Forced 1 hr lunch

[542thruNthru]

No one is listening to the OP.
He isn’t talking about skipping lunch.
He isn’t talking about working off of the clock.
What he is talking about...is taking a 30 minute lunch and putting that on his timecard in order to get home half an hour earlier.
I do that all the time. Its not dishonest and its not costing anyone a job.
Ask yourself this; do you seriously believe that the company is forcing hour lunches because they care about us and want us to get enough rest?
If you do, you are an idiot.
The company forces hour lunches because they are counting on the fact that a certain percentage of drivers will simply cave in and work through part of their lunch in order to get home to their families at a reasonable time.
Its a scam, designed to maximize the amount of free labor they can screw us out of.
The contract states that we are to be paid for all hours worked. So if I want to take a 30 minute lunch and I put that on my timecard, they should not have the right to discipline me or to withold an hour of my pay.
I’m glad I work in a local that prevents them from doing that.

The op still hasn't told us what his Supplmental says. If it requires them to take a 1hr lunch then he should be taking one.

We have to many people that think they can pick and choose parts of the contract that they want to follow.

Also I disagree with the extra 30 min not costing anyone their job. We have a little over 80 drivers in my center. If everyone took a full hour it would add routes easily.

 

[Northbaypkg]

No one is listening to the OP.
He isn’t talking about skipping lunch.
He isn’t talking about working off of the clock.
What he is talking about...is taking a 30 minute lunch and putting that on his timecard in order to get home half an hour earlier.
I do that all the time. Its not dishonest and its not costing anyone a job.
Ask yourself this; do you seriously believe that the company is forcing hour lunches because they care about us and want us to get enough rest?
If you do, you are an idiot.
The company forces hour lunches because they are counting on the fact that a certain percentage of drivers will simply cave in and work through part of their lunch in order to get home to their families at a reasonable time.
Its a scam, designed to maximize the amount of free labor they can screw us out of.
The contract states that we are to be paid for all hours worked. So if I want to take a 30 minute lunch and I put that on my timecard, they should not have the right to discipline me or to withold an hour of my pay.
I’m glad I work in a local that prevents them from doing that.

Totally agree with this! The exact same thing is going in in my hub, and I do the same as soberups posted. If they give me a stop count that allows me enough time to take a full hour lunch, plus my two 15 minute breaks and still clock out at a decent time then sure I'll take an hour. If they put a stop count that causes me to clock out at 8pm with an hour lunch, then I take just a half hour lunch and clock out at 7:30pm instead. That's a half hour I'd rather spend at home with my family, rather than sitting in a truck twiddling my thumbs not getting paid for.

I totally agree that this is just the flavor of the month and once the volume picks up you'll never hear about hour lunches again till next year. Every time this hour lunch thing comes around I comply only when they comply by giving me a low enough stop count. I've never been pulled into the office about taking a half hour lunch despite all the hour lunch PCMs so I'll just continue.

I forget, what's the flavor of the month that usually follows this one? Is it the uniform compliance? Shaved beards? Proper footwear? Attendance?

 

[Wally]

He isnt talking about working off of the clock.

Might be different in your parts? We are required to take the full hour. We have had PCM's on this after some legal trouble the company was in in another area.

Not taking lunch is working free. In my center they take out the hour no matter what.

You convert to a half hour lunch and you will still have the same bunch working for free. Shut the diad down!

 

[Wally]

The op still hasn't told us what his Supplmental says. If it requires them to take a 1hr lunch then he should be taking one.

We have to many people that think they can pick and choose parts of the contract that they want to follow.

Also I disagree with the extra 30 min not costing anyone their job. We have a little over 80 drivers in my center. If everyone took a full hour it would add routes easily.

Plenty of drivers are sorting during lunch too. They are scared of management.

 

[zubenelgenubi]

Might be different in your parts? We are required to take the full hour. We have had PCM's on this after some legal trouble the company was in in another area.

Not taking lunch is working free. In my center they take out the hour no matter what.

You convert to a half hour lunch and you will still have the same bunch working for free. Shut the diad down!

Your state law allows for people working off the clock? In our state you must be paid for all time worked. It's a $1000 fine for every infraction. One employer I worked for required everyone to show up 15 minutes early to get a briefing from the last shift, but didn't pay for the time. One call to labor and industry shut that down for all eternity.

 

[zubenelgenubi]

According to nolo.com, the law varies by state. My state, for example, requires a 30 minute lunch if working over 6 consecutive hours. Not all states follow that mandate. There is not a federal law for an hour lunch break, as I stated earlier. My apologies. I’m not sure why UPS insists on an hour. I know they’re going to deduct it regardless if you work over 8 hours, so you might as well take it. The FedEx guys I know have a timer on their handhelds. It shuts down (totally locks up) for an hour once they enter that they are eating.

UPS can only insist on it if the contract allows for it. They will insist on whatever will allow them to meet their numbers. If what they insist on is prohibited by the contract, it must be grieved. My rider allows for our choice of 1/2 hour or 1 hour. We can take 45 minutes with approval. Why would you need approval for 45 minutes? Who knows? We also have a past practices that allows to split up a lunch break into two 30 minute lunches. I think you can even get away with longer lunch breaks as long as it doesn't interfere with service and you record the time properly.

 

[Jkloc420]

 

[soberups]

Might be different in your parts? We are required to take the full hour. We have had PCM's on this after some legal trouble the company was in in another area.

Not taking lunch is working free. In my center they take out the hour no matter what.

You convert to a half hour lunch and you will still have the same bunch working for free. Shut the diad down!

If they take out an hour even when you enter 30 minutes they are also violating the contract. They are required to pay you for all hours worked.

 

[soberups]

...Also I disagree with the extra 30 min not costing anyone their job. We have a little over 80 drivers in my center. If everyone took a full hour it would add routes easily.

The only time that would be true is on all-business routes where the drivers are taking 30 minutes in order to avoid missed business stops.
My route is almost entirely residential.
So if they give me 9.5 hours worth of work, the only difference between a 30 minute vs a 60 minute lunch is clocking out at 6:30 vs 7:00 at night.

 

[Wally]

If they take out an hour even when you enter 30 minutes they are also violating the contract. They are required to pay you for all hours worked.

Do that and you are in the office for not working as directed. Our diad will not let you enter times if you input any info. You cannot skip the full hour.

 

[Wally]

Your state law allows for people working off the clock? In our state you must be paid for all time worked. It's a $1000 fine for every infraction. One employer I worked for required everyone to show up 15 minutes early to get a briefing from the last shift, but didn't pay for the time. One call to labor and industry shut that down for all eternity.

The center manager would say, "so, you falsified your data"?...Fired! You cannot skip lunch. We all know this.

 

[1989]

Might be different in your parts? We are required to take the full hour. We have had PCM's on this after some legal trouble the company was in in another area.

Not taking lunch is working free. In my center they take out the hour no matter what.

You convert to a half hour lunch and you will still have the same bunch working for free. Shut the diad down!

I get paid for every minute minus the time I put in for lunch. If I don’t put in a lunch I get paid for all hours. FYI... Shutting the diad down does not stop people from working through lunch

 

[zubenelgenubi]

The center manager would say, "so, you falsified your data"?...Fired! You cannot skip lunch. We all know this.

You said they change your time to a full hour. Sounds like they are doing the falsifying.

 

[1989]

You said they change your time to a full hour. Sounds like they are doing the falsifying.

This is old school. The company used to take an hour off your time for lunch regardless what you put in the board.

 

[soberups]

Do that and you are in the office for not working as directed. Our diad will not let you enter times if you input any info. You cannot skip the full hour.

Then go ahead and write me up for not working as directed.
But pay me my money.

 

[zubenelgenubi]

This is old school. The company used to take an hour off your time for lunch regardless what you put in the board.

In my state that would be illegal, and is also a contract violation. However, not taking your lunch is also a contract vioaltion.

 

[1989]

In my state that would be illegal, and is also a contract violation. However, not taking your lunch is also a contract vioaltion.

Mine too, I’m surprised that ups continues this practice.

 

[Wally]

Mine too, I’m surprised that ups continues this practice.

It's the drivers, not the company. We had union backed PCM's saying under no circumstances is it ok not to take a full lunch.

Guys know they are falsifying so they say nothing.

 

[tramtwo]

I was taught to not skip it and to not move it. It's our only dispatch tool.

 

[1989]

It's the drivers, not the company. We had union backed PCM's saying under no circumstances is it ok not to take a full lunch.

Guys know they are falsifying so they say nothing.

It is the company that takes an automatic hour out of your pay. Therefore the union says you must take an hour. We had the auto hour until 2008 in one building I worked in. There was no need to put a lunch in the board back then. As I said, mgmt turned it off in 2008.