Vacation, Fringe Benefits and Charging Credit Card Fees Back To The Employee

[MsSunny]

What is the name of your state? OHIO

This has been a long time question of mine and want to know some answers. I read, some time ago, that the State of Ohio was going to pass a law or requirement that all employees receive vacation compensation working at businesses in Ohio. Has this or is this coming to the State of Ohio? How can I find out?

One question I have is that I have worked a few years at a family owned business in the state of Ohio and I got a policy and procedures booklet when I was hired. It said I would have one-week vacation after one year of employment. I waited two years before I could afford a vacation and when I came back and found my check short, I asked about it and they said that I was entitled to one week vacation and it did not say "one-week-paid vacation." I had worked two full years, 40 hours a week, with no pay for holidays, sick time or overtime in any one day ... only overtime after 40 hours a week, and I think that is only because it is a State of Ohio ruling.

Also, I have another question and know that if it is not ILLEGAL ... it has to be unethical. We have employees who are on the wait staff and work in the restaurant part of the business (it is a hotel too). The company takes the percentage from the employee's paycheck whenever someone pays with a credit card. For example, there is a fee for a company using credit card machines and settling and receiving payment this way ... at the rate of 2% on the dollar. One waiter just told me that his deduction for this ON his very last paycheck was $23.00 alone!!!!!!! He says that cannot be LEGAL??????? In other words, how in the world can an employee or waitress/waiter decide when and how a customer pays for their meal. It is the employer who provides the customer with the available means of payment for Diners, American Express, Master Card or Visa. So why and how is this allowed??????? OR IS IT????? What can an employee there do without jeopardizing their job?

Thanks for any information you can give me for these questions above.

Sincerely, Sunny

 

[cbg]

Has this or is this coming to the State of Ohio?

NO state, including Ohio, has any law requiring an employer to provide vacation, paid or unpaid, and I will be astonished if such a law is passed any time in the forseeable future. No state requires private employers to provide vacation, paid or unpaid; sick time (unless FMLA applies), paid or unpaid; holidays, paid or unpaid; or personal time; paid or unpaid. A very few states (Ohio is not one of them) require x hours of unpaid time off specifically for taking children or elderly parents to the doctor, or for certain school events. Only three or four states, and again Ohio is not one of them, require overtime to be calculated on a daily basis; Federal law and the law of the large majority of states only require overtime over 40 hours in a week.

However, an employer cannot require an employee to pay a fee when the customer uses a credit card, and you can file a complaint with the state DOL. Since the practice is illegal, you cannot legally be fired for filing such a complaint, and if you do lose your job because of it, you can sue for wrongful termination.