My Kroger does not adhere to Federal Guidelines for breaks and lunches. I have been told that you only get a lunch if you work over 7 hours, but this is not federal law. Sometimes we have to take a break and lunch within 1 hour of being at work. I talked to my union steward but nothing has been done. I was actually told by a supervisor that I had to take my lunch and take out the garbage while on my lunch break. I refused. Anyone else having this issue????? It is not right that Kroger gets away with not following the Federal guidelines for breaks and lunches. They get away with it because we need our jobs and not enough people will stand up for what is right and the law. Any suggestions?
Lets say you work 8-4:30. Your break would be at 10 and 2. And your lunch would be at 12. Don't Blane Kroger Blame yourself. They tired to do the same thing on me and I made sure I got what I dieserve. .
From what I know of how Kroger handles breaks/lunches, it varies from store to store. Now where I'm at, if you work seven hours or more, you get one full thirty minute break. You can't break it up into two fifteen minute breaks unless a supervisor is working that allows it, but usually the supervisor won't because that makes it harder on them since they have to worry about giving you your second fifteen minutes later on. Anything less than seven hours (including the very irritating six hour and forty-five minute shift) is one fifteen minute break and that's it. The supervisors that I work with try and give out breaks at reasonable points during a shift, but some of them are definitely better than others.
If you believe Kroger is acting in violation to some law, then you should press the union on it.
My suggestion? Get educated! There is no "Federal Guidelines." Such laws are dictated by the state. In my state, for example, there is NO LAW regarding break and lunches. We still get them though because it makes the company and union look good, and it's "common sense." But, once again, there is no federal guidelines.
However, you CAN'T work while on break or lunch, that is clearly against any Kroger contract. You can actually get in trouble for doing work while not on the clock, so, use that as your excuse to tell someone you can't do something that they ask of you (for at least the time being).
Now, as for actual break and lunch contract rules, it probably depends on the contract. In my contract, lunches shall be taken approximately 1/2 into your shift (if scheduled) and not an hour before or after. Breaks should be taken at the 1/4 mark of the shift (in an 8 hour shift eg 8:00-4:30 break at 10:00 and 2:00 or 2:30.) Breaks, however, don't have a formal rule like luches, and can be taken whenever.
Sorry, it is state mandated and I talked to them today and they told me union or not we are supposed to get a lunch after 5 hours and two breaks if you work 8 hours. The timing of these breaks is also covered. I will file a formal complaint with my state labor board.
This is the correct way to give breaks, but that is not what happens at my Kroger. I work at a store that did not have a fuel center at first. The supervisors inside don't care about the fuel employees. Everyone inside gets their breaks correctly, but not fuel. Most of the time they don't have anyone inside that knows how to run fuel. My check is from Kroger the same as anyone else. I came to this forum to talk to employees to see if there were any good suggestions.
We get 2 15 minute breaks. If you want a lunch, you have to jump through some hoops and talk to a manager and get it okayed. And you can still take your 15 minute breaks in addition to a lunch. But if you do take a lunch you have to stay 30 minutes later to compensate for it, so no one really bothers with it
In ATL Local 1996, you get a 15 min break from a 4 hr shift up to a 6 hrs 45 min shift. Seven hours and more get two 15m breaks but those are scheduled according to business needs and it specifically states it can be as soon as one hour after the shift starts. Anybody doing 10 hrs or more gets a third 15 mim break. Usually we string them together into a 30 min but it's not actually necessary in the contract. 15 min is not really much time.
The contract ckaims you can get a 1 hour lunch without pay and nobody who works over 5 hrs shall be required to skip lunch. The employee and store management have to agree on the lunch though and it'll be granted as close to middle of shift as possible.
I'm curious what overnight cashiers are supposed to do since there's no one to give them breaks.
Our store works a fair bit differently from a lot of the above.
The Local 700 manual reads:
"Employees shall be granted one (1) uninterrupted hour for lunch at approximately the middle of the working day. Lunch periods of less than one (1) hour may be granted where mutually agreed upon. Lunch or supper periods will not be required unless and employee has been scheduled to work seven (7) hours or more unless in conflict with State or Federal law."
and
"All employees who work less than 6 hours shall be entitled to one fifteen minute rest period. These rest periods shall be in lieu of, and not in addition to, previous informal rest periods. Rest periods will be scheduled in approximately the middle of each half shift. An employee who works 6 hours or more will be granted 2 rest periods. No rest period shall be scheduled until the employee has worked at least 1 hour unless in emergence."
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Nobody at the store takes an hour lunch. Everyone in the store takes their half hour lunch when due. A few people try to skip lunches, and management has a fit over it. Many days have I considered asking for that hour lunch, but however nice it might be to leave the store and do other things for a bit, management would definitely take offense to that one.
-- Edited by Stranger on Tuesday 2nd of April 2013 09:16:06 AM
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i believe that over time the typical kroger employee has prefered not to take a lunch break rather just work their 8 hour shift and go home. during their 8 hour shift they know they can get in 2 15 minute breaks which is sufficient to eat a quick lunch. so somewhere along the way the 1/2 hour lunch thing was dropped and forgotten about. thats my take of things but if you want a 1/2 hour lunch then all y ou have to do is tell them to schedule you for it. they might seem bewildered about your request because it is currently so against the grain but it should / must be allowed if it is your desire. at our store, i dont think anybody takes the 1/2 hour break. our store manager even went as far as to say that you are not allowed to leave the store property and go out for your lunch or to order in food from say a pizza place. i think / know he is overstepping his bounderies on that but it really doesn't affect me much on those demands so for now i just go along with it.my main point is that the majority of kroger employees just want to work 8 hours and get the hell out...
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I am no longer part of the oppressed, evil workforce of Kroger! Can you say "Hallelujah"
i believe that over time the typical kroger employee has prefered not to take a lunch break rather just work their 8 hour shift and go home. during their 8 hour shift they know they can get in 2 15 minute breaks which is sufficient to eat a quick lunch. so somewhere along the way the 1/2 hour lunch thing was dropped and forgotten about. thats my take of things but if you want a 1/2 hour lunch then all y ou have to do is tell them to schedule you for it. they might seem bewildered about your request because it is currently so against the grain but it should / must be allowed if it is your desire. at our store, i dont think anybody takes the 1/2 hour break. our store manager even went as far as to say that you are not allowed to leave the store property and go out for your lunch or to order in food from say a pizza place. i think / know he is overstepping his bounderies on that but it really doesn't affect me much on those demands so for now i just go along with it.my main point is that the majority of kroger employees just want to work 8 hours and get the hell out...
There are alot of people who do not take a luch at my Kroger. My personal opinion is that you need the lunch to get away from the job for a bit. Working with the public is not easy and I feel taking a lunch helps you to go back to work refreshed. Also, not taking your lunch affects the later shifts and these shifts never have that luxury. Thanks for the reply.
If I work 1-9, that's it, 1-9. I get 2 fifteen minute breaks but I never get a 30 minute lunch.
That would be against the state laws in my state. I talked to my state labor board and was told you must be given a lunch if you work 5 or more hours even if you are in a union. We are scheduled 8.5 hours for a full shift, so you either take a lunch if you can get it or leave early. On a night shift leaving early is not an option.
Kentucky is one of the few states where employers are legally required to give breaks and lunches. Unless I have to be somewhere (which is extremely rare), I always take my lunch. I have to get out of the store for a while.
There are some people who NEED their lunch. And you don't want to look that person in the eye and/or mess with him, if he's pissed off and hungry. You might not like the results.
Let's just say...I've known some guys in the past with anger issues, who would calm down after they had a lunch. And the daily stress of everything doesn't help. Even school kids get a lunch, and doesn't it make sense that they would perform better on tests if they had a little fuel? Why are WE any different? Think about it...
There are some people who NEED their lunch. And you don't want to look that person in the eye and/or mess with him, if he's pissed off and hungry. You might not like the results.
Let's just say...I've known some guys in the past with anger issues, who would calm down after they had a lunch. And the daily stress of everything doesn't help. Even school kids get a lunch, and doesn't it make sense that they would perform better on tests if they had a little fuel? Why are WE any different? Think about it...
We're different because we work for Kroger. We're expected to go to the ends of the earth to provide highly satisfied customer service at all times... even if we're six or seven hours into an eight hour shift and haven't had a break/lunch - which wouldn't be as bad if we weren't being paid such a ridiculously low amount of money.
It should be common sense to the self-proclaimed experts running the company that happy employees equals productive, caring employees (in general) and thus customers receive world class customer service. One way to have happy employees is to give out breaks/lunches at reasonable points during one's shift, but if the company can't be bothered to do that, among other things, well, don't expect the employees to be bothered to work like they're being paid top dollar and treated like actual human beings rather than robots.
Good luck trying to find any help. I'm in the same position you are in. Kroger is not going to do anything. I have been at Kroger 466 fuel center for 4 years now. Still no breaks for the workers. Except the managers. Managers get their breaks.
Geez, y'all have some really ****ty contracts/management/etc. !
Oregon state law luckily provides that all employees scheduled more than 6 hours are entitled to a lunch break of at least 30 minutes. Period. By not taking it if you're scheduled a full shift, not only are you breaking state labor law (which then rasies the question - did your employer make you do it?), but you'd be generating 30 minutes of overtime if you didnt cut it back out by the end of the week. We've usually had all work over 8 hours being overtime in our contracts anyway, so it was overtime regardless.
Less than 6 hours got you a break, more than 6 hours 2 breaks and the lunch. For whatever reason our contracts did give out a 1 hour lunch, and FredMeyer was adamant that you take that full hour. Some stores were reasonable and would say sure take a half hour and leave half an hour earlier, but apparently it became an issue with the main office.
If you were scheduled say 8-5, and instead took half hour lunch and left at 4:30, it'd pop up on some time clock report. Your store management would have to initial and OK it, as technically its a schedule change. Main office got tired of dealing with it and demanded that everyone work their schedule to the letter. So stores started scheduling people with a half hour lunch,then they got pissed off about it not being an hour lunch, in their mind it provides coverage later in the day. Now everyone has to take the hour lunch like it or not. All the lunches are unpaid. I wonder how paid lunch periods work - technically they could have you work through it unless contract prevents it, right?
Not taking a lunch on purpose would get you a warning/writeup/etc! Mostly for the overtime.
I know for a fact employers that have minor workers MUST provide breaks and lunches to them. From my understanding if you work 7 or more hours you are given a 30 minute break. Whether or not you take it is up to you and in other cases there is too much work to do and they get skipped or missed.
I know for a fact employers that have minor workers MUST provide breaks and lunches to them. From my understanding if you work 7 or more hours you are given a 30 minute break. Whether or not you take it is up to you and in other cases there is too much work to do and they get skipped or missed.
Whether or not there is too much work to do is irrelevant. That's Kroger being cheap because the company doesn't want to properly staff the departments. It's Kroger's fault if the work doesn't get done, not ours. Whether we're working four hours or eight hours, we deserve our breaks/lunches and no way am I working without a break regardless of how busy it is or how much work there is.
-- Edited by GenesisOne on Friday 12th of April 2013 10:57:55 PM
