Complaint Review: Sonic Drive-In - Neosho Missouri

Hello, I am a current employee for a Florida Sonic, and I am about to take further action for this situation. My GM shines with pride for being able to keep her labor numbers lower than any other manager that works, and it has been this way for the past 3-4 months that I have worked there. One loyal employee by one loyal employee... usually happy and cheerful and puts in anywhere from 35-50 hours a week, comes in on payday sulking because they were only paid for 15 hours out of the two weeks of slaving for our GM. This now has been caught or noticed by 3 people just in the past month!!! (that I have witnessed) Now that I have done my own audit of hours, (I had a non-sketchy manager print off my hours for me) I am 20.19 hours short; I only started keeping my receipts of clock-in/clock-outs about a month and a half ago. So from 9-1-08 to 10-17-08 Sonic has no record of me working at all on 9-3, 9-18, 9-23, and 10-2; but I have the receipts to prove it!!! She keeps getting caught and she keeps adjusting the hours of people who she thinks won't notice!!! Well I have noticed and I have contacted the Franchise Employee Hotline and left my name and number for them to contact me. The GM calmed those 3 employees down by just giving them the hours she thinks or they think they worked and they all still work there. I am not sure if risking my job for 20.19 hours is worth it, but it is not right that she thinks she can get away with this! Any advise??? Also, if I am not TOTALLY satisfied with results from my actions, I will post the exact Sonic and the exact GM's name on here in my next update. Is there any way to see computer records of when the GM made adjustments? Usually they have to put in their employee code to be able to do anything managerial.

I have been an employee of many Sonic Drive Ins for the last seven years working in almost all positions in the stores including the position of assistant manager, and being well qualified to work in every position including GM/Partner. I just wanted to give you a little information from what I know. Sonic is owned by a corporation, and can be sold as a franchise, at whatever Sonic you may have a problem with, the outside menu board should contain information about who to call in case of a complaint. The writing is TINY but should be on the left menu board at the bottom in fine print. That number is there for you to call if the store you have a complaint with is not helping you, and there should be resource books somewhere in the store with a number just for employees. Keep in mind, that even if it is a franchise store, franchises must still obey certain rules set forth by the corporation, because it is the corporation who owns the rights to use the brand name. If you can't get any results by calling the help line posted on the menu boards by the franchise, you should be able to get help for your complaints by Sonic corporate in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This generally applies to MOST companies you visit. In case you try this and get no results, keep reading. Your report concerns me; you state that you were coming up short. The first statement I would make on this is that someone stealing your money is extremely, extremely difficult to prove unless you actually catch them in the act with witnesses. I was carhopping at a Sonic last year and came up exactly $20 short. I know where it went, I just couldn't prove it. Our store was busy and I had a full clip in my pocket - one of the girls was squatted by the switchboard, and while I was taking an order, completely unaware, she reached in my pocket and took out my clip. Upon finishing the order, I looked down and she actually stated to me "You know, you really should be more careful with your money" My clip was IN MY POCKET!! So that's one way theft may happen without your knowledge. Next, WHEREVER you may EVER work, if you are being told you are going to be held accountable for cash shortages make sure YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WITH YOUR HANDS ON THE CASH YOU ARE BEING ACCOUNTABLE FOR!! Insist that you count your money out while the manager watches. Count it twice and then hand it to your boss. WATCH THE MANAGER LIKE A HAWK. I've known of managers counting out employees and with one slight of the hand, like magic, that manager had a twenty dollar bill from the employees cashout either in his pocket, in his lap, on the floor under his shoe, etc. etc. I have also heard of managers being caught on tape actually STEALING money from employee drop boxes. Many stores institute a 'drop' policy for carhops in which every 20 minutes you drop excess cash in your starting bank over $20. This is to minimize cash loss by robbery, carelessness, etc. Although these steps can only be taken to minimize your cash loss and maximize manager honesty at your company, you can visit your Department of Labor for your state laws and you should be able to find out specific laws for your protection when it comes to paying back cash shortages. In some states, it is perfectly legal for a loss to be deducted from your paycheck, with certain stipulations, In others states, it isn't legal at all. In some states, it is legal for the manager to ask you to pay your shortage out of pocket, and in other states, it isn't in the least bit legal. The Department of Labor can not only outline laws that protect you and your right to work, but it also outlines laws to protect the employers. Please feel free to empower yourself by visiting that site, and tell your friends to refresh themselves on the law. Knowledge is empowerment. With all that stated; you may not be able to do anything about what happened at a past job, but with your newfound knowledge of the law you will get from reading about it, you can surely prevent the same things from happening again.