Can employees be made to clock out for slow times and call it a lunch break?

[seeking_info 0]

Referring to Texas laws,

1) Can an employer require you to take an unscheduled lunch break for the purpose of

saving hours on payroll.

Example: ( Lunch breaks are not required of all employees and not everyday for those

that are told to clock out, when they are needing to cut hours so they have

employees clock out during slow times after only having been at work 1 hr.)

2) Can an employer change your schedule with no notice? Either by adding, reducing,

or even removing you from the schedule? Specifically before the employees spends time and money to get to work only to find out they have been removed from today's schedule?

Example: (I have a set schedule and on more than one occasion I have shown up for work to find out I had been removed from the schedule with no prior notice.)

[pg1067 197]

1) Can an employer require you to take an unscheduled lunch break for the purpose of

saving hours on payroll.

Yes.

2) Can an employer change your schedule with no notice? Either by adding, reducing,

or even removing you from the schedule? Specifically before the employees spends time and money to get to work only to find out they have been removed from today's schedule?

Yes.

[Guest FindLaw_Amir]

You may want to contact the Texas Workforce Commission for further clarification. You may also wish to visit the Employment Law Center and read Wage & Hour Laws as a good resource to learn more about this subject matter.

[seeking_info 0]

Thank you very much for your speedy response.

I have visited wage and hour division prior to asking my questions here .

I do have to ask if the replies and responses received here are they from lawyers?

I know personally of a lawsuit here in Tx. Where a corporation was sued in a class action suit because they were having employees clock out during slow times and calling it lunch breaks. The employees prevailed in that case. I was not present during the trials so do not know all the particulars. How or why is my case any different?

see below my previous example

Example: Lunch breaks are not required of all employees and not everyday for those

that are told to clock out, when they are needing to cut hours so they have

employees clock out during slow times after only having been at work 1 hr

(calling it a lunch break)

Thank you

[pg1067 197]

I know personally of a lawsuit here in Tx. Where a corporation was sued in a class action suit because they were having employees clock out during slow times and calling it lunch breaks. The employees prevailed in that case. I was not present during the trials so do not know all the particulars. How or why is my case any different?

Since you don't know the details of the case, you certainly can't expect us to know the details such that we could intelligently discuss the differences between that case and the circumstances you described. The relevant facts are important.

The implication of your posts seems to be that the employees are still working even though they have been clocked out. If that's the case, then I agree that's a problem. However, if they're being sent home or cut loose for an hour and are not working, why would that be a problem?