cross-posted from: https://lemmy.studio/post/283413
My wife works in a restaurant, and the power-tripping manager has instituted a new policy where all shift changes must be approved by management. I think that is reasonable enough, but they’re also asking the originally-scheduled employee why they are switching shifts, then approving or denying based on the answer.
For example, her coworker (Tom) wanted Monday afternoon off, and Harry agreed to cover the shift. The manager asked Tom why he wanted Harry to work for him, and Tom said, “I have a softball game.” Manager denied the shift change because it was “unnecessary”.
Is this legal? I feel like if you’re able to find someone to cover your shift, you don’t owe management any explanation why you need the time off. How should my wife approach this situation? Colorado, USA BTW.
The policy isn’t specifically illegal as far as I know.
It can potentially be illegal due to the subjective nature of approving and denying request. For example if someone gets approval for a religious event, but you get denied for a secular event. Any favoritism towards a protected class makes this policy illegal. Proving it in court is difficult unless you have a smoking gun.
If it were me my request would always be “for a religious event.” No I’m not giving more details. I need time off for a religious event. Deny or approved?
But you’re not me, so it may be the hill to sacrifice your income stability on.
Never ever ever ever ever give your bosses more information than they need. “I have a personal appointment that cannot be rescheduled” “I’m not comfortable discussing that”
Illegal? Probably not. Asshole move? Most definitely. I think the reason that they’re cracking down on this is to avoid potential overtime payments but it doesn’t make it right or fair. You don’t owe an explanation to anyone if you’ve been responsible enough to cover your shift. That much said, the only way to be sure is if you file a complaint with Colorado’s Department of Labor and have one of their attorneys or Labor Law Enforcement Officers go over your claim. It could very well be considered an unacceptable breach of privacy and this restaurant could face punitive fines for behaving like this but I am neither a lawyer nor a resident of Colorado.
