Chains, Wal Mart, Taco Bell, Toys 'R' Us stealing hours from poor workers.

[Zinfandel]

Experts on compensation say that the illegal doctoring of hourly employees' time records is far more prevalent than most Americans believe. The practice, commonly called shaving time, is easily done and hard to detect — a simple matter of computer keystrokes — and has spurred a growing number of lawsuits and settlements against a wide range of businesses.

Workers have sued Family Dollar and Pep Boys, the auto parts and repair chain, accusing managers of deleting hours. A jury found that Taco Bell managers in Oregon had routinely erased workers' time. More than a dozen former Wal-Mart employees said in interviews and depositions that managers had altered time records to shortchange employees. The Department of Labor recently reached two back-pay settlements with Kinko's photocopy centers, totaling $56,600, after finding that managers in Ithaca, N.Y., and Hyannis, Mass., had erased time for 13 employees.

"There are a lot of incentives for store managers to cut costs in illegal ways," said David Lewin, a professor of management who teaches a course on compensation at the University of California, Los Angeles. "You hope that would be contrary to company practices, but sometimes these practices become so ingrained that they become the dominant practice."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/national/04WAGE.html?pagewanted=2

[thexanman]

1. I'd believe it

My boss did it to about 50 people, including me, for a couple years before he was caught. Really pissed me off because all the company could do was fire him. There was no way to keep track of how many hours each person lost, so everyone just had to deal with it and move on.

[MSgt213]

2. This is totally insane. It also makes me wonder how much these stores are

are actually making that they have to resort to stealing money from their employees. There must be some real benefit in it or they wouldn't be denying it so righteously and still doing it.

[Walt Starr]

3. Every person paid hourly should keep a personal log

The log should be admissable evidence in civil proceedings should the company engage in such illegal practices. you would then be due back pay, plus interest, plus overtime where applicable, plus punitive damages.