Edit: Could a mod add Massachusetts to the thread title? I'm not sure how it didn't get included. I added it myself after posting, but the change isn't being reflected on the forum. Sorry for the error.
Hello, I have three questions I need assistance with. Some background: I work for a large international clothing retailer as a part-time, hourly employee in Massachusetts.
1) I had around 20 hours of vacation time accrued, so I took vacation time between the 15th-22nd of August. These vacation hours should have been paid out in the pay check I received on September 4th (I am paid bi-weekly) but the hours were missing from my pay check. I alerted my manager, who submitted a payroll correction, and I was told that these missing hours would now be put into my next pay check, today, 9/18. Upon looking at my pay stub today, these vacation hours are still missing from my check. I called my manager again, who said they would once again fax the payroll correction, and leave a message in the morning to confirm. My fear is that they will now delay paying out these hours another 2 weeks, which is a huge issue for me as I have bills due that I had to put off because my last check was too small to cover them. Now I'm looking at missing a car payment and being late on my credit card payments because they have yet to correct their error. My question is, do I have to wait another two weeks for them to fix this? Or can I insist these hours be paid out to me immediately? Do I have cause to contact the attorney general? This is time owed to me, and they are withholding money, putting me into significant financial strain.
2) Can an employer force you to clock out, but keep you on the work premises after you've clocked out?
3) I know in Massachusetts you must get a 30 minute meal break before 6 hours. During Christmas season my store does not schedule 30 minute meal breaks for people who are working six hours exactly. Since the season is very busy, we often end up working later than 6 hours to clean the store. When I alerted them to the illegality of this, they said as long as we stay past 6 hours voluntarily it's legal for them not to schedule a break. Except, they don't notify us when we've reached the six hour mark, so no one is volunteering to give up their meal break and stay, we're staying because we don't realize we've gone past the six hour mark. Unless ignorance of the time is considered volunteering, this seems highly suspect. What recourse do I have if I face this situation in the coming months?
Thank you!
Hello, I have three questions I need assistance with. Some background: I work for a large international clothing retailer as a part-time, hourly employee in Massachusetts.
1) I had around 20 hours of vacation time accrued, so I took vacation time between the 15th-22nd of August. These vacation hours should have been paid out in the pay check I received on September 4th (I am paid bi-weekly) but the hours were missing from my pay check. I alerted my manager, who submitted a payroll correction, and I was told that these missing hours would now be put into my next pay check, today, 9/18. Upon looking at my pay stub today, these vacation hours are still missing from my check. I called my manager again, who said they would once again fax the payroll correction, and leave a message in the morning to confirm. My fear is that they will now delay paying out these hours another 2 weeks, which is a huge issue for me as I have bills due that I had to put off because my last check was too small to cover them. Now I'm looking at missing a car payment and being late on my credit card payments because they have yet to correct their error. My question is, do I have to wait another two weeks for them to fix this? Or can I insist these hours be paid out to me immediately? Do I have cause to contact the attorney general? This is time owed to me, and they are withholding money, putting me into significant financial strain.
2) Can an employer force you to clock out, but keep you on the work premises after you've clocked out?
3) I know in Massachusetts you must get a 30 minute meal break before 6 hours. During Christmas season my store does not schedule 30 minute meal breaks for people who are working six hours exactly. Since the season is very busy, we often end up working later than 6 hours to clean the store. When I alerted them to the illegality of this, they said as long as we stay past 6 hours voluntarily it's legal for them not to schedule a break. Except, they don't notify us when we've reached the six hour mark, so no one is volunteering to give up their meal break and stay, we're staying because we don't realize we've gone past the six hour mark. Unless ignorance of the time is considered volunteering, this seems highly suspect. What recourse do I have if I face this situation in the coming months?
Thank you!
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