut down for 15 min.

Over at my store it happens a lot that no one is there to cover starbucks breaks and according to the leaders we were told that we cannot shut down starbucks for any period of time. So what they do is just make the LOD stand there and tell the guests that the starbucks employee will be back in 15 minutes. What is the point of that? They might as well just put a sign up that says "WILL BE BACK IN 15 MINUTES" or they can just take a day or two to train the leaders to make some drinks

 

[redeye58]

The last time they didn't have someone to cover my break, they sent over a cashier to give out free cups of coffee while I was on break. I had to make sure all 4 pots were brewed & had to show them how to operate an airpot (the kid wasn't a coffee drinker - had NO idea how to dispense coffee). By the time I'd set up all the brews & showed the cashier what to do, it was an additional 15 min plus my break that their cashier spent away from the lanes.

 

[Retail Girl]

We just shut SB down as needed. It's getting better now that we're just down to one FA person who doesn't know SB. The new girl at FA can now muddle through, and if the guest asks for a drink she can't make, they just get a coupon for a free drink next time.

 

[mrknownothing]

according to the leaders we were told that we cannot shut down starbucks for any period of time.

That's probably the Starbucks DM's rule. Though I would think they'd be more concerned about having untrained, non-certified TMs behind their counter than losing only 15 min worth of business.

 

[SlapHappy]

It isn't the Starbucks DM's rule. It's part of the licensing agreement between Target and SB. Each time SB opens late, closes early, shuts down for a break or has a non-certified TM working there alone there's a danger of receiving a Notice of Non Compliance.

If we're scheduled to work alone and there's no one in the store to give us a break, we don't get one. Once in a blue moon we'll turn off the lights for a few minutes but we do all we can to avoid that. It sucks. I hate working five and a half hours without a break but I do it on a very regular basis.

 

[zwater]

It isn't the Starbucks DM's rule. It's part of the licensing agreement between Target and SB. Each time SB opens late, closes early, shuts down for a break or has a non-certified TM working there alone there's a danger of receiving a Notice of Non Compliance.

If we're scheduled to work alone and there's no one in the store to give us a break, we don't get one. Once in a blue moon we'll turn off the lights for a few minutes but we do all we can to avoid that. It sucks. I hate working five and a half hours without a break but I do it on a very regular basis.

Isn't it the same thing if the store has a Pizza Hut contract, they can be issued a notice of non-compliance as well ?

 

[SlapHappy]

I don't know about the PH contracts but they probably have something similar in their agreement.

 

[The Dude Abides]

It isn't the Starbucks DM's rule. It's part of the licensing agreement between Target and SB. Each time SB opens late, closes early, shuts down for a break or has a non-certified TM working there alone there's a danger of receiving a Notice of Non Compliance.

If we're scheduled to work alone and there's no one in the store to give us a break, we don't get one. Once in a blue moon we'll turn off the lights for a few minutes but we do all we can to avoid that. It sucks. I hate working five and a half hours without a break but I do it on a very regular basis.

Isn't it the same thing if the store has a Pizza Hut contract, they can be issued a notice of non-compliance as well ?

As far as I know Pizza Hut does not have that same clause in their contract with Target which is why some stores have a Food Ave with Pizza Hut on reduced hours (11-7)

 

[zwater]

That would be interesting if there wasn't a clause in place prohibiting F.A from closing early/closing for breaks. But maybe they took a few dollars off the contract price and that took care of that! lol.

 

[Bosch]

It isn't the Starbucks DM's rule. It's part of the licensing agreement between Target and SB. Each time SB opens late, closes early, shuts down for a break or has a non-certified TM working there alone there's a danger of receiving a Notice of Non Compliance.

If we're scheduled to work alone and there's no one in the store to give us a break, we don't get one. Once in a blue moon we'll turn off the lights for a few minutes but we do all we can to avoid that. It sucks. I hate working five and a half hours without a break but I do it on a very regular basis.

Document and hot line.

 

[mrknownothing]

It isn't the Starbucks DM's rule. It's part of the licensing agreement between Target and SB. Each time SB opens late, closes early, shuts down for a break or has a non-certified TM working there alone there's a danger of receiving a Notice of Non Compliance.

If we're scheduled to work alone and there's no one in the store to give us a break, we don't get one. Once in a blue moon we'll turn off the lights for a few minutes but we do all we can to avoid that. It sucks. I hate working five and a half hours without a break but I do it on a very regular basis.

Document and hot line.

This. Target should be honoring its own requirement that you are given a break.

 

[SlapHappy]

Sure they should honor it but when I mentioned it to an ETL some years ago my issue was ignored and I was told I could be moved to another area. From what I've heard from TMs at other stores, that response isn't unusual and no one seems to care enough to do anything about it, including the hotline. Though apparently the hotline people often tell the head of HR at the store and it ends up back on the shoulders of the TM who reported it and it's downhill from there.

 

[redeye58]

Very true.
Usually when I'm closing I don't like to interrupt my closing breakdown by having to take a break.
Of course, my closing shifts are 5.5 hrs max.

 

[Bosch]

Sure they should honor it but when I mentioned it to an ETL some years ago my issue was ignored and I was told I could be moved to another area. From what I've heard from TMs at other stores, that response isn't unusual and no one seems to care enough to do anything about it, including the hotline. Though apparently the hotline people often tell the head of HR at the store and it ends up back on the shoulders of the TM who reported it and it's downhill from there.

Then if your state mandates breaks and lunches document and let the state know, they love to go through payroll records. At least in my of CA they did.

 

[The Dude Abides]

Unfortunately for many of us who live in "Right to Work" states something like that isn't an option.

 

[cwc4]

Sure they should honor it but when I mentioned it to an ETL some years ago my issue was ignored and I was told I could be moved to another area. From what I've heard from TMs at other stores, that response isn't unusual and no one seems to care enough to do anything about it, including the hotline. Though apparently the hotline people often tell the head of HR at the store and it ends up back on the shoulders of the TM who reported it and it's downhill from there.

I always tell my team they aren't paid enough to not get all their breaks. I would rather risk the store getting a non-compliance violation than have any of my team members not get a break. Closing down Starbucks is always a last option (and one I give havoc for), but here is what I figured: If the STL and other executives don't want the Starbucks falling into non-compliance, they would help support more cross-training....

As far as the hotline concerns go (Advice from one of my peers - 10yrs at Target): If you call the hotline, ask for the name of the person taking your call, tell him/her that you do not want your team member number or name shared with any individual in the store. No one in HR. No ETLs. If there is any repercussion that results from a breach of confidentiality, you will report the hotline team member to their supervisor. Still risky.

 

[ChangeRequest]

I'm really freakin' crabby tonight, so....

I am really sick of the gentleman's agreement that we seem to have that GSAs should skip their breaks when possible. Officially, they will tell us to never skip them, but the reality is, half the time they ask us not to take them at pretty much the only time we can, because it isn't convenient for whatever reason and if we try to go at a different time, another person needs their break. So we get left out in the cold.

I thought they didn't notice when we skipped them, but I've been thanked by the LOD for skipping them. So go figure.

This.

I too have grown tired and annoyed by the fact GSA's are expected to skip their breaks!!! And if you take them you are frowned upon by your ETL-GE and GSTL. I haven't had a break since I became GSA, and I'm told to hold my lunch until late. @Retail Girl I resonate with your concerns!

 

[BullseyeBabe]

Update! Since I started this thread things have improved as far as the cashier breaks. One of the GSTLs got fired and the ETL-GE was transferred. There is still one GSA who is passive aggressive with breaks but she is transferring too.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

I'm really freakin' crabby tonight, so....

I am really sick of the gentleman's agreement that we seem to have that GSAs should skip their breaks when possible. Officially, they will tell us to never skip them, but the reality is, half the time they ask us not to take them at pretty much the only time we can, because it isn't convenient for whatever reason and if we try to go at a different time, another person needs their break. So we get left out in the cold.

I thought they didn't notice when we skipped them, but I've been thanked by the LOD for skipping them. So go figure.

This.

I too have grown tired and annoyed by the fact GSA's are expected to skip their breaks!!! And if you take them you are frowned upon by your ETL-GE and GSTL. I haven't had a break since I became GSA, and I'm told to hold my lunch until late. @Retail Girl I resonate with your concerns!

It makes me mad that you get treated like that!

 

[redeye58]

During my 2 yrs as a GSA, I seldom took a break aside from lunch.
The few times I was able to take one was when we had mid coverage (which was rare).

 

[blugirlami21]

I find it very interesting that some of you don't take regular breaks. As a gsa I usually take a fifteen and a thirty always. One of our gstls will take a fifteen, a thirty, and a last fifteen which is overkill imo but he's the boss. There's really nothing that pressing as a gsa at my store that will be hindered by a fifteen minute break. We usually leave a walkie with a trusted cashier and go on our way.

We are also not afraid to shut down food ave if the team member needs a thirty. We have very strict compliance laws in our state and we get fined every time a team member doesn't take a meal or doesn't take one before six hours.

 

[commiecorvus]

Well you might find they will start being a little more careful about making sure you get your breaks soon, at least on the East Coast.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...irms__151M_wages_ruling_against_Wal-Mart.html

Workers at Walmart and Sam's Club stores in Pennsylvania who worked off the clock and when they were supposed to be on break, or who were forced to skip their breaks, will receive $151 million in unpaid wages and damages, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled Monday, upholding lower- and appellate-court decisions.

The case affects nearly 187,000 people employed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from March 1998 through April 2006.

"This demonstrates that [this] type of shortchanging of workers at a mammoth employer should not be tolerated and that the justice system should provide some form of relief for low-wage workers, particularly through class actions," said Michael D. Donovan of Donovan Axler L.L.C., in Philadelphia, the workers' lawyer.

"We disagree with the decision, and continue to believe that these claims should not be bundled together into a class-action lawsuit," Wal-Mart said in a statement Monday.

"In our view, this was not a case of 'trial by formula' or of a class action 'run amok,' " Justices Ronald D. Castille, J. Michael Eakin, Max Baer, and Debra McCloskey Todd said in the opinion, with Thomas G. Saylor dissenting.

Wal-Mart said it was considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2002, Donovan filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court on behalf of Michelle Braun, a former employee, and others alleging that the company forced employees to work through meal periods, during breaks, and while off the clock.

 

[semantics]

I'm really freakin' crabby tonight, so....

I am really sick of the gentleman's agreement that we seem to have that GSAs should skip their breaks when possible. Officially, they will tell us to never skip them, but the reality is, half the time they ask us not to take them at pretty much the only time we can, because it isn't convenient for whatever reason and if we try to go at a different time, another person needs their break. So we get left out in the cold.

I thought they didn't notice when we skipped them, but I've been thanked by the LOD for skipping them. So go figure.

Different attitude at my store, basically been told "Is 15 mins really going to get everything done? Go take your break", only ones with issues are cashiers sometimes it's hard for them to cover so they end up taking 15 near end of shift or something but never skip.

 

[oath2order]

Well you might find they will start being a little more careful about making sure you get your breaks soon, at least on the East Coast.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...irms__151M_wages_ruling_against_Wal-Mart.html

Yay for ME! 😀