My son worked for a terrible boss as a teen, in 2001 through 2003. He would make them combine their breaks with their lunches. So they had to punch out for their break and be off the clock for 45 minutes to an hour. Is this legal? Sometimes he would be there double shift with only this one "break".

He gave his 2 week notice when it became increasing difficult to work with this man. He was taken off the schedule and not allowed to work the remaining 2 weeks.
Recently, he found out that manager is working in a different office, so he re-applied to work there. That's when he found out he was considered to be un-rehireable. He requested his file and it took over a month to "find it".

The company claims that he walked out without notice, even though the assistant manager knew he gave notice that day. My son even saw the manager holding his resignation letter and reading it.

Not only is his letter of resignation missing, but there are several write-ups that equal about $200 missing from his till in a 4 month time period. None of these write-ups are signed and a few have illegible initials. Are these legal documents even though he was never told about them?

Of course, he no longer wants to get his job back. He just wanted to get his name cleared and they refuse. Now, he wants to bring the break issue to their attention. We believe he should be compensated for the breaks he had to punch out for. Do we have a case?

EXACTLY how old was he? The law is not necessarily the same for a 17 year old as for a 14 year old. And it's NOT the same once he turns 18.

When he started working for the company, he was 17 and going to high school. They had him working over 20 hours and past 10pm on several occassions, on school days. He's 22 now.

Okay, that helps. It's gonna take me some time to find the info; please be patient. I do have it, but not where I am now. It might be tonight or tomorrow before I can lay my hands on it, but I won't forget. Please be patient. :)

You are awesome! Thank you so much. :D

Regardless, the statute of limitations for him filing a claim with the state Dept. of Labor has likely long passed. I don't know of any state that has an SOL of longer than 4 years, most are much less.

Foever
Links : http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/files/policies/esc6.pdf

http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/TeenWorkers/HiringMinors/NormalProcess/default.asp

http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/TeenWorkers/Hours/default.asp

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=296-125

The only problem I see with Joe's links (and I do thank Joe for posting them) is that at least one of them was updated only last year and therefore may not reflect the law that was in effect at the time.

I still have the laws about breaks for minors from the time period you refer to, as well as some general information on child labor laws, in storage. As I thought, it's probably going to be tomorrow before I can locate them. But in the meantime, Joe's links should provide you with contact information for the WA DOL. They may be able to provide you with the info faster than I can find it. They will also be able to tell you whether or not it is too late to file a claim.

P.S. as was just discussed at great length on another thread, there are no laws regulating an employee's rehire status. It is entirely the opt of the employer whether to mark someone as eligible for rehire or not. It should not be an insurmountable problem in the long run. Few if any employers will use an applicant's rehire status as a deciding factor.

IF it should happen that the employer were to tell a prospective employer that your son stole $200 and as a result your son was not hired, he might, at that time, be able to take legal action. The specifics, however, would have to be discussed with a local attorney after the fact.

Sorry for the delay; I found the information but my computer is currently out of commission and my husband's server crashed so I had no internet access all day yesterday or most of today.

At the time you refer to, a 17 year old would have been entitled to a 30 minute break every four hours and a ten minute break every two hours. However, as Patty pointed out, it's quite possible that four years after the fact, it may be too late to file any claim.

There is no law requiring that an employee be told about any documents put into his file, nor any law requiring that they be signed.