Target Manager: I Was Fired for Working Off the Clock
It's time to check in on the doin's at Target, the Union-Busting Big Box Store with the marginally more upscale reputation than the other Union-Busting Big Box Store. How is Target screwing employees today? By firing them, for working too much.
At the HuffPo, Dave Jamieson tells the tale of Jason Kellner, a former Target manager who's suing the company for firing him unfairly. The reason? According to his lawsuit, he was—GET THIS, GUYS—"performing work activities without having been 'clocked in.'" How dare he!
According to the suit, Target has a policy against employees working while off the clock, yet the time clock at the store prevents workers from clocking back in after a break of less than 30 minutes, a practice common in retail. The result, Kellner claims, is that employees sometimes end up having to work without pay.
So Kellner, a manager, says he could never take a full 30 minute break without being interrupted and asked to do work; on the other hand, he also couldn't clock back in before 30 minutes had passed. So he simply ended up working off the clock, out of necessity, because the clock was automatically rigged against him. We were told by multiple employees that Target hates to pay overtime and often cuts employees down to a ridiculously low number of hours, so complaining is de facto discouraged.
No break! No clocking in! No complaining! More working! Target!
