I work retail in a coffee shop 15-36 hours a week. I understand that there is no law requiring that employees take breaks, however our boss allows us one break if we work more than 5 hours at a time. My first issue is that he forces us clock out for our break, which is only 20 minutes. Is he allowed to do this? I thought I heard you must be paid if your break is 20 minutes or under?

My other issues concern health and safety. Is my employer required by law to provide the necessary supplies for sanitation? They hardly ever restock paper towels and toilet paper, so we're forced to either use whatever napkins we have or wipe our hands on our clothes. Often times the employees have to make trips out to convienience stores to restock things themselves (which is paid with the company's money, fortunately) since the managers almost never bother with anything. The cabinets behind the counter are either completely broken or coming off their hinges, and there's mold growing around the sink where we wash our hands, attracting bugs. Pretty much all of the employees are praying that the health inspector comes and saves this place before it gets worse. I also didn't notice any labor posters in the backroom, which I thought were required to be posted.

Should I notify anyone of this or is this actually legal business practice? :eek:

What the law actually says is that short breaks of between five minutes to ABOUT 20 minutes need to be paid. It's a toss up whether a break lasting exactly twenty minutes needs to be a paid break.

It's POSSIBLE that there might be an OSHA issue regarding the condition of the restrooms but that is far too situation specific to answer on a message board.

Labor law posters are very definitely required by Federal and state law.

You can inquire about the break issue and the labor law posters with the DOL. The restroom issue, if any, would fall under OSHA.

Thanks for the info. I know in Washington state bathrooms not open to the public are not required to be maintained. This one isn't public, so there may not be any requirements.

I did find our poster, it was rolled up and tossed behind our refigerator. :rolleyes: I stapled it up on our bulletin board.

I'll be sure to take up any other issues with the DOL. Thanks again.