Applebees "forgets" to pay autistic worker for a year

[dendawg]

Forgot...yeah, right!

http://consumerist.com/2015/10/23/ap...-a-whole-year/

[s_stabeler]

this is particularly heinous of Applebees because in my experience- having Aspergers Syndrome, which is often lumped in with High-Functioning Autism- people with conditions on the Autistic Spectrum don't like confrontation- I'm not sure if it's part of the condition, or simply because it's hard enough to make friends that we don't like risking irritating people- so I can guarantee you that the worker in question noticed, but thought it was simply taking a while to get paid. Not wanting to make a fuss, he didn't mention it- especially as it's also usually difficult for someone with a condition on the Autism Spectrum to get a job in the first pace-and so it took months until someone was able to get something done about it. ( oh, and the family is probably right about how many hours he worked- all it would take is not reminding the guy to properly clock in, and you get another way of screwing him over.)

[Herebecause]

"The family estimates that he has worked at least 350 hours in the last year, yet the restaurant’s records show that he worked only 166 hours. Helping with those records is supposed to be part of the duties of job coaches who work with developmentally disabled workers."

It sounds like the non-profit also has a hand in this, since they weren't helping with tracking the hours. In fact, my guess is that while the focus is on Applebee's because everyone knows their name, some balls got dropped at the non-profit's level as well, contributing entirely or partially in this situation.

[s_stabeler]

the thing is, we don't KNOW why the restaurant's records are inaccurate.since Applebees has apparently repeatedly "lost" paperwork- and according to Applebees, the job coach wasn't actually there all that often- it's entirely possible that many of the records were "lost" just like the paperwork to actually pay the guy was. Also, the article tiself says that there is plenty of blame to go around

regardless, the main issue isn't the number of hours- the issue is that , despite the fact that the family were repeatedly sending in the-apparently- lost paperwork, no other action was taken. What should have happened- regardless of if the employee was disabled or not- is that, after the paperwork was lost the second time, they should have made arrangements to make 100& certain the paperwork was processed. (up to and including having the family hand the paperwork over to be processed immediately- as in, while they are still there- to prevent it getting lost a third time.) AND an investigation conducted into how the $%^&* the paperwork managed to get lost twice in a row. ( since it suggests either someone incompetent enough that they need a different job- or just plain firing- or was actively trying to take advantage of a disabled kid. In which case, they should be fired)

In short, yes, the non-profit also dropped the ball on the hours. HOWEVER, the primary responsibility is on the employer to ensure employees are paid for all hours worked. ( especially since I doubt the job coach would be allowed to come in every day)

[Herebecause]

I read it as if the pre-employment paperwork was done through the non-profit, not through Applebee's directly, since the parents kept checking in with the non-profit. If it was done through Applebee's directly, then it is on the restaurant; if it was done through the non-profit, then it is on the non-profit.

Edited to add: And now that I've done more research on line about this story, I find I was wrong. The parents did fill out the paperwork directly with the restaurant.

[mjr]

Applebees has apparently repeatedly "lost" paperwork

Putting "lost" in quotes is, in my opinion, spot on here.

What should have happened- regardless of if the employee was disabled or not- is that, after the paperwork was lost the second time, they should have made arrangements to make 100& certain the paperwork was processed. (up to and including having the family hand the paperwork over to be processed immediately- as in, while they are still there- to prevent it getting lost a third time.)

Two things on this: First, they'd probably be waiting a while if they wanted to just make those arrangements. Secondly, there's still the always-present "computer glitch". I don't know how much the people involved know about computers, but they could simply delete the records, or just put in incorrect info, and...bam...computer "glitch".

AND an investigation conducted into how the $%^&* the paperwork managed to get lost twice in a row.

Absolutely this. Although they'd talk about how there's a process, blah, blah, blah...we're sorry, blah blah blah...but I get where you're going here.

[s_stabeler]

It's also irrelevant, even if it's slightly more understandable. Applebees had records that prove the kid did work for him- hence, they are obliged to pay him for the tie the kid worked. (and if it can be proved Applebees records underestimated the amount of time the kid worked, the kid must be paid for ALL those hours)

In other words, even if the pre-employment paperwork wasn't filled out, that doesn't get Applebees anywhere near off the hook. It's specifically illegal to not pay someone for work done for a for-profit company EVEN IF the person is willing to do it for free. ( it's meant to prevent companies from making employees "volunteer" to work for free, rather than paying them.)