Layoffs, Labor laws and worker abuses

I'll preface this post by saying my opinion is prejudiced about this subject, in the last year I have had a few jobs, all terminating in what in my opinion was just not how an employer should treat an employee. Some were flagrant violations of my states labor laws and as such, I am dealing with those via the legal channels.

So, with the large number of layoffs and impending layoffs does it strike anyone else that perhaps employers who may not have acted in less than savory ways, may take advantage of the situation to begin acting this way?

To further my thoughts with somewhat of an explanation of what I am referring to, perhaps an employer who has always allowed their employees break periods now changes that policy. Not that it is a violation of any labor laws.

Or perhaps, an employer begins "making" employees work beyond what the labor laws for their particular state say is a minimum period before they are entitled to a lunch or dinner period.

As someone who has always had what I would define as "good" employers, it seems I am hearing more stories of people being "abused" by their employers. Does anyone else think this is perhaps due to the dire straights many people are in and employers taking advantage of the situation? Even going as far as discriminating in situations they previously would not have been able to?

Is this a situation we should expect in the near future, not only due to so many people being unemployed. But also due to states cutting their own employees and making it a long process for an employee to pursue the situation via their states legal channels?

Personally I think many unscrupulous employers will begin to exploit this situation, and there will be little recourse for the average employee to follow.
Discuss

TheWelder

I was laid off in late January and have been called in to interview for a job by the same company. The job requires relocation and I when I was asked point blank what I needed for a wage, I stated a number that was roughly twice what I was making before and they found it an acceptable and reasonable wage. However, I will not know anything until maybe July. Figure that one out...

Simple answer is that the savings from the 50-60 laid off, my request is easy to pay. They are still way more money ahead.

This is a threead im happy was posted, because i DEF relate to it. I work in retial management, for a CVS pharmacy. Been with the company now, for 14 years. The manager i have now, ive worked with for the past 7 1/2 years. When he first got to my store, i asked for a transfer, we had problems before he got thier, and i needed a new place to level out. HE told me, to give it 3 months, and if it didnt work out, i could go. A month went by, and i wanted to trasnfer, he immediatly looked scary and evil at me, started yellnig at the top of his lungs, how im not going anywhere, if i dont like it, thiers the door. He and his assistant on MANY occassions, used to back me into corners of the store, and yell, look at me all sick and evil, make fun of me. The istrict manager att he time, didnt want to hear my complaints. Thats how it works, unfortunatly in CVS...you go to human resources, the DM finds out, then if he likes you or not, uses that as a tool to get rid of you. So, i dealt with it, until it stopped. I am still their, same manager, but he's leveled out...as he told me he saw what it was doing to me. He caused me so much emotional and mental stress, yuo have no idea, how manytimes i literally was thinking deep at heart, bringing a gun with me to work, i never had murder on my mind, until i met him....
So, he hired illegal workers, cut my hours. Ive seen his favorite employees threaten eachother, and in one case, a tough woman fromt he bronx like 5 or 6 yearrs ago, cornered a muslim girl, pushed her onto the floor, held her down with her foot, on her neck and chest, and said it would be stupid for her to get up, dont even try it. She came to me to complain, but if i said anyting to anyone, then i DEF would have been pushed out the door. SO, she got a transfer.
Ive written emails time to time, to my board of labor, but they dont seem too interested at all, only moreso if it was sexuall harrasment. In my case, ive had last year, a muslim pharmacist, try to expose himself to me....told the assistant, and of course, in one ear, out the other. The more yuo complain, the more work they dump on you.

The politics of CVS, is its who you know, not what you can do...
Ive gone to my human resources manager last year, just to talk, and of course, the DM finds out..because it makes him look bad. CVS is a business, of politics and money. Any complaints, makes the DM loko bad, get it? SO! many times, i jsut simply direct customers to competitors in the short run, time to time, it does reflect on thier profits

wow Ziggy , sounds like you work in a Monty Python movie, chin up m8

Now, to be honest, i could easily go to state, board of labor..its supposed to be confidential, but dosnt work like that. Technically, by law, a manager has the right to hear a recorded comlaint..manager recognizes your voice, your dead meat. They say retaliation is illegal, but he state of CT donst really seem so concerned about maters like that. So, you gotta be strong, and ready to mentally deal with it.
a manager i worked wtih 2 years ago, cool guy, was at a meeting, and the big wiggs, were passing around a paper with names on it...and whispering. HIS name was on the sheet, those they wanted ousted. He was given an option...either quit now, or take a demotion. They were havin him work form 7 am to 430 am..then coming back at 6 am 2 hours later. He threatened to have a lawyer, agasint CVS, but the DM said to him..you wanan go up against corporate CVS lawyers? What he's doing now, i have no idea.
This is mainly what ive learned about corporate america, and why im totlay agaisnt it.... BAD management.

reply to post by ziggy1706


ziggy1706,
This is the exact type of situation I was referring to. I think we will be hearing more stories like this, and given our current economic times I think more people will just be dealing with it as best they can.

On a positive note, it is good to vent. Glad you had a go at venting.

TheWelder

Thanks welder I didnt mean to ventilate, though typing it felt REAL good, my goal, was to give an insight of what goes on at my job...iv eowrked with fair maangers in the past..not all are bad, the bad ones are the team players..those taht listen to the curretn DM, in order to keep thier job. It could be anyone, i mean for me, why should i give up my position caue you dont like me? Im a stubborn person, thats all, mainly why i stayed I stole so much from the, for what they did to me. Lets jsut say, i have enough quality gillette shaving razors too probably last me a good 4 ro 5 years Not my intention, but hey, if others can bring alcohol into work, bring thier g/f's in, and i bust my butt, and get nothing in return, i feel left out, so i saw opportunity..compensation for the pain; )

I can relate to this.

I was working for a small company not a huge corporation, but I was being treated very unfairly.

We did jobs all across the country. We would ship the items we needed fly in and do what we had to do.

It was cool for a little while, then it was we have this really big job and you need to drive to this place. I didn't have a problem with it at first, but then it got to the point where it was driving half way across the country. The reason for this was to save money. I could understand that it is a business and the point is to make a profit. Well it happened a few other times and it finally clicked that I'm driving half way across the country and 3 other people were going to fly in to meet me there.


I was like well if we are saving money how much money are you saving by having me drive by myself and flying everyone else in. So after my first year I asked for a vacation.

They looked at me like I was crazy, I asked for a week and they gave me one day off.

The money was decent, but then I found out one guy that had worked there for a long time was getting paid a significant amount under what he could be making doing the same thing for another company, the amount was to the tune of like 30 grand under what he could be making else where.

Then it was the tipping point, I was asked to drive to a place with the stuff and about mid way through the job one of the bosses looked at me and said, "I'm glad you drove up here, because I wouldn't have done it."

Needless to say that was about it for me, They got me towing a 6x12 trailer with about 100 grand worth of equipment through narrow streets in bad areas of the city I was in.

I won't mention how I dealt with the situation because it was way less than professional.

I was exposed to dioxin by one company. (i am now disabled by a strange auto immune disease and the taxpayers are paying for it)
I have been fired for things i did not do by others.
i have been fired for mistakes made by my supervisors who then CYA by blaming me and firing me.

What help did i get from the state labor department, zilch, Nada, nothing,

In my state the labor board is payed off by companies to do nothing.
They only go after small businesses that can not pay them off.

That Calif for you

Originally posted by ANNED
...

What help did i get from the state labor department, zilch, Nada, nothing,

In my state the labor board is payed off by companies to do nothing.
They only go after small businesses that can not pay them off.

That Calif for you

ANNED,
I have heard the exact same thing from other people. That is what got me thinking about this subject, with more and more people straining the system as it is, people will have even less of an opportunity to rectify the situation with unscrupulous employers.

TheWelder

there will be little recourse for the average employee to follow

Unless someone is chained to a desk, factory floor, or cash register, they could just quit.

Originally posted by stevegmu

there will be little recourse for the average employee to follow

Unless someone is chained to a desk, factory floor, or cash register, they could just quit.

What I was getting at is after the fact. Lets say you did quit, in my state you will have to go to a hearing if the employer disputes the reason, before you can get any state assistance. So if the reason was because your employer breaks state labor laws, and you quit, you will be hard pressed to receive the unemployment benefits you are entitled to while securing employment.

That was my original point, knowing that this is the situation how many employers who perhaps would not exhibit that kind of behavior in the past, now knowing that the employee has even less recourse, will commit acts that normally cause the employees to quit.

I do not know the situation where you are but in my area we have thousands of people showing up to apply for 150 minimum wage jobs at a local retailer. I just applied for a job in a skilled occupation, one that I am very well suited for, the individual I applied with has received more than 1300 resumes for that 1 job. No, I do not live in a major city.

TheWelder

ps. thats exactly what I did...I quit.

I guess it is possible for employers to take advantage of the situation, thinking employees would be scared to quit. I can't imagine a business who operates like that would stay in business for long, however.

Where I live is a little different than the rest of the country. We actually have a shortage of educated/skilled workers.

Originally posted by stevegmu
...I can't imagine a business who operates like that would stay in business for long, however....

My previous thinking was exactly that. The employer I left from, who has been in business for over 20 yrs, has in the last 5 years gone thru no less than 284 employees( number was derived by comparing clock numbers with another employee) Mine was not an unusual incident from what I've been told speaking with other employees.

TheWelder

*edit for spelling*

[edit on 19-2-2009 by TheWelder]

reply to post by ziggy1706


CVS bought out the company I work for [Longs Drugs] and we are currently in transition...now after reading this I am scared lol, I got out of walgreens because of stuff like that...I call it emotional abuse from management...at Longs managers are nice...sure they yell from time to time and cut hours but I've never had a manager yell at me at the top of their lungs or throw things like at walgreens

LUCKY! lol..oh well, everyones treated differnet. In my case, for example, yesterday at work, i had an anxiety attack. For over 7 years now, ive beenable to mask or hide it..and yesterday others aw, and told eachother. Only reason im thier, is cause im making descent money, under the ecenomic situation..Sittin in the office with 2 other managers, my face truned red, had bad shakes, sweating, feeling like hte walls are closing in on ya...and iw ould never have acted or been this way, if it wa becuase of the managers and employees in the store i work in. How embarrassing..

Its becuase of people like that, i have seen what humans, who dont even know eachother, are cappable of doing to eachother..sad, pathetically sad.