Evil HR Lady

A reader sent me an email upset because her boss had given her a “first and final warning” for a parking incident that went a little too far. That may seem ridiculous, but she took the incident a bit too far. Our reader, who we’ll call Jill, works for a small business that doesn’t have sufficient parking, so Jill parks on the street. The business across the street lacks appropriate parking as well, and their employees park on the road. And here’s what happened.

I parked on the opposite side of the public street and left to get lunch. When I returned another car (that was parked down the street for the first half of the day) was in my spot but there was still room for another vehicle so I parked in front of her. Then a lady got out and started yelling at me. I asked her if she needed help getting out she said no. She continued to yell and was upset that I parked there. I then asked her how she knew my spot was open. She then slammed her door and that was that. So I thought.

Come to find out she is the business center supervisor and she now had a vendetta toward me. She called my boss to complain, he immediately thought this was ridiculous and left it at that. I took him outside to show him where I parked and come to find out she was still in her vehicle and I saw her get out to go inside to her office. I laughed at the insanity of the situation and showed my boss where I was parked and then we both went inside. The other driver then called my company again and demanded to speak with the manager. When he did nothing, she demanded to speak to the owner.

To keep reading, click here: When Revenge at Work Backfires

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When you walk into a Best Buy, or any store, do you expect to be greeted or welcomed into the store?

Would you even know if there was a difference? Well, whoever wrote the Best Buy training policies thinks that there is, according to this viral tweet.View image on Twitter

Karate’s Bad Boy@flarkle

Look at this dumb shit. Look at it.227K6:49 PM – May 14, 201945K people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy

Making a difference between welcoming and greeting is a ridiculous nit-picky thing that drives employees crazy. Karate’s Bad Boy answered the true/false question (“We should greet all Best Buy customers”) as true and got it wrong. The reason? “We welcome our customers, not greet them.”

To keep reading, click here: Viral Best Buy Training Question Is a Perfect Example of Clueless Corporate Policies

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McDonald’s is the first job for many people. The wages aren’t high and they tend to hire people without a lot of experience for many of their positions. This is fabulous and they should be praised for giving people their first chance.

However, there’s a downside to this: inexperience matters at work. It’s easy enough to learn how to make hamburgers and fries, but it’s not quite so easy to learn how to navigate a world of work. The result of that can mean that many employees are easy targets for sexual harassers. 

The New York Times reports that Times Up Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU, and Fight for $15, combined forces to file a total of 23 new complaints against McDonald’s. 20  of these are complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and three are civil lawsuits. All are of concern to McDonald’s.

To keep reading, click here: McDonald’s Faces 23 New Sexual Harassment Complaints

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Managers are always salary exempt and are not eligible for overtime pay. 

This is a common belief but it simply isn’t true. In fact, your job title has nothing to do with how you have to be paid–it’s all about your job responsibilities. Steak ‘N Shake found out the hard way that they had misclassified 286 store managers in the St. Louis area and owed them back overtime pay.

Oh, and attorney fees and costs.

Grand total? $7.7 million dollars.

Steak ‘N Shake’s error

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that everyone receive overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week unless they meet the qualifications for “exemption.” People who manage two or more employees, earn at least $23,660 (set to jump to $35,308 in January 2020) and have hire/fire/discipline power generally meet the conditions for exemption from overtime pay and can be paid a straight salary–regardless of how many hours they actually work. (Some states have additional rules, but these are the federal minimums.)

To keep reading, click here: Steak ‘N Shake Makes a $7.7 Million Error. (You’re Probably Making the Same Error.)

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just ruled that Uber drivers are, indeed, contractors and not employees. This news made Uber’s stock soar but there’s more to this than just a stock price. This ruling can impact your business if you use contractors or can affect you if you (like me) work in the so-called “gig economy.”

Uber Drivers as Contractors is Unsurprising

Many people focus on the fact that a Trump appointed NLRB General Counsel, Peter B. Robb was behind this decision, but the reality is, it’s a tough sell to argue that Uber drivers could be employees, although that was the stance of the NLRB under the Obama Administration. The NLRB expanded their definition of contractors earlier this year as well.

There are rules surrounding whether a person is a contractor (often called a 1099 employee) or an employee (often called a W2 employee). It can’t just be the decision of the employee/contractor and the company. No one can consent to give away their rights to be an employee if they meet the criteria for W2 employee. The Uber Drivers don’t because they, among other things:

To keep reading, click here: Uber Drivers Are Not Employees. What This Means for Other Gig Workers.

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