'I'm being singled out': Boss ‘quietly fires’ employee after they report upper management for taking their tips

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Apr 16, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

If there is one thing that employers cannot stand, it is their employees speaking up for their own rights. You should be as quiet as possible in the workplace, and never ever even consider raising issues that are related to your work and/or your employers. An employee who does this kind of thing will probably regret it later on.

Much like the employee in this Reddit story, who thought they were doing the right thing, but their employer definitely did not agree. OP (original poster), noticed that all the upper management was taking money out of the tip pool, something they are definitely not allowed to do, so OP reported it to the Department of Labor (DOL). Somehow, the boss found out about it, and started retaliating against OP - cutting their hours, making them do tasks that are not in their job title, etc… OP now wonders if they should, again, report their boss to DOL.

Scroll down to read the rest of the story. When you are done, click here for a story of a worker who quit their job after getting a 50-cent raise.

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  • 01
    "I'm just going to report you again"
    via Canva
  • 02
    Reported employer to DOL. They show up, I get reduced hours and dish shifts. Am I being “quiet fired" and/or retaliated against?
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 03
    Work in a restaurant as a experienced cook / key holder where 5 5 hour shifts is somehow considered "full- time." They are only open two shifts with a split in the middle.
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 04
    There is an equal tip pool between the cashier and BOH, which has slightly offset the low hours, which was fine until I had to report them to the DOL for the owner, gm and assistant manager being in the tip pool.
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 05
    And guess what, the DOL investigator actually showed up and interviewed everyone who showed up to work that day but not everyone. They requested all pay info for past and current
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 06
    employees and they made the owner's life for a few weeks. Managers have also told my coworkers they will most likely get backpay but nobody knows when.
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 07
    Fast forward to this week. My hours were cut from 25 to 20, as well as being scheduled two dish shifts, while the kissing new hire only has one and 5 shifts; as well as the managers/owner get 5 shifts.
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 08
    Myself, the oldest/most experienced person in the building unfortunately, and "the kids working their first jobs" get 4 shifts. The main dishwasher resigned recently, and another
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 09
    reduced his hours to 2 shifts(because the station and job so bad). I have 9 years cooking experience, as well as sous chef and exec chef experience on my
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 10
    resume, as well as a useless bachelors. It feels pretty obvious they're quiet firing me, putting me thru the ringer, and will probably only have 18 hrs this week if I'm lucky, due to dish shifts being only about 4.4
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 11
    hrs. I can't determine if it could also be retaliation bc they somehow found out I'm the whistleblower. How confidential are DOL complaints?
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 12
    SPAM Dugley2352 . 14 hr. ago OP needs to check with other employees, to see if anyone else is being treated the same. That will help determine if OP is being singled out for retaliation, or if employer
    via u/Dugley2352
  • 13
    has reduced hours to what they can afford after being caught. OP, don't out yourself as the one who reported them to DOL until you determine if anyone else had hours cut.
    via u/Dugley2352
  • 14
    • casey5656 18 hr. ago It could possibly be considered being retaliation for reporting to the DOL. I'd contact the DOL again and report, but I'd also start looking for another job.
    via u/casey5656
  • 15
    ThatMizK 17 hr. ago • Yeah, if you're going to report your employer to the DOL and you intend to continue working there, you need to not breathe a word about it to anyone. Not a singular word to a singular
    via u/ThatMizK
  • 16
    soul. Don't even tell the d dishwashing machine. The DOL won't rat you out (AFAIK), but as I'm sure you know given your work history, everyone in a restaurant knows everything. Doubly so for juicy info like that. They know and they're pushing you out.
    via u/ThatMizK
  • 17
    Iceroadtrucker2008 17 hr. ago So with your experience why stay?
    via u/Iceroadtrucker2008
  • 18
    Neighborhood Think665 OP. 16 hr. ago It's hard finding anything that pays anything in the small town I regret moving back to. Think rust belt.
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665
  • 19
    Jerking_From_Home 16 hr. ago Yes, it is retaliation. They don't want to fire you because that would drive you to report them again. They are currently trying to get you to quit and thinking you won't report this because you're afraid of being fired.
    via u/Jerking_From_Home
  • 20
    If you report them for retaliation you would probably be fired, which is more retaliation. The DOL will pursue the case for you and get your lost wages etc but in the short term you're still out of a job.
    via u/Jerking_From_Home
  • 21
    GSTLT 16 hr. ago This is the answer. DOL is slow, but once one their radar they do tend to take action. Both the reduction of hours and the switching duties can be considered retaliation. Report the retaliation, but also start
    via u/GSTLT
  • 22
    looking for another job because there's a lot of ways things can do sideways during the process. Plus, your ownership/management has shown you who they are...believe them. One problem of employment law is often you don't want to keep your job with a employer at the end of the day.
    via u/GSTLT
  • 23
    Timid_Tanuki . 15 hr. ago I would report them to the DOL again for this. Make it their problem to prove that they AREN'T retaliating against you.
    via u/Timid_Tanuki
  • 24
    Neighborhood Think665 OP 15 hr. ago 100%
    via u/NeighborhoodThink665

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boss workplace-stories employee fired manager job tales-from-the-workplace reddit story ceo overworked-employees workplace Reddit company funny
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