McLabor Laws. Would you like a lawsuit with your ass whoopin'?

The good news is that I'm employed. I work graveyard from 9am-5pm...40+ hours a week. My bosses love me because I actually work and I know what I'm doing. Unfortunately that's where the goodness ends.

The bad news is the graveyard shift is understaffed by one person. ONE! I know this doesn't sound like a lot, but let me break it down for you. We have the manager (who shouldn't be doing a lot of our work), one person making/prepping the food (yes there is a difference), and one person in drive-thru taking orders, taking money, making drinks, making ice cream, bagging food, serving food. In an ideal situation we would have an extra person in grill assisting when needed (which is all the time on the busy nights), and one person by drive thru helping bag the food so the customers can leave faster. Even just ONE extra person would be awesome. Now, on top of the stuff we do in our positions, we also have a list of things to get done before our shift is done...which is when the breakfast crew comes in. If we don't get that list done by 5 am we have to stay until it's done, which on the nights we get slammed we could end up staying till 6 am. Overtime, I know, but there's more BS. On the nights when we do get our stuff done early, the morning crew takes advantage of us and makes us do their work, too.

So on top of being over worked and understaffed, we also don't get our breaks. That's right, we work right through our breaks because we don't have the proper staff to break out the crew. So that means we only get our ten minute break when it's slow (even though if we get slammed during our break we have to come back early), and we don't get our 30 min or our last 10 minute break. Even people who have NEVER worked in fast food know that this is ILLEGAL! Not only would an extra person help with the speed of food prep, but they would also make sure that people got their breaks when they needed them. I don't know how many of you had to stand on your feet serving other people for 9 hours straight, but just let me tell you how much pain you will be in at the end of the day. You won't have any more arches left, your back will actually fail on you from time to time, and your hands will be so sore you won't be able to make a fist.

So the bottom line is if we had an extra person we would run a lot smoother. Go to the manager and complain, you say? Already have. She is aware of the problem and has made mention to HER higher ups. Go to the store owner? Already have. He says he has looked into hiring another person, but we have to prove we can work with the staff that we have before he rewards us with more staff, plus, he says we don't bring in enough money for a fourth person. We're McDonalds, doucheabag, and less than a block away from campus, of COURSE we make enough money. Sadly, the staff has learned how to take it up the butt with a smile on their face because this has apparently been a problem for two years and nothing has changed.

So not only is state law being broken, but federal labor laws are being broken as well. My manager, who rocks, could get in trouble because she is supposed to break people out regardless of the situation. I have made mention to her that it would cost less money to hire someone than to piss off the wrong employee and have them sue for illegal labor practices, and she says she knows. Unfortunately, she says, "That's just the way it is."

If anyone has any tips, advice, or just wants to remind me how much BS this is, I'll gladly take it all. Just don't ask me for fries with that...I may have to hurt you.