Throwaway for obvious reasons.

TLDR: My manager avoided overtime by pushing my hours further forward in the schedule. I ended up missing hours in addition to overtime. I contacted my DM, and almost immediately they were fired. My SM was an otherwise incredibly refreshingly positive SM in a sea of insufferable ones. Our store is back to dealing with a shitty unstable SM situation, yet again.

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Keeping some details to a minimum for obvious reasons.

My store has been through 6 managers in the time I've been in it, and needless to say our partners have been quiet independent because of it. Approximate manager timelines, in order, are #1 for 3 months, #2 for 3 years, #3 for 11 months, #4 for 3 weeks, #5 for 2 weeks, and #6 for less than a week. We're used to "figuring it out" ourselves, and not relying on a manager for anything besides payroll.

Managers #2 (last 3 months of their time) and #3 back to back were particularly toxic for our store, more so #3. They would frequently gaslight partners, seemingly come up with reasons to separate partners out of thin air, amongst a slew of other harmful practices. Our store went from feeling like a close knit family to being a breeding ground for decisiveness and false rumors because of SM #3. Needless to say, we were glad to lose manager #3 when we did.

4 was purely a temp while the company figured out who would be a longer term SM for us, so there was nothing notable there. We continued running ourselves like usual, while #4 stopped my the store almost exclusively to do payroll on Mondays.

5 is the cause for my recent emotional predicament and the topic of this post. They were taking on our store as their 2nd store, with their original store having the type of support and culture that our store used to prior to #2's demise in their last 3 months. They were supposed to take us on for 6-12 months until a longer term SM was placed. Things were looking good for our store for the first time in a while-- good in the sense that partners would be supported, and our situation would remain stable.

The start of the predicament happened when, for various reasons, I was already in OT for their first week. #5 asked me about it, and I fully explained the situation to them. They reassured me it was okay, and told me it was okay-- that they would "take care of it". I didn't think much of it with that interaction.

After checking my punches later that day (It was Monday, so a payroll day), I noticed that the overtime shift I worked was severely edited so that I showed just shy of 40 hours worked for that week. I reached out to #5 regarding it and they said they moved some of the hours to the week prior to not have me hit overtime. "OH, okay. Thanks!", I responded. I was perplexed.

I checked my punches again, including the previous week, and I noticed that they created a fake shift to give me those hours they they cut from over time. The issue is I was already working 38 hours that week, so even the hours they added didn't add up to the total number of hours I actually worked. Long story short, they removed many overtime hours hours week 2, and added a couple of hours to week 1. I was missing hours, in addition to missing overtime hours.

This was new to me, because in all occasional situations where I had hit overtime in the past I was simply paid overtime and that was the end of it. After doing some quick googling, I realized that what they had done was against federal law.

I contacted PCC followed by my DM based on their guidance, and they were incredibly thankful I brought it up and assured me it would be corrected, the behavior would be addressed, and everything would be fixed. My hours did in fact get corrected.

Week 3 comes and #5 needs coverage in their home store desperately, 8.5 hour shift, overtime approved. I take it and quadruple check with them that the overtime is fine, they assure me it is. I work the shift and the store is in shambles, still down a person, insanely busy, and they are virtually out of milk. I tell them (Their SSV's) I'm willing to get milk at the end of my scheduled coverage if the SM is okay with the added labor and milage for getting milks. #5 gives the okay, so I spent an additional hour getting milk for their store, turning it into a 9 hour overtime shift. Their team was incredibly thankful.

The following Monday rolls around, and I noticed that overtime shift I picked up at their store was completely removed from week 3 and pushed forward a week-- it was even edited to be shorter, not reflecting the extra time I spent getting them milks. I immediately share all of the details with my DM via text and they almost immediately call me, reassuring me that it would be fixed and that they didnt coach #5 on it yet but they would immediately.

The next day rolls around and when #5 comes in they apologize to me about the situation. They explain how with their old DM they were used to avoiding overtime at all costs, and didn't realize it wasn't okay. I accept their apologize, and I'm glad that my relationship with #5 is intact and that things can carry on in a generally positive and progressive manner.

That same day, our DM comes in the store after #5 headed back to their home store looking for them- we tell the DM where #5 is. That same day, #5 is separated. We find out through the local partner grapevine, and when #5 leaves our store GM. The next day, our DM comes in and informs us of our temp proxy SM, #6, with no explanation of the situation.

We find out through the grapevine that they were separated for manipulating hours.

I've felt a huge moral dilemma through this whole situation. After #3, I decided firmly that I would never let another SM abuse my efforts again. I would not be taken advantage of, or mistreated- ever again. #5 and I had a fantastic relationship and they were incredibly supportive of me as a person. I recognize that what they did was illegal, but at the end of the day I was simply looking to get paid for what I actually worked.

I opted to head straight to my DM regarding the issue, and because of that, #5 was separated, and our store is back to an unstable situation, in addition to their home store being in shambles as well. All of their partners are emotionally devastated. It's so... hard.

When I replay the situation in my head, I can't help but feel like I should have directly confronted #5 and told them what they were doing with my hours to avoid overtime was illegal. Should I have stood my ground directly to them? Would that have changed the situation before it escalated? Or would it just have become heated, possibly resulting in escalation? I don't know. I still don't know.

I can recognize that #5 developed a behavior that developed because of a degree of fear of punishment from their former DM. I can also recognize that what was done to me was unfair and illegal. I also, never in a million years, wanted the end result to be #5's separation. They had a kind heart, and truly took care of their partners. It's also worth noting that in #5's own store, none of their partners are scheduled for more than 32 hours, so they also had limited experience handling overtime.

Is it bad that I feel bad? I don't think they had malicious intent, but at the end of the day, I would have received the short end of the stick if I didn't speak up. Should I have handled it differently?

I'm still asking myself these questions daily.