EBT/Food Stamp card post emergency suckiness

[lonnolan]

Well, this is an old story, but after reading through the archives I believe this one fits like a charm and works well as a first post. I live in Southern Mississippi, and worked at a K-Mart for a few months after Hurricane Katrina hit the area. Most of the lanes took EBT/food stamp cards, but some didn't due to damage to the card readers. Well, here is the experience.

SC
Me

Due to my lane not taking the EBT cards, I had hand made a sign specifically stating that they could not be used in the lane and placed it where anyone approaching could see it. I also had a habit of asking as I begin ringing them up, however this person had been on her phone at the beginning. Went through over 300 dollars worth of food and other items, and then went to payment.

SC: How do I use my EBT card, the reader is gone.

Me: ((Trying not to reach over and smack her upside the head)) Maam, the reader does not work on this lane, we will have to completely cancel everything and rering you up on another register.

SC: Spends about 5 minutes trying to convince me that it can be done until I finally get a manager over, as to void such a large amount requires one.

Manager gets her to agree to just transfer the entire transaction over to a separate register where the reader works instead, something I had no clue could be done, but all the better and tells me that she will ensure that my till does not show up wrong at the end of the day.

Get a call later that week, have 30 dollars removed from my pay due to my register being under. Turns out that after it was transferred the lady suddenly decided that she didn't want some of the items and got them removed from the bill, and the first manager never got around to getting the receipt to put in mine. I had been tired, so I had just signed the paper agreeing and accepted it, but I should have fought that one.

[Evannah]

Wow. That was like a chain reaction of fail there. Customer didn't read sign --> Customer then didn't want some of the items --> Manager messed up causing your till to be under --> You're $30 out of pocket.

Wow. Yeah, you should have fought it, but I guess sometimes you just don't want the hassle.

[TheSHAD0W]

I'm guessing you don't live in the US; here it's not legal for employers to make workers pay for register shortages.

[eltf177]

I would have fought this one out to the bitter end, no way I'm getting personally shafted by this mess!

And it all starts with SC's failure to pay attention, put down the freaking phone!

[EricKei]

Shadow - According to his post, he does live in the US.

[CoffeeMonkey]

According to what I've read on my state's Dept of Labor (I can't find it right now) employees pay cannot be docked for any reason without their consent. (emphasis mine)

Of course, it also says that you can't retaliate against an employee for not consenting to have their pay docked, but we all know how that works in practice.

[RealUnimportant]

But the OP signed off, which would be taken as consent.

Super-sucks, of course.

[lonnolan]

I basically made the mistake of signing the form agreeing to it. They could not take it without the consent form, and as it had been a long week and late shift, did not think to fight it.

[Lovecats]

Many years ago when I worked for Kinfolk Dollar, they used to take it out of your pay if you were short. I wouldn't have minded so much if they'd put it back in when I was over. But we knew THAT wasn't going to happen.

[Sapphire Silk]

I would not have lasted long in a cashier's job. I'd have been fired the first time I challenged someone docking my pay for a register being under.

You don't mess with my cash.

[CoffeeMonkey]

But the OP signed off, which would be taken as consent.

Super-sucks, of course.

eeeeeexactly. Or the company has a policy, which you agree to follow when hired, that says they will take said money out of your pay.

Or they just take it, and count on the employee not knowing that they can't. How often do you hear of servers having to cover the tab of a dine and dash? sometimes it's a small time gig and the boss doesn't know that they're breaking the law because they're not well enough educated on it themselves, and sometimes they may know full well, but their employees don't.

[Monterey Jack]

Or they just take it, and count on the employee not knowing that they can't. How often do you hear of servers having to cover the tab of a dine and dash?

I fail to see how this could be considered the fault/liability of the server, because pretty much ANYONE could skip out on the check while their server was away/distracted. I would be LIVID if a chunk of my pay was subtracted to cover some Dine & Dash asshole.

[Firecrackers Not Included]

I fail to see how this could be considered the fault/liability of the server, because pretty much ANYONE could skip out on the check while their server was away/distracted. I would be LIVID if a chunk of my pay was subtracted to cover some Dine & Dash asshole.

That's true, but is the same concept as us in the convenience store industry with D.O.s (Drive-Offs). The cashier could be part of the gang letting friends/family get away with it. Thankfully, our industry doesn't dock pay but write-ups occur in fresh order.

[CoffeeMonkey]

the "justification" that I've generally heard for it is that if the server were paying proper attention, they wouldn't have been able to get away.

[Monterey Jack]

the "justification" that I've generally heard for it is that if the server were paying proper attention, they wouldn't have been able to get away.

Maybe that would be true if a server had to deal with only one customer at a time, but how often do you see a waiter or waitress who is not jumping between two or three tables at a time? That's a fault of the management, not the employee. You can't keep an eye on your customer at all times, no matter how much you try. Why not hire someone to stand in the entranceway to keep an eye on the dining area to try and catch Dash & Diners? His salary would probably be paid by the meals that wouldn't be stolen by D&Ders.