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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Chepachet, Rhode Island, United States
    Posts
    3

    Question Company Deducts for Unpaid Lunch Even Though Employee Works Through Lunch

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Rhode Island

    My husband works for a small company as a delivery driver. He typically spends 8-10 hours on the road, plus an additional 1-2 hours doing work in the building five days a week. My first question is the company automatically deducts a lunch hour from his day. He doesn't stop and take a lunch break. He takes a pb&j to work with him and will eat while driving. His routes range from NY to ME depending on the day. They pressure all the drivers to get back as quickly as possible, so many of them don't stop for lunch. They all eat while they drive. I don't think this is fair or safe. Can they pressure the drivers not to stop and still force the deduction for the lunch break?

    My other question is he finished his shift on Friday @ 9pm. They called him and told him to log out @ 5pm instead. This can't be legal, can it? This seems to me like time card fraud. They claim since they are paying him extra for doing an additional job (less than what they had claimed originally), they could make him do this. Is there any truth to that?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: Company Deducts for Unpaid Lunch Even Though Employee Works Through Lunch

    They have told him to stop and take an hour lunch for which they are deducting. His failure to do so could potentially get him fired.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Company Deducts for Unpaid Lunch Even Though Employee Works Through Lunch

    The law says that he must be paid for all the time that he works. So they cannot deduct a lunch break unless he actually takes one.

    However, given the length of his shift, RI law requires that he be given no less than a 30 minute lunch break. The employer MAY require that he take a longer one, but he MUST be given at least that much. He CAN be fired for refusing to take a lunch break.

    It is absolutely legal for the employer to encourage them to get back as quickly as they can, EVEN IF they are also requiring the lunch break.

    They CANNOT require that he report fewer hours than he actually worked.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Company Deducts for Unpaid Lunch Even Though Employee Works Through Lunch

    They claim since they are paying him extra for doing an additional job (less than what they had claimed originally), they could make him do this. Is there any truth to that?
    expand on that.


    It is legal to have two different pay rates for two different jobs. Even with that, it is not legal to not pay him for all time worked.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Company Deducts for Unpaid Lunch Even Though Employee Works Through Lunch

    It's really hard to tell what that means, but if the work that lasted until 9:00 was a separate job with separate compensation from his hourly job, then it would be reasonable for the employer to tell him that he cannot stay punched in on the hourly job while also being paid for the separate, after-hours job.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    284

    Default Re: Company Deducts for Unpaid Lunch Even Though Employee Works Through Lunch

    Agreed with the other answers. Hours worked are hours actually worked. There is a whole bunch of court cases that employers playing time sheet games does not make it true. Employees can keep their own time records and the employer's records are not inherently better (or worse) then the employee's records.

    Past that:
    - Federal statutory law (FLSA) says that the employer must pay at least federal minimum wage (on average over the workweek) for all hours worked. Federal law also says that a premium of at least 50% using Regular Rate of Pay must be paid for hours worked past 40 in the workweek. FLSA has a lot to say about just what is and is not "hours worked". FLSA however says nothing about base pay in excess of federal MW.
    - State statutory law (if any) can raise MW, raise OT standards and cover base wages in excess of MW. State law cannot make federal law go away.
    - Then there is a 1,000+ years of Common Law which basically says "a deal is a deal". Not employment specific law, and often overriden by statutory labor or contract law, but still very real law in many cases. Even states with no statutory labor law generally have Common Law remedies such as small claims court.

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