- Report: #1144950
Complaint Review: Family Dollar - Dowagiac Michigan
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Family Dollar
Dowagiac, 49047 Michigan, USA
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Family Dollar Asking for a break is like pulling teeth, even if you have a medical condition Dowagiac Michigan
I've been working at Family Dollar for a few months and I like it there, that is until I am not allowed a break or asking for one is like pulling teeth. I'm a cashier, so I am on my feet all day, running back and forth stocking shelves and having to run up to the register to ring up customers. I usually work 7 to 8 hour days, with maybe some 5 to 6 hour days in between. I always have to ask for a 15 minute break, and if I am granted one, it usually turns into a 5 minute break. If I am outside longer than 5 minutes, managment will get upset. On days that I should be getting a lunch, I have to ask for one, and if I am allowed to have lunch, I have to eat it while working the register, which I thought was against company policy. I am glad that I didn't take the assistant manager position, because they are not allowed any kind of breaks at all, not even a lunch. We run a skeleton crew for such a high volume store, so it's always just one manager and one cashier in the store at the same time. I have a medical condition where I have to take medication for my stomach, that medication can deplete my body of vitamins and minerals, so I need to eat to put the vitamins back into my body. I have explained this numorus times, but no one listens. I even asked if I could work more days throughout the week, but with much shorter shifts (4 to 5 hours), that way I can eat as soon as I go home, but that doesn't look possible either, because there is only one other cashier that works in my store. I have become very sick these past few months and have lost a lot of my energy, along with losing weight and even some mucsle mass due to me not being able to eat while working long shifts.
The sad part is that Michigan doesn't have a law for meal breaks, unless under the age of 18. So I am not sure what to do. My managers have even noticed that I'm not looking very healthy anymore, but they still give me a hard time when I ask for a break. I use to pull 10 hour shifts when I was a sales associate at Walmart, never had a problem, but they also gave us two 15 minute breaks and an hour for lunch, so I and many others never felt sick or worn out. Why is there no law for meal breaks? Why is it up to the employer? If a person can get the time to eat and relax, even for a half hour, they would be much more productive at work and feel a lot better in their daily life. I have noticed on days that I do work a shorter shift, I feel a lot better, because I am able to eat when I get home, and my off days are better too, because I can eat at different times throughout the day.
