Question about breaks

[am48823]

What is the name of your state? AL

Frankly, I did not know where to post this as it does not really match any of the forums that I scanned over. However, it is an employment issue. So I figured that someone could assist me.

Fact Situation
1. Employee works as a contracted employee of a public school system in the state of Alabama where he is the head custodian of one of their schools.
2. Employee works 8 hour days (from 9:30am to 5:30pm) 5 days a week.
3. Employee has recently been told that he is to take no breaks of any kind including but not limited to a lunch break. The words of his supervisor were "you are paid to work not to eat".
4. Breaks were previously taken though were not always regular in nature.
5. This policy apparently does not apply to other employees. Another employee who is also a custodian working 8 hour days has been told she is allowed to take breaks including her normal lunch break. All other employees not working the same job (teachers, secretaries, etc) also get breaks which are generally assigned to them for a certain time slot.

Based on this, I would like to know if there is any law which bars this policy either on the grounds that employees are entitled to breaks or on the grounds of fairness considering this appears to be policy that does not apply to all.

If possible, I'd appreciate links to cases or other sources which I could read over regarding this issue. Thanks.

 

[justalayman]

1. Employee works as a contracted employee of a public school system in the state of Alabama where he is the head custodian of one of their schools.

Does the contract address this situation?



Oh, btw, no laws requiring breaks or lunches in Alabama I could find.

 

[am48823]

To my knowledge, the contract does not address the situation in any manner. However, I was going to suggest that this be looked into.

I also could not find any Alabama laws on the issue. Frankly, the Alabama code looks to be a pile of crap which is horribly outdated. One of the big articles in the labor part of the code states how women have to be given separate "wash closets".

Some sites I have found tend to state that employers have to give breaks to employees that work more than 5 hours. However, they do not back that statement up with any sources. I was curious as to whether any federal statue or cases might be of note here as well.

 

[justalayman]

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/breaks.htm

http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/rest.htm

http://www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/meal.htm

Although these do not cite any laws by number, they give a summary of the pertinent laws.

The only thing, unless the contract does addres this, is that he is being treated differently by the employer. Just be sure you are comparing apples to apples in regards to the level of his status compared to the other employees you referenced.

Additionally, if there is a union involved, this would be your first step to seek a rememdy.

 

[am48823]

From the links it appears Alabama is one of the states without a law in that area sort of as I had guessed. I do not have a copy of the contract though. As far as a union goes, few jobs in Alabama are unionized. I am not certain if educators and other school staff are.

On the subject of being treated differently, there are, I believe, two other full time custodians who work 8 hour shifts but do not work exactly the same hours. His hours require him to be at the school when lunch is served. In the past, he monitored the lunchroom during this time and did work that was needed for that period. After the students had left and everyone else had eaten, he took about 15 minutes off to eat lunch if he had time. I believe another custodian also works during the lunch period.

In any case, one of those custodians was concerned about the policy and said that she couldn't work without a break. She was told that the new policy did not apply to her which satisifed her. She has been told she is free to continue taking regular breaks as well as to stop for lunch as she has in the past. All other employees would work different jobs (ranging from the principal to teachers and other staff). Teachers are given one hour each day free of classes and have a normal time set aside for lunch.

Looking at this as a incident of being treated differently, where would be the best place to look for relevant information on this? From what I have seen of the Alabama Code, it addresses only minorities being treated differently (which this employee is not) and mentions age discrimination.

 

[cbg]

Bottom line:

Neither AL nor Federal law requires that any employee be granted any breaks, meal or rest, at all.

Unless the employee is being singled out BECAUSE OF his/her race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, pregnancy or because s/he is over 40, it is not illegal discrimination even if he/she is the only employee in the entire organization who is not permitted to take breaks.