Complaint Review: Friendly's Restaurant

Federal law contains NO requirements for breaks for adults. Minors are not permitted to work more than 5 consecutive hours without a 30 minute break period but, as for adults, you can be worked as long as your employer desires and you have NO right (under federal law) to ANY break period.

Tennessee state law may provide for mandatory break periods for adults, but I highly doubt it.

If you want to work as a grown-up in the wonderful world of food service, don't expect breaks. They are a luxury, not a requirement. Beyond that, they cut into your income anyways, so just sneak in a smoke, a sandwich, and maybe a few hits off a nice "J" in the employee bathroom and get your butt back out on the floor.

Or go to school and get a better gig.

Some states do allow exemptions to the law regarding breaks. Several years ago I worked graveyard shift at a gas station in California. Since we worked by ourselves, it was impossible to for us to take our half hour meal breaks and keep the store open at the same time. We were granted the ability to take twenty minute paid lunch breaks and our two ten minute rest breaks.

To the contrary of a rebuttal; yes it is in fact the law that you are granted 15 minute breaks and one 30 minute break. These are federal laws, which are adequate when state or local laws are not defined. Almost every state in the great united states, has laws pertaining to 15 minute breaks and/or lunch breaks. How exactly is it the waitresses responsibility to wait on people during her law mandated break. It is the employers responsibility to schedule enough staff to allow for breaks. This is grossly misconstrued by restaurants.

They seem to believe that employees are not entitled to breaks period. They also seem to have a problem with most states labor laws concerning the minimum number of hours you must be scheduled in one day. This is due to almost all restaurants being under the control of large corporations. Corporations do not see employees as people, nor do their board of directors or share holders, all they see is money signs and ways to maximize profits.

Where does this leave the waitress, who i might add isnt even making a minimum wage. Having worked in numerous restaurants as a chef for over 10 years, Ive seen this little scenario play out many, many times. Im still stewing over the response from whoever. Restaurant work is probably one of the toughest jobs, physically and mentally. Its a high stress environment, especially dealing with idiots all day long. Yes the general public are idiots. Self centered, rude, and no sense of common decency or, for that matter, common sense. To be denied a break to cool off, gather yourself and center, is ridiculous and is totally what this country does not stand for.

You google local and state labor laws for your area. Please note the flow charts and the parts where it states that no business is exempt. God, just reading that ridiculous spiel that you obviously regurgitated from your director about 'the customer' having to wait 15 minutes for the waitress. If you aren't skilled enough at micro managing to handle designated breaks for your employees perhaps you should try another line of work.....

1- You complain about not getting breaks as requested on a Saturday - statistically the busiest day in the restaurant industry. Aside from a 30 minute lunch period, additional breaks neither have to be given by law nor do most places give them unless the business situation allows. Obviously, you will not get breaks on a Saturday when the restaurant is packed full and everyone is working extra hard to serve customers. What are your customers supposed to do while you disappear for 15-20 minutes ... just sit around and wait for you to come back and continue serving them? You don't mention that you had trouble getting breaks on any other days, just Saturdays. I don't think they were being unfair to you.

2- It is your responsibility to keep up with your schedule and to check it often. Restaurant schedules can and do change frequently based on the needs of the business. Your excuse that you were "out of it that day" is not a valid reason for failing to check the schedule and show up for your shifts, nor being "out at the store" when the manager called to find out where you were. They were justified in firing you due to the inconvenience they faced when you never showed up as scheduled.

3- Just because "they did not have you watch the training videos," is that reason for not speaking up and informing your manager that you did not feel prepared enough to work in a restaurant? You do not mention that you ever requested to watch the full line of training videos but were denied.