The Next Big Class Action: Free Labor

[MrFedEx]

I'm sorry, your juris doctorate came from where?

If someone is going to go forward with a case of this type, he'd better have his act together. None of this, "Well I have no documentation of anything, but in my my opinion that's what they're doing. My friend Jimmy thinks that's what's up, too." But first he has to get fired.

A lot of couriers keep records of what they deliver or PUP during "break", most likely in their smart phone memory, since taking a picture of the AWB allows you to POD or PUP it later "on the clock". If you are forced into a situation where you have to make SPH or be fired, and you're already overtasked or undertrained, the only choice to keep your job is to cheat the system. If you don't make SPH, you will be disciplined out the door.

Pushing for more productivity in this manner is a fact, Dano. Obviously, FedEx denies all wrongdoing and will vigorously defend itself, but they KNOW what's happening, and tacitly encourage it. MT3 says he's got a scuff on one of his Gucci loafers....you had better get to it.

 

[newgirl]

You might want to contact the lawyers the Amazon employees have retained. They have filed class action suits regarding unpaid time they have to spend in security lines. Hub people take note.

 

[MrFedEx]

You might want to contact the lawyers the Amazon employees have retained. They have filed class action suits regarding unpaid time they have to spend in security lines. Hub people take note.

Good point. What Dano and his ilk don't understand (or maybe they do) is that an employer is responsible for the working conditions they create. FedEx makes the rules, they send couriers out with more than can be done in the allowed amount of time, and then they discipline you if you actually take your break and fail to deliver everything. An employer-created Catch-22. If they are forcing people to work off-the-clock in order to keep their jobs, FedEx is guilty of requiring them to provide uncompensated labor and creating an unsafe work environment.

 

[Mr. 7]

Oh baby!
My palms are getting itchy. I see another class action check being mailed to my house any day.

 

[59 Dano]

A lot of couriers keep records of what they deliver or PUP during "break", most likely in their smart phone memory, since taking a picture of the AWB allows you to POD or PUP it later "on the clock". If you are forced into a situation where you have to make SPH or be fired, and you're already overtasked or undertrained, the only choice to keep your job is to cheat the system. If you don't make SPH, you will be disciplined out the door.

Taking it upon yourself to violate company policy without being asked or coerced into doing so is not grounds for a lawsuit.

If couriers are doing what you described, they're fools who deserve to be fired. They are documenting their own policy violations, each of which is grounds for termination. If it comes back to bite them in the butt (and if they do it on a regular basis, it will) their only defense is "I'm a dumb courier who did dumb things."

Seriously. He has no one telling him to work in that manner and he knowingly violated company policy. If we have couriers that stupid, they need to smarten up or leave the company.

Pushing for more productivity in this manner is a fact, Dano.

As evidenced by....?

 

[MrFedEx]

Taking it upon yourself to violate company policy without being asked or coerced into doing so is not grounds for a lawsuit.

If couriers are doing what you described, they're fools who deserve to be fired. They are documenting their own policy violations, each of which is grounds for termination. If it comes back to bite them in the butt (and if they do it on a regular basis, it will) their only defense is "I'm a dumb courier who did dumb things."

Seriously. He has no one telling him to work in that manner and he knowingly violated company policy. If we have couriers that stupid, they need to smarten up or leave the company.



As evidenced by....?

You're the idiot. "Knowingly violating company policy" is a catch-all phrase that in this case means "DON"T DO IT" , but we really do want you to DO it, and we're going to cover ourselves with a meaningless legal statement. There are many couriers doing this right now...so they can keep their jobs. What happens when they suddenly assign 30-35 more stops to your route because "your expectations are too low"? All of a sudden, 100% is now really 130%, so where does the extra time to deliver those stops come from. thin air? If you don't make your new target, which has been arbitrarily created by someone who has never delivered a package, you get disciplined, and eventually...fired. The "extra time" for many is their former 13/14 time.

Everyone (except you) knows this is happening, and that it is rampant. Like I said, if you're already doing 100%, and someone comes along and says you can do significantly more (again, arbitrarily), where does that time come from besides speeding, unsafe driving, and working through "break"?