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I think fighting this, even if you had secret recordings and stuff, is a really bad idea. Even if you're fully vindicated industrial action looks terrible on a work resume.

A better option is to try and get the manager to do his job - tell him you won't hand over money you didn't take and aren't accountable for, but that he should build a system where money can't get taken. Give him some examples of ways to properly secure the register (limiting the staff who can access the register, recording who accesses the register/unique registers for each cashier, proper review of 'no sale' entries and other checks).

Worst comes to worst, it's a job at pizza hut. Walk away.

 generalgrog wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
That depends on your state's laws.

If you live in a "right to work" state you can be fired at any time for any reason, and your only options are to pay the money and keep your job, or quit.

If you live in a state with unions and decent labor laws it's almost certainly illegal, and if you are fired for refusing you'll probably be able to sue them for quite a bit of money.

Conclusion: don't vote for "pro-business" conservatives unless you're rich enough to own the business.

Even in right to work states..companies still need a good reason to fire you. You can't just fire someone because you don't like them. You have to develop a case history of incompetance or you will get sued for wrongful termination.

GG

Let's put it a different way. In 'Right to work' states, companies don't need to PROVE you screwed up to fire you. They can make vague charges and they will stick and there's not one thing you can do about it.

 generalgrog wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
That depends on your state's laws.

If you live in a "right to work" state you can be fired at any time for any reason, and your only options are to pay the money and keep your job, or quit.

If you live in a state with unions and decent labor laws it's almost certainly illegal, and if you are fired for refusing you'll probably be able to sue them for quite a bit of money.

Conclusion: don't vote for "pro-business" conservatives unless you're rich enough to own the business.

Even in right to work states..companies still need a good reason to fire you. You can't just fire someone because you don't like them. You have to develop a case history of incompetance or you will get sued for wrongful termination.

GG

Er...not necessarily.
It depends on: 1) the state; 2) are there employment contracts involved; 3) does the termination violate federal or state nondiscrimination, whistelblower, or similar legislation.

This is why people should always be a member of a union if possible. Though with fast food places and those with a high turnover in staff it's rarely workable from what I've seen. If you have a union you have a place to go for legal advice that isn't an online wargaming forum, you'll have people who can support you and take on your case. Otherwise you're just taking on the company entirely off your own back and that's an uphill struggle even in the UK which has much better employee protection than what I'm reading about the US. Secret recording and the like to gather evidence sounds clever, but given the vulnerable employment position and the unscrupulous approach taken by the manage, it's just asking for them to try and smear you and make you unemployable. Even as it is they probably won't give a decent reference, but that's common among some bigger companies. Hell, you could be right about it being the manager. Try asking him if these deductions from pay to cover losses from the till will appear on any paperwork or invoices? If not it looks rather like he's covering his own tracks. Though it could but be hiding his own laziness/incompetence concerning prevention of theft. Either way, as manager he's able to abuse his position to fiddle the accounts in this manner to disguise money being removed from the till.

If you can't talk the manager around with reason and it looks like he's going to fire you, I'd leave first. Then tell future employees I left voluntarily to concentrate on studies/exams or some other BS. Anything other than 'I was sacked, but it wasn't my fault, honest'.

< Taken by the void dragon. >

 Che-Vito wrote:
100% extortion. Tell her to make waves with it, and to be redundant in making waves. They might fire her; but they'll get a lawsuit and lose business if they do.

And she wins her case and walks away with $319 in lost wages, and a record (rightly or wrongly) as someone eager to undergo industrial action. When she goes for jobs in the future, do you think having that reputation will be worth the $319 she won in her case?

Stories like this are always more complicated than the second hand teller makes out.

First off, a franchise is going to have many managers. Are all involved in skimming? Or just one? Is the General Manager involved? If only one is involved, are all the other managers covering?

That's going to be a big factor in what a person should do. If it's one rogue manager, they will probably get fired eventually, although eventually can take awhile...

One possible form of recourse is to talk to the GM or even franchise owner, and explain what's going on. If managers are skimming, a good GM or owner can figure it out, once they know where to look.

Whether to quit or be fire (as I wouldn't recommend paying anything back over $10-$20) depends on whether you value unemployment benefits or a clean work history more.

Well, to wrap the story up, another manager (so i guess this one is under the one demanding the money) fronted up the cash. When my friend asked about it, the one making demands said that as long as the register balance is back to normal, he didn't care where the money came from.

It's a confusing mess to be sure, but my friend didn't pay the money, and even though she didn't do more about the really off way regarding how the manager is reacting to this missing cash, small victories are better than nothing.

 Necroshea wrote:
Well, to wrap the story up, another manager (so i guess this one is under the one demanding the money) fronted up the cash. When my friend asked about it, the one making demands said that as long as the register balance is back to normal, he didn't care where the money came from.

It's a confusing mess to be sure, but my friend didn't pay the money, and even though she didn't do more about the really off way regarding how the manager is reacting to this missing cash, small victories are better than nothing.

Texas has laws about “at will employees.” so she is most likely an “at will employee."

You should really advise her to find another job. Working for someone like that just is not worth it. That manager really needs to undergo disciplinary action for even suggesting such a course of action from all of the employee's.

That is no way to run a restaurant

I would still write the letter to corporate as they would want to know about behavior like this.

I would also write a letter to HR explaining that I felt threatened and worried about getting fired because of the managers inappropriate actions.

I would never stand for this when I was a restaurant manager.(3 years).

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
This is why people should always be a member of a union if possible.

P.S. This is terrible advice.

Document as much as possible. Consult a lawyer on how to stay protected in this situation since it is an at-will state. Write one letter detailing what was done to as many people above this manager's head as can be possible, send a copy to the lawyer and keep a personal copy. Refuse to speak to the manager alone without someone from the company if it involves this situation, no matter what.

Yes this is all extreme and you might as well quit, but someone like that needs to be brought to their attention.