lunch break question

[chasmaster]

What if the employer automatically takes the break out of pay but does not give the break? My mother works for a man who takes an hour for lunch out of employees' pay but does not give the actual break itself. In addition, he requires them to 'clock out' when it's not busy, but remain at work. I cannot believe this is legal..please say it is not.

[Betty3]

chasmaster, you should have started a new thread with your question. You
added your question to another poster's old thread. I'll start a new thread
for you.

We'll assume you're in Al. since the other poster was in Al. & you posted
in the Al. labor law forum unless you tell us different.

[lolcat]

Your mother must be paid at least minimum wage for her time worked, plus overtime for time past 40 hrs in a work week. A workweek is a fixed, 168-hour time period that does not vary. For exanple, it could be Sunday 12:01 am to Saturday midnight, but it can be any fixed 168-hour period.

She needs to find out what the workweek is for her employer and then she should add up all time worked for the week and divide it by the gross amount she is paid, and if this does not equal at least minimum wage (and applicable OT) she can file a claim with the DOL.

http://www.dol.gov/wecanhelp/howtofilecomplaint.htm

Your mother's employer sounds like a bad employer. She would be better off looking for another job, and filing the wage claim on the way out the door.