General Discussion

TexasTowelie

(111,934 posts) Thu Jun 5, 2014, 02:23 PM Jun 2014

The Hightower Report: Fast-Food Chains Stealing From Low-Wage Workers

No matter how small the haul is, a thief is a thief, right? If a poverty-wage fast-food worker sneaks out a couple of burgers to take home to the kids, the bosses yell: "Thief!"

But what do you call it when the bosses steal from those same workers? How about outrageous, disgusting – or simply unbelievable? Well, believe it or not, it's happening every day in multiple ways, and not by a few bad apples, but in what has become routine corporate practice by McDonald's, Burger King, Domino's, and other hugely profitable giants.

Technically it's called wage theft, and it involves such slick-fingered moves as erasing hours from employee time cards, requiring off-the-clock work, not paying for overtime hours, refusing to reimburse workers for gas they bought while making deliveries, or inventing uniform fees and other deductions that illegally drop pay below the minimum wage. Come on – isn't it shameful enough that these global behemoths pay rock-bottom wages, without them circling back like low-life pickpockets to steal from their own employees? This is not just corporate thievery, it's thuggery.

How low can fast-food greed go? So low that the top bosses at headquarters play a sleazy game of hide & seek, pretending that they have nothing to do with this rip-off. Personnel practices, they airily claim, are left to local franchisees, who are "independent business owners." Bovine excrement! Corporate central dictates how much mustard each franchise can put on a bun, so to think that it doesn't monitor every dime in payroll is a ludicrous lie.

More at http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2014-06-06/the-hightower-report-fast-food-chains-stealing-from-low-wage-workers/ .

5 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

The Hightower Report: Fast-Food Chains Stealing From Low-Wage Workers (Original Post) TexasTowelie Jun 2014 OP

My son experienced this for several years. randys1 Jun 2014 #1

I am constantly shocked at how many people SheilaT Jun 2014 #2

One of the issues working off the clock is if you get injured... TexasTowelie Jun 2014 #3

You are correct. I work for a very large private company. Lochloosa Jun 2014 #4

Some companies and some managers are very good about not SheilaT Jun 2014 #5

randys1

(16,286 posts)

1. My son experienced this for several years.

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Thu Jun 5, 2014, 02:44 PM

Jun 2014

I wish the average American cared about the working people and the poor, they dont.

I was in a business meeting yesterday with a registered Dem, moderate, who complained that poor people are stealing from him.

S I G H

S I G H

I give up

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)

2. I am constantly shocked at how many people

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Thu Jun 5, 2014, 02:53 PM

Jun 2014

work off the clock in their jobs. And not necessarily low wage jobs where the employer is doing it to them.

I was recently telling a friend of mine that she's completely nuts to work off the clock in her current job, which is for a community college. She responded that the twenty hours a week they pay her for isn't enough to get the work done. I pointed out that so long as she works off the clock, they haven't a clue how much time is actually needed to do the job and she needs to let them know.

TexasTowelie

(111,934 posts)

3. One of the issues working off the clock is if you get injured...

Reply to SheilaT (Reply #2)

Thu Jun 5, 2014, 02:57 PM

Jun 2014

you aren't eligible to file a workers compensation claim and you are forced to seek relief under the liability portion of the employer's insurance policy. That spells trouble for both the employer and employee.

Lochloosa

(16,061 posts)

4. You are correct. I work for a very large private company.

Reply to TexasTowelie (Reply #3)

Thu Jun 5, 2014, 03:30 PM

Jun 2014

They are adamant about not working off the clock and one of the reasons is workman's comp. If it were to happen the manager would be looking for a new job.

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)

5. Some companies and some managers are very good about not

Reply to Lochloosa (Reply #4)

Thu Jun 5, 2014, 03:43 PM

Jun 2014

allowing someone to work off the clock.

My sons used to work for a movie theater chain, and one day we were going to see a movie at their work location. When we arrived, the manager asked my sons if they'd help him unload some supplies that had just arrived and when they said yes, had them clock in. They maybe worked ten or fifteen minutes each, and probably would have done so without being paid because the manager was a good guy, but he was totally scrupulous about seeing that they got paid.

Reply to this discussion