Give us a break!
Are you working through lunch or getting interrupted during your lunch break?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (which applies to UCHealth) requires lunch periods to be paid when workers work through lunch or are interrupted during lunch with work tasks.
Follow the instructions below* to use the One Source app, Kronos time clock, or online Kronos exception log to clock out with no-break to be paid for time that you were unable to take a break for.
If your manager asks why you did so, tell them the truth. We deserve fair and responsibility-free breaks. Giving your phone/responsibilities to a coworker who already has a full load of patients/responsibilities is not fair or safe. We need to be paid for our time, or UCHealth needs to hire more staff so that we are able to safely take our breaks without creating dangerous situations.
We, UCHealth Workers United, are fighting for safe staffing at UCHealth so that all of us can take fair and responsibility-free breaks, and we need all hands on deck. Join us by clicking here!!
If you work through lunch or are interrupted during lunch with work tasks, clock out using “worked through meal.”
If you use a Kronos exception log, navigate to it from Sharepoint on your browser. Select “New,” enter your information, and add the exception “cancel meal.”
*Please note that this is a resource, and may not be appropriate for all employees and situations. You may need to consult with your management.
Applicable UCHealth Policy:
Applicable excerpts from the Fair Labor Standards Act:
29 CFR § 785.17 On-call time.
“An employee who is required to remain on call on the employer's premises or so close thereto that he cannot use the time effectively for his own purposes is working while ‘on call.’”
29 CFR § 553.221 Compensable hours of work.
"On call" time is compensable work time "where the conditions placed on the employee’s activities are so restrictive that the employee cannot use the time effectively for personal pursuits, such time spent on call is compensable."
More information on wage theft:
Wage theft is an employer’s failure to pay workers the full wages to which they are legally entitled. It is by far the biggest source of theft in the United States.
Employers steal billions from workers’ paychecks each year, at significant cost to taxpayers and state economies. Wage theft can take many forms, including but not limited to:
Overtime violations: Failing to pay nonexempt employees time-and-a-half for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week
Off-the-clock violations: Asking employees to work off-the-clock before or after their shifts
Meal break violations: Denying workers their legal meal breaks
Pay stub and illegal deductions: Taking illegal deductions from wages or not distributing pay stubs
Click here for more information about wage theft.