Fyi, I have already filed a report about me not getting breaks on time to the Illinois Dept of Labor because of what my director said.
For a short recap, last week I had an incident with the center director at the daycare I work at about how to go about my breaks. I said I wanted them done according to the state laws (I live in Illinois) and my center director got upset with me for constantly exercising my right. The conversation didn't go anywhere, so I made a report and called my regional director but she never answered.
So, the reason I'm posting this today is because I did talk to my regional director. She was at my center and pulled me into the office to talk about breaks. We even read the guidelines posted in the break room that say “Illinois employers must provide a meal break to employees who work at least seven and a half continuous hours. This break must be at least 20 minutes long, and it must start no later than five hours after the beginning of the shift.” My regional director says that means I need to work more than 7.5 hours to qualify for a break. I nicely explained that I believe it is saying I have to work a minimum of 7.5 hours, which on most days I do. I usually work 9-10 hours.
When I was listing examples, I brought up how on last Monday, I worked 7.5 hours and didn't get a break. She then explained that because I was able to eat and use the bathroom while working, I didn't need to get a break period where I was relieved of duty.
I feel like I'm not misunderstanding this. The law says I need work at least 7.5 hours, and that's what happened. So I should have gotten a break no later than 5 hours into my shift. I'm scheduled for 9 hours every day, so my directors know I'm supposed to get a break unless they send me home early enough to not need one, which they don't always do.
Something that I just remembered while typing this, was last Monday, I remember clocking in like 1 or 2 mins early for my shift because I need to be ready by start time, so I clocked in to give myself that time to gather what I needed before the day started. A few days later, I noticed my timecard was changed, to no longer reflect the 2 extra minutes I was on the clock for. I wonder if they did that so it would show I worked for 7 hours and 30 minutes instead of 7 hours and 32 minutes. I never brought that up, but after this talk I had with the regional director, this has me wondering…