-
A young warehouse employee works alongside a man sitting in a forklift.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
-
Just quit a job after 4 days. No lunch break during 12 hours of work.
Won't say much more. It was a warehouse job. They made us work 12 hours through with no 30 minute lunch.
Liwi808 shared her experience with members of this online community. Regardless of whether or not you have worked in a warehouse job before, it's hard not to be as shocked as this author was when she showed up to her new job, only to learn that the expectation was to complete 12 hours of work without so much as a decent lunch break.
-
2 warehouse employees pull a pallet truck with boxes.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
-
To put ourselves in the warehouse employee's shoes for a moment, let's imagine that you show up expecting to have lunch about half way through your first shift. You didn't think to ask about lunch beforehand because you figured it wouldn't be an issue. After all, this is dangerous physical labor. A break to eat food is a necessary part of getting through a shift like this. Well, six hours later, she still didn't know when she would get to take just 30 minutes to eat her turkey sandwich.
I asked my supervisor twice when lunch would be (once after 6 hours, the other after 9 hours). I was dismissed/denied.
-
A warehouse supervisor wears a button-down shirt while holding a barcode scanner.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
-
To make matters worse, the warehouse employee went home that night and looked up the laws in her state. For some baffling reason, these breaks were not required for employees, despite the fact that most working environments in her area tended to provide time for lunch anyway. The fact that the law doesn't require these breaks is a disappointment, but the fact that her new supervisor saw this as an opportunity to double down on inhuman policy shows that this is not the kind of guy worth working for… regardless of how good the job might be on paper.
In my state, there are no mandatory breaks required for employees (only for minors). I was only offered one 15 minute break after 4 hours, and then I had to beg for a 2nd 15 minute break. Apparently it's common for them to go through work with no lunch.
-
A young warehouse employee works alongside a man sitting in a forklift.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
-
I turned in my resignation today. Fastest I've ever quit a job.
It did not take much thinking after that for the warehouse employee to take back control. If you find yourself in a situation like this, where your company uses a loophole in a state policy to deny what should be basic worker rights, then you might as well leave as quickly as she did. Because the truth of the matter is that the conditions aren't going to get better.
-
A warehouse employee pulls a pallet truck with boxes.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
-
Here's hoping this author finds a better opportunity that will allow her to eat that turkey sandwich. As for her now former supervisor, he should expect other folks on the team to question the policy now, if they haven't done so already. Pretty soon, he'll be having a hard time finding anyone willing to work for him 12 hours straight with no break times. Ridiculous!
-
A young warehouse employee inspects a storage setup.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
Like what you see? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.