Isn't that *ILLEGAL*?!?!?

[captain_slinky]

Today was my first day working at Subway. Now I know a bit about restaurant management and the different laws/health code regulations, and saw enough going on today to have this Subway shut down!

The two biggest violations I saw were:

-I am scheduled for 4 and 1/2 hours every day, Monday through Friday, with no break. Washington State Law requires a 10-minute break for every 4 hours worked, plus a 30-minute lunch break for shifts over 6 hours. I was informed today that they justdidn't give breaks at Subway because they couldn't predict when customers were coming in.

Bullpucky. It's the LAW.

-Secondly, today was my very first day. They put me to work IMMEDIATELY, with no Food Handler's license. Also, they didn't have me fill out a W2. Both of these are pieces of paperwork are the types of things that not only result in getting shut down, but ALSO result in some very hefty fines!

So now I have to decide... get the restaurant shut down (cutting off my only form of income), or just go with it? What would you do?

Comments

[deensey.livejournal.com]

Erk, that's ass.

I don't know what to say. See how it goes for the week then decide? Talk to the manager more? Um.......

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but if there's *money* to be made out of this (via a Lawsuit), that's what I want to know!

[opaleyes.livejournal.com]

I say work for now, as they're not major health issues. And then screw them over when you quit. Muhaha.

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

I like the way opaleyes thinks!

[opaleyes.livejournal.com]

::grins, winks, and throws you a thumbs up::

Well, in my mind they're just not that big of issues. At least not enough to ethically quit over. I've worked at two fast food places and neither have required me to do any sort of food handler's license thing. Also, I currently work anywhere between 3-5 hours a day at a fast food place of similar type to Subway, and I don't get a break. And it's really no big deal. As long as you eat and go to the bathroom before work you should be fine. I definitely get hungry by the end of my shift, but I just eat as soon as I clock out. I don't feel it's anything worth fighting over, especially if you need the money. And it's true, you don't know when it's going to get busy, so it's hard to "schedule" a break. If the restaurant traffic clears up enough and you're not doing anything I'm sure they'd be fine with you getting a sub or a drink or something. Heck, my manager will give me free cookies. Just start off on the right foot by being super nice and not pressing the issues. Then they will eventually fall into place. If you're nice to them I can't imagine why they wouldn't be nice back and let you have an unscheduled break.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

It's the Food Handler permit that scares me, though. See, we're dealing with meats, both hot and cold. If the peopl working here don't know the proper holding temperatures for this stuff, people could get very sick and/or DIE. I don't like to think that little Suzy is going to be throwing up all night long because the pimply-faced kid behind the counter didn't know to NOT wipe the sweat from the crack of his ass then pick up the meats for the Cold Cut Combo.

[opaleyes.livejournal.com]

Ah got ya. Well, are you going to be working solely in the kitchen? Perhaps the people who will be did get those? Try causually asking about if they use them if you haven't already. I would hope that they require people who would be working with raw meat to know how to deal with it. It's true that every food that I've had to deal with for a customer has already been cooked, or is something that's hard to screw up. (Like frying chips and cooking beans)

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

It's a Subway in a strip-mall. The entire area behind the counter is the Kitchen. It's so tiny! Plus, I'm the guy sticking my hand down the back of my pants and then handling the Colcd Cuts!

[opaleyes.livejournal.com]

Dude. Cut that out. Stop scratching your cold cuts.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

But they ITCH!

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

I hate food service jobs. I worked for a family owned franchise that sold fruit freezes (kinda like a slurpee made from real fruit and scooped like ice cream) and hambuger joint-type food stuff. It sucked ass. The management were all dicks, the owners were dumbshits and my fellow "staff" were deadbeats to one degree or another. I liked the kitchen staff, though. They were the only ones with any interesting things to say.

We did get scheduled breaks, though they were nothing to brag about. We had to pool our tips with everyone, including the kitchen staff (who were paid more than we were), and so it worked out to something like 26 cents extra on the paycheck. I liked working the cafe, though... The customers were by and large pretty nice with one or two exceptions. I even dumped au jous sauce on one girl my first day on the job and she was cool with it. LOL. Towards the end of my employment there, I fell one night while one of the managers was mopping up... Had a HUGE bruise on my right hip that went from my waist to my knee and I was sore for weeks. Everyone was REALLY nice to me after that, but it only dawned on me years later that I could have sued them for every stinking tip I ever had to split and then some.

But, I was 17 and that was the kind of job 17 yearolds get. I stuck with it for 3 months before quitting to go work as a student assistant for the state. Which sucked more in it's own special way. Afterwhich, I quit and got a job working for Tower Records which was definitely a much cooler place to work for (and where the General Manager said to me the first day of work "Hey, Sarah, you should dye your hair blue and get some facial piercings. You look too normal.").

After Merlino's, however, I swore I'd never work in the food industry ever again. That sort of job is one step up from indentured servitude.

[daleth.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the fast food industry. You do what anybody else that needs a job does...You just go with it