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from the all-work-and-no-pay-makes-Jack-a-litigious-boy dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following (paywalled) story:
July 26, 2018
Starbucks Corp. must pay employees for off-the-clock work such as closing and locking stores, the California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a decision that could have broad implications for companies that employ workers paid by the hour across the state.
The decision is a departure from a federal standard that gives employers greater leeway to deny workers’ compensation for short tasks, such as putting on a uniform, that are performed before they clock in or after they clock out.
More details are available from pbs.org:
The ruling came in a lawsuit by a Starbucks employee, Douglas Troester, who argued that he was entitled to be paid for the time he spent closing the store after he had clocked out.
Troester said he activated the store alarm, locked the front door and walked co-workers to their cars — tasks that required him to work for four to 10 additional minutes a day.
An attorney for Starbucks referred comment to the company. Starbucks did not immediately have comment.
A U.S. District Court rejected Troester’s lawsuit on the grounds that the time he spent on those tasks was minimal. But the California Supreme Court said a few extra minutes of work each day could “add up.”
Troester was seeking payment for 12 hours and 50 minutes of work over a 17-month period. At $8 an hour, that amounts to $102.67, the California Supreme Court said.
“That is enough to pay a utility bill, buy a week of groceries, or cover a month of bus fares,” Associate Justice Goodwin Liu wrote. “What Starbucks calls ‘de minimis’ is not de minimis at all to many ordinary people who work for hourly wages.”
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by martyb on Monday July 30 2018, @08:10PM (3 children)
I take exception to the word only.
So, tell me. What do you propose happens when someone has a major illness or injury?
For sake of example, I came down with a bad case of sciatica [wikipedia.org] a year ago last January from which I recovered. Unfortunately, I'm am now going through another (thankfully less severe) bout right now.
Didn't do anything to precipitate the condition; it just came upon me one day. The pain was so intense that I could not stand, unaided, for more than a couple minutes. Just walking the 100 yards from where I parked my car to get to my department was a 3-stage effort. Walk from car to employee entrance; recuperate for a minute or two. Walk from there to the selling floor. Take another 1-2 minute break. Finally, walk from there to my actual department. Were it not for the fact there were counters where I worked that I could lean on during my shift, I would have been unable to work. Oh, did I mention I am on my feet all day long?
It took at least a couple months for that to get manageable, and 3-4 months to finally clear up.
Now, for me, no work means no pay. Which makes it a struggle to pay rent and buy food.
You've seen the work I've put into this site. Would you call me lazy? A slacker? Do I lack willpower?
Had it been a more serious condition, I would have had to depend on the kindness and generosity of friends and relatives.
Those who have their health and intellect... thank your lucky stars that you do. But, please, do NOT look down on those who do not.
It only takes a single accident to quickly move from one category to the other.
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday July 31 2018, @03:09AM (2 children)
I was going to point to Stephen Hawking but you're your own best example of my answer, man. Did you give up and let it stop you or did you do what you knew you had to do, hardships be damned? Everyone has obstacles. It's how you deal with them that determines what results you're going to get. Perseverance isn't a guarantee of success but making excuses and giving up is an absolute guarantee of failure.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by martyb on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:46PM (1 child)
I appreciate the kind words. Thank-you.
But, I also see that I failed to make my point.
It has taken a long time, but I finally saved away a bit of money. Maybe a month or two's expenses. Had I not had that financial cushion, had I not had good medical coverage, had my condition been worse, I would have ended up homeless.
It was only simple good fortune that saved me. You're still [relatively] young. Think ahead when walking is painful and you need to use a cane, or a wheelerator(sp?). When you wake up each day, in pain. Hard labor is no longer an option. The body betrays you.
The mind betrays you, too. Can't absorb things as quickly as before. Can't remember things that used to be always at the ready. More frequent bouts of trying to recall something and... there's a 'wall', a hesitation, which sometimes gives way, and sometimes does not.
Now imagine someone who did not even have that starting advantage of good health and intellect.
All it takes is something as common as a major car accident to turn *everything* on its head.
Enjoy your virility while you can, but please do not look down on those who may not have been as gifted from the start, or who once had it but have now lost it.
Someday you will be old and weak... how would you like to be treated? Might be a good idea to treat the less fortunate that way, now.
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:26PM
Marty, you have an absolute gift for debugging things. It boggles my mind that you haven't turned that scrutiny upon life and dealt with every care you could possibly have in it. I mean I know my situation is because I have very modest desires and am generally lazy but I have no idea why you're not lighting your hookers with hundred dollar bills.
To answer your point though, that's where just a little bit of planning and preparedness comes in. You had some money stashed back. Why? Because it's bloody insane not to even if it means Top Ramen twice a day and coffee for breakfast. You don't need to foresee every little thing, you just have to make sure you have enough of a cushion ready for when things go sideways. Because they always go sideways sooner or later. For everyone. It's not luck, it's damned near an absolute certainty. Luck is when it doesn't happen for a stretch.
You know me. If there's someone needs help I'll bend over backwards to help them. If I'm having to help them because they were a damned fool idjit though, they're going to get an ass chewing while I do it. Not because it pisses me off but so they'll be disinclined to repeat the same mistake or even make a similar one.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.