'If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it': Manager creates mandatory lunch break schedule, employee finds loophole to get paid overtime

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    Font - ]] ]] "Micromanaging my lunch break? Enjoy the extra paperwork!"
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    Font - Micromanaging break? Enjoy the extra paperwork! my lunch SOC Hey folks! I have a story of malicious compliance that I think you'll appreciate. This happened at my previous job, where my manager was the definition of a micromanager.
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    Font - At this job, we had an hour for lunch, but the breakroom was small, so people usually staggered their lunch breaks. It was an unspoken rule that as long as you didn't take more than an hour and your work didn't suffer, no one really cared when you took your lunch. That was until our new manager, let's call him Dave, stepped in.
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    Font - Dave decided that he needed to control when everyone took their lunch breaks. He created a strict schedule, assigning each person a specific lunch hour. My assigned time was right in the middle of my most productive part of the day, which was super frustrating.
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    Font - I decided to follow the new lunch schedule, but I also decided to take full advantage of my rights as an employee. You see, our company policy stated that any work done during our lunch break was considered overtime and needed to be compensated.
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    Font - So, I started to "accidentally" schedule meetings, calls, and tasks during my lunch break, making sure to meticulously document every minute of work I did. Then, at the end of the week, I'd submit a detailed overtime report to Dave, showing him all the extra work I did during my lunch hour.
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    Font - Dave was furious, but he couldn't deny my overtime requests without violating company policy. After a few weeks of paying me extra for work that I would've gladly done during my regular hours, Dave scrapped his strict lunch break schedule and let us go back to our old system.
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    Font - Fluffy-Mastodon +1. 5 hr. ago The first thing a new manager should do is... nothing! Observe and learn the ways things work first.
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    Rectangle - Any Significance_248 6 hr. ago If it ain't broke, don't fix it! I've had managers like this before and it's very frustrating!
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    Font - freeburnerthrowaway +1 - 5 hr. ago Dave, the micromanager, needed to micromanage the micro breakroom. Makes sense.
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    Font - einahpetsg+2.2 hr. ago Putting people into a schedule for lunch without asking their preferences is asking for trouble. When I worked a job that needed staggered lunch we asked each in the team. Those who were awake early oreferred an early lunch so they got an early lunch. People are capable of doing things without oversight.
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    Font - schwarzmalerin 4 hr. ago +1. When did you eat then? I missed something there I think.
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    Font - Critical Depth420 OP. 4 hr. ago Ah, yeah so I guess I should've mentioned that I don't actually eat during lunch, I use the lunch break more so simply as a break from work in general so I can check texts, social media etc so I wasn't sacrificing much by just working through
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    Font - glucoseintolerant 2 hr. ago +3. in the industry I work in. its common for some of the larger companies to buy a smaller one for one reason or another. you know what the bests one do? drop off new shirts and hats and leave them alone. the ones that don't end up screwing something up with a perfectly run company and pretty much flush their investment down the drain.
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    Font - kyridwen 2 hr. ago I'm surprised he didn't ask you to justify why that work couldn't have been done at a different time of day! If the company pays overtime for work done on lunchbreak, then it seems like no matter who picks the time it's open for abuse by people claiming work had to be done then, thank you very much for the extra cash!
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    Font - legal bagel 53 min. ago I mean, I can understand scheduling meal breaks to ensure coverage but also in my state if an employee misses even 1 minute of their unpaid meal break then they are entitled to a full hour pay at the regular rate. Also employees are supposed to start their meal period no later than the start of their fifth hour of work or it's considered missed and right to extra hour of pay. But I don't like typical schedules, I'm much better working in two to three hour spurts th
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    Font - Nepion 42 min. ago At my workplace, that would get a, "Don't schedule meetings on your lunch break" reprimand and then a swift path to being fired if overtime continued to accrue.
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    Font - tingtong500 1 hr. ago +1. First rule of management make sure the place isn't on fire then lock yourself in your office and hope the people who are infinitely smarter than you are competent and will just tell you what they need from you as you are little more than a glorified secretary/babysitter here to make sure people are playing nice with each other and are not planning world domination from their cubicles.

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