Dear Bosses at the Kung Fu School,
I am sorry to inform you that I will no longer be working at EWMA.. My resignation is beginning today. I would have given more notice, but I am very frustrated and have become increasingly dissatisfied with my treatment as an employee here. I have enjoyed most of the people that work here and love most of the students and their families. but as the work load has increased and increased it has caused extreme amounts of stress and physical ailments, such as back pain , neck stiffness, and knee swelling This which could have been prevented had I been given the two 10 minute breaks, and 30 minute meal time that the law says I should receive for every shift over 5 hours.
This has affected my life in many ways, my GPA went from 4.0 to a 3.5 because I came home exhausted every evening and had a hard time studying from not being able to take breaks, and from only being able to eat a meal right before my shift, which would then lead to me having to have a meal late at night, with my blood sugar being low from not having food since 1 or 2pm, and then not eating again until 9pm, I would get very, very fatigued for having to wait so long for a meal than eating.
I did not want things to end badly, and my original intention was to stay at EWMA until October. However, as time went on, I became more upset with the lack of breaks, and I did bring up this issue in the beginning of my employment. The way my bringing up the situation was handled, made me never want to bring it up again. Not until now, where I am at my breaking point.
The situation was that I was drinking a soda behind the counter, and was told by Zennette that I was not allowed to drink anything unless I ducked down behind the counter, when I brought up the issues with needing a break, Zennette said there was no one to cover, and that no one else got to take breaks, so I would not be allowed to either,. And at the end of the night when things were slower was considered a break, However, the law states that a meal time break is 30 minutes free from duty, in between the 4th and 5th hour of any scheduled work time. It cannot be in the first 2 hours of work or the last 2, it is mandatory to receive 2 ten minute breaks after the second hour and one an hour or two after the meal time break.
Every other position I have worked for, has made this a mandatory procedure and has fired employees for not taking breaks, and at your establishment there is not even the option. The reason why I did not bring up this issue again was because I was informed by Desiree, that if I did not want to be fired that I needed to do as I was told and never bring up the subject again, that if I fought it hard enough that I would probably get the breaks but would I really want them if it was going to cause a lot of drama? I did not want to cause drama, I did not want to lose my job.
I am now however in a very stable financial position, and am not worried about losing my job to which this is why this issue is coming up now and I am confronting it head on. I truly care about everyone who works there, so this is very hard for me to put you in this position, but I have faith by me taking a stance that it will improve working conditions for employees in the future. I will be mailing you my shirts and keys for the next employee and forwarding the resumes I received from Craigslist.com to help you with finding my replacement. I would have treated my departure with more respect and consideration had my needs been met, law abiding, without me having to ask to be treated in such a manner. It is not my responsibility to enforce the law by forcing you to let me take a break, but it is my prerogative to not put up with it anymore.
Thank you for the good experiences that I did have, and good luck on changing your procedures for the future. I would recommend hiring multiple front desk people to allow for employees to have sick/doctor/vacation days without it being much of an issue.
Please tell the students goodbye, and that Im sorry I couldnt tell them in person,
Violet Suicide
I am sorry to inform you that I will no longer be working at EWMA.. My resignation is beginning today. I would have given more notice, but I am very frustrated and have become increasingly dissatisfied with my treatment as an employee here. I have enjoyed most of the people that work here and love most of the students and their families. but as the work load has increased and increased it has caused extreme amounts of stress and physical ailments, such as back pain , neck stiffness, and knee swelling This which could have been prevented had I been given the two 10 minute breaks, and 30 minute meal time that the law says I should receive for every shift over 5 hours.
This has affected my life in many ways, my GPA went from 4.0 to a 3.5 because I came home exhausted every evening and had a hard time studying from not being able to take breaks, and from only being able to eat a meal right before my shift, which would then lead to me having to have a meal late at night, with my blood sugar being low from not having food since 1 or 2pm, and then not eating again until 9pm, I would get very, very fatigued for having to wait so long for a meal than eating.
I did not want things to end badly, and my original intention was to stay at EWMA until October. However, as time went on, I became more upset with the lack of breaks, and I did bring up this issue in the beginning of my employment. The way my bringing up the situation was handled, made me never want to bring it up again. Not until now, where I am at my breaking point.
The situation was that I was drinking a soda behind the counter, and was told by Zennette that I was not allowed to drink anything unless I ducked down behind the counter, when I brought up the issues with needing a break, Zennette said there was no one to cover, and that no one else got to take breaks, so I would not be allowed to either,. And at the end of the night when things were slower was considered a break, However, the law states that a meal time break is 30 minutes free from duty, in between the 4th and 5th hour of any scheduled work time. It cannot be in the first 2 hours of work or the last 2, it is mandatory to receive 2 ten minute breaks after the second hour and one an hour or two after the meal time break.
Every other position I have worked for, has made this a mandatory procedure and has fired employees for not taking breaks, and at your establishment there is not even the option. The reason why I did not bring up this issue again was because I was informed by Desiree, that if I did not want to be fired that I needed to do as I was told and never bring up the subject again, that if I fought it hard enough that I would probably get the breaks but would I really want them if it was going to cause a lot of drama? I did not want to cause drama, I did not want to lose my job.
I am now however in a very stable financial position, and am not worried about losing my job to which this is why this issue is coming up now and I am confronting it head on. I truly care about everyone who works there, so this is very hard for me to put you in this position, but I have faith by me taking a stance that it will improve working conditions for employees in the future. I will be mailing you my shirts and keys for the next employee and forwarding the resumes I received from Craigslist.com to help you with finding my replacement. I would have treated my departure with more respect and consideration had my needs been met, law abiding, without me having to ask to be treated in such a manner. It is not my responsibility to enforce the law by forcing you to let me take a break, but it is my prerogative to not put up with it anymore.
Thank you for the good experiences that I did have, and good luck on changing your procedures for the future. I would recommend hiring multiple front desk people to allow for employees to have sick/doctor/vacation days without it being much of an issue.
Please tell the students goodbye, and that Im sorry I couldnt tell them in person,
Violet Suicide
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You rule.
~E