Millions of people count on Starbucks baristas to provide them with a jolt of caffeine each day, but those employees might be the ones truly in need of a little help: Baristas around the country are spilling the coffee beans on their employer, claiming they are overworked and strained thanks in part to the chain’s endless stream of pilot programs and new services. [More]
employees
Underpaid & Overstressed: 4 Things Starbucks Baristas Say Is Wrong With The Company
By 5.26.17
McDonald’s Manager Arrested For Refunding $3,800 Worth Of Big Macs … To Herself
By 4.14.17
Each day, fast food managers around the world refund money to unhappy customers, but one burger-brained McDonald’s manager realized she could issue a fake refund for a Big Mac and pocket the money… Then she did it nearly 1,100 times. [More]
Instacart To Pay $4.6M, Revise Service Amount Description To Resolve Class Action Lawsuit
By 3.24.17
Back in 2015, and again last year, Instacart shoppers took their growing ire over worker classification, as well as tip and service amount changes, a step farther by suing the grocery delivery startup claiming it broke state and federal labor laws, the company has agreed to settle the class-action suit for $4.6 million. [More]
Instacart Workers Say They Were Illegally Misclassified As Independent Contractors
By 12.5.16
To say that things have been contentious between Instacart and its hired shoppers and drivers would be a bit of an understatement, following backlash the company received when overhauling — and then again revamping — the way it handles tips. Last week, workers took things to another level, suing the grocery delivery startup claiming it broke state and federal labor laws. [More]
McDonald’s Will Pay $3.75M To Settle Franchisee’s Alleged Labor Violations
By 10.31.16
Two years after the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel declared that McDonald’s could be held responsible for franchisees’ bad labor practices, the fast food giant has agreed, for the first time, to pay $3.75 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed the company was liable for labor law violations by a California franchisee. [More]
Wells Fargo Employees Say High-Pressure Atmosphere Caused Panic Attacks, Shingles
By 10.21.16
Wells Fargo employees caught up in the bank’s fake account fiasco lost more than their jobs if they did or didn’t meet sales goals: they also say they suffered physically and emotionally from the pressure placed on them by management to “sell, sell, sell.” [More]
Former Wells Fargo Employees Sue Bank For $2.6B, Claiming Wrongful Termination
By 9.26.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
Days after lawmakers urged the Department of Labor to investigate Wells Fargo’s actions against employees after workers of the banking giant claimed they were fired and otherwise mistreated if they failed to meet strict sales quotas that ultimately resulted in the opening and closing of two million unauthorized consumer accounts, some former employees have come together to file a class action lawsuit against the company. [More]
Wells Fargo Employee: I Was Fired For Reporting Unauthorized Accounts
By 9.21.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
Yesterday, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf boasted to a Senate panel about the company’s ethical backbone, pointing out that the bank had fired 5,300 employees for allegedly opening nearly two million unauthorized deposit accounts. However, one former Fargo staffer says he was given the boot because he tried to alert the bank to his co-workers’ bad behavior.
[More]
4 Things Former Wells Fargo Workers Revealed About Pressure To Meet Sales Goals
By 9.19.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
On Tuesday morning, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will face the Senate Banking Committee to answer questions about how the bank’s high-pressure sales goals led a number of employees to fraudulently open up millions of unauthorized accounts. In advance of that hearing, a group of former Wells employees shared their insider views on this scandal. [More]
Former ITT Employees Sue Over Sudden Closures
By 9.7.16
While it was no doubt a shock for 40,000 ITT Technical Institute students to learn they no longer had a place to pursue their education, 8,000 employees of the company also lost their jobs. Now some of those laid-off workers have sued for-profit operator ITT Educational Services for failing to give them adequate notice their jobs would be eliminated. [More]
Are Shorter Work Days Better For Your Health & Productivity?
By 5.23.16
There are 120 hours in a 5-day workweek, and for most working Americans at least a third of that time is spent earning a living. Sure, you’ve got 16-ish hours away from the job each day, but is that enough time to enjoy all your personal, family, community, and social commitments without becoming a harried, frazzled unproductive mess? An ongoing study out of Sweden seems to indicate that a shorter work day may actually result in more productivity.
[More]
4 Things We Learned About Working In A Poultry Plant
By 5.12.16
For years, reports have surface related to the mistreatment of chickens — and other animals — that are destined for our dinner tables. What we hear about less frequently are the working conditions for those employed by the nation’s biggest poultry producers. [More]
Uber Drivers Are Independent Contractors, Will Receive Up To $100M In Settlement
By 4.22.16
For the better part of three years, Uber drivers have sparred with the ride-sharing company over the status of their employment: are they independent contractor or actual employees? Today, Uber has agreed to settle two lawsuits over the issue, paying up to $100 million to the drivers who will remain independent contractors. [More]
FedEx Employee Falls Asleep Loading Plane In Tennessee, Ends Up In Texas
By 4.15.16
Falling asleep on the job is a big no-no. It can end with a reprimand — or worse, a firing — but for one FedEx employee, an on-the-job catnap earned him a flight to Texas. [More]
Lawsuit: Target Failed To Pay New York Warehouse Workers Overtime
By 3.31.16
A group of Target warehouse employees in New York filed a class-action seeking lawsuit against the retailer, accusing the company of misclassifying workers with low-level management responsibilities so they wouldn’t receive overtime pay. [More]
Costco Raising Entry-Level Employee Minimum Wage For The First Time In Nearly A Decade
By 3.4.16
In a bid to attract more quality workers, Costco says it will raise the minimum wage for entry-level workers for the first time in nine years. [More]
There Are Suddenly A Lot Of Closed Old Country Buffet, Ryan’s & HomeTown Buffet Restaurants
By 2.5.16
Sometimes you just don’t know what you want for dinner. For that reason, we have buffets. But there will be a fewer options for some diners, as Ovation Brands, the operator of restaurants like Hometown Buffet, Ryan’s, Fire Mountain, and Old Country Buffet, announced the closure of 74 underperforming locations. [More]
TSA Stepping Up Random Security Screenings For Airport Workers
By 12.29.15
There’s a good chance you’ve been waiting (patiently) in the airport security line, preparing to take off your shoes, your belt, remove your laptop, and place everything on the belt, only to see an airport employee breezily walk through the side gate with a quick flick of their badge. That scenario will likely be less and less frequent around the country as the Transportation Security Administration plans to increase random checks of airport and airline employees. [More]
