I see this riding on technicality
The largest company in sports food + hospitality is requiring service workers to punch in and immediately punch out to take their 30 minute unpaid break during college game days. This is not even legally required federally or in our state- I think they just want to look good?).
And if you are late for your shift, which is really just waiting time, you get docked points.
It’s also impossible to get to these college football games- fighting through crowds, going through metal detectors. So it’s not like you’re just a free bird. Which wouldn’t be an issue if you truly were receiving a break.
I’m somewhat versed on meal/break times and if this scenario is not technically in violation, it seems very easy to break compliance in the break being uninterrupted if the employee is in the area where they would have coffee and stuff for us- with a manager addressing issues or talking about the days events like “hey you missed a punch”, or “can I talk to you about your schedule?”
Are there any labor law lawyers out there that could argue this as waiting time, or how this could be illegal? – cross posted to workers rights.