Life Pregnant T-Mobile Employee had to Clock Out to Use Toilet

Deberg_1990 · 05-02-2013, 07:35 PM

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs...100119456.html

Kristi Rifkin had been working at T-Mobile Call Center in Nashville for four years when she got pregnant with her third child. She says she loved her job.

"I had a great run," Rifkin, 40, told ABC News. "I was making bonus. T-Mobile was good to me. I never had a problem getting a schedule I wanted. I enjoyed it. I had even left another company to work at T-Mobile because they had great benefits."

But her good will toward the company changed once she got pregnant.
According to Rifkin, the pregnancy-her second (she has one stepson)-was a difficult one, and she was going to the doctor twice a week, seeing both a regular obstetrician and a high-risk obstetrician. She was also required to drink "tons and tons" of water - which, in turn, resulted in frequent trips to the bathroom. This did not sit well with T-Mobile, she said.

"They give you two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch," said Rifkin. "If you can't take care of your biological needs in that time period, you don't go."
Before her pregnancy, this wasn't an issue. But as she explained in a blog post on MomsRising.org, frequent jaunts to the bathroom would cut into what was known in the call center world as "adherence" - a metric that measures the degree to which employees meet their quota for being on the phone.

"You have different numbers you have to meet each month, and if you don't meet them they can fire you," she said. "The thinking is that if you're off the phone and you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing, then there are customers waiting to talk to you."

She tried to hold off on eating and drinking; she needed the health insurance the job provided. But the baby was suffering, Rifkin said, and she had to start drinking water again.

Finally, she said, her supervisor pulled her aside and told her to get a note from her doctor explaining that she needed to go the bathroom often. "At that point, I thought my head was going to launch off my shoulders," said Rifkin. "'Are you serious? I need to get a note from my doctor to go to the toilet?' This is a basic biological need.'"

But Rifkin did as she was told; she got the doctor's note and cleared it with Human Resources. She was told that she could use the rest room any time she needed to, she said, but that she would have to clock out. When she returned from that bathroom, she would have to clock back in. "This meant I was out of work for five minutes," she said. She had to write the hours down and turn it into her supervisor, just to make sure she wasn't taking advantage of the situation.

"I ended up using my vacation time to use the bathroom," she said.
But she still wasn't eating and drinking as she was supposed to. Her blood pressure skyrocketed. She was stressed and anxious.

She finally went on the Family Medical Leave Act, which requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees, seven weeks before her son, Ian, was born, on May 14, 2010. A month and a half after she returned to work she was fired, she said.

The reason? Rifkin says she was summarily fired after she failed to remove an extra-charge feature from a customer's account, the commission for which was 12 cents. She says the rare error occurred when she either forgot to remove the charge or removed another charge instead.

She got no severance, she said, and now pays for medical expenses out of pocket.
Rifkin said she has no plans to sue the company; it's too expensive, and Tennessee is an at-will employment state. "They can fire you for any reason," she said
The US. Department of Labor reports that only eight states require paid rest periods and Tennessee is not among them.

"There is no specific legal requirement that requires employers to let their employees use the restroom," Paula Brantner, the executive director of Workplace Fairness, which provides legal information about workers rights. However, "If a pregnant woman is the only employee being forced to clock out, and they don't require males or non-pregnant females to do so, it would seem to me that would be pregnancy discrimination."

In an email statement to ABC News, T-Mobile spokesperson Glenn A. Zaccara said that he could not comment on a specific individual. But "T-Mobile employees enjoy generous benefits including paid-time-off and short and long-term disability coverage," he said. "The company has leave of absence policies in line with regulatory requirements."
Rifkin was not impressed.

"I'm done with T-Mobile," she said. "I don't want anything to do with them anymore."

Dayze · 05-02-2013, 07:38 PM

jesus.
thanks god i don't have to work at an environment like that.

Spott · 05-02-2013, 07:46 PM

I worked at an AT&T call center in Lee's Summit when I first started out with the company and it was pretty much like that. You logged in at exactly 8:00, took your breaks and lunches exactly when scheduled and never took more than 15 minutes for break and 30 minutes for lunch. At then end of the day you didn't clock out a minute early ever. At the time it didn't seem like such a big deal but I would hate to do that crap again now.

suzzer99 · 05-02-2013, 07:54 PM

pure hell

BigBeauford · 05-02-2013, 07:55 PM

I haven an easy fix for this lil problem.

In58men · 05-02-2013, 07:55 PM

What a phony company

Dayze · 05-02-2013, 08:04 PM

my wife just quit her job of 10 years and started a new gig on Monday that had very similar policies. she had to log into a phone, they could monitor her calls whever they wanted to, couldn't spend too much time on the phone, but not too little. had to forward so many calls over to sales a month, but her performance review had a portion that was based on sales closed - not forwarded to the sales department.

she couldn't take it any more. Now she's at a different company and loves it so far. not on the phone every minute of everyday. she was in insurance, and she would be the person you call when you need to update your policy, have questions about it, want t file a claim etc.

So....yeah, about 90% of the people calling in were pissed off to begin with.

KCFaninSEA · 05-02-2013, 08:07 PM

This kind of treatment is an everyday occurrence. Not shocking at all. When large corporations continue to buy up the smaller more worker friendly companies and implement corporate policies this is what happens. Everything sets a precedent and employees are now numbers, not people or coworkers.

This is another example of the destruction of the American dream.

Bump · 05-02-2013, 08:07 PM

I've worked for big corporate. I can confirm. It's basically modern day slavery. You are not a human being. You are a money generator, nothing more, nothing less.

The thing that always drives me crazy, CRAZY. Absolutely, bat shit ****ing crazy is when they scheduled me to work 10am - 3 am and then expect me to get home from work at 3:30 am and set my alarm clock for 8 am to go back there and after a 17 hour work day I want more than 4 hours of sleep and I want some ****ing time to relax before sleep. And they did that shit all of the ****ing time. There's nothing worse coming home from work all of the time that late at night and knowing as soon as you get home from a super long day, you don't have time to eat, or do anything, you just have to try and get as much sleep as you can, hopefully 2 or 3 hours at least.

I'm getting anxiety just writing this out right now, bringing back those memories.

I've only experienced this type of slavery here in Boston. Working in Kansas was never that bad.

HonestChieffan · 05-02-2013, 08:10 PM

Awwww jeeeze

Bump · 05-02-2013, 08:11 PM

and the worst thing is, if you dont suck it up completely 100% and smile about getting those hours and if you say one thing even in the most professional manner that you can possibly say it in. They think immediately that you don't care about the company and the only criticism that I got on my annual review, ONLY CRITICISM. The only thing that was bad on that review was and I quote him

"You like to come in and work, and when you are here you do a great job, but when the work is done, you just want to go home and that's an issue."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I said "that's a bad thing?"

**Predarat** · 05-02-2013, 08:14 PM

I ****ing hate working in Call Centers, they are almost all like that and getting worse. They have so many metrics, alot of them conflict each other. It is horrible.

**Predarat** · 05-02-2013, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bump

I've worked for big corporate. I can confirm. It's basically modern day slavery. You are not a human being. You are a money generator, nothing more, nothing less.

The thing that always drives me crazy, CRAZY. Absolutely, bat shit ****ing crazy is when they scheduled me to work 10am - 3 am and then expect me to get home from work at 3:30 am and set my alarm clock for 8 am to go back there and after a 17 hour work day I want more than 4 hours of sleep and I want some ****ing time to relax before sleep. And they did that shit all of the ****ing time. There's nothing worse coming home from work all of the time that late at night and knowing as soon as you get home from a super long day, you don't have time to eat, or do anything, you just have to try and get as much sleep as you can, hopefully 2 or 3 hours at least.

I'm getting anxiety just writing this out right now, bringing back those memories.

I've only experienced this type of slavery here in Boston. Working in Kansas was never that bad.

This is true and it sucks!

LiveSteam · 05-02-2013, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bump

and the worst thing is, if you dont suck it up completely 100% and smile about getting those hours and if you say one thing even in the most professional manner that you can possibly say it in. They think immediately that you don't care about the company and the only criticism that I got on my annual review, ONLY CRITICISM. The only thing that was bad on that review was and I quote him

"You like to come in and work, and when you are here you do a great job, but when the work is done, you just want to go home and that's an issue."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I said "that's a bad thing?"

JFC I had know idea what some of you go through at work.
Move to Omaha & I will teach you how to become a stoned stone mason.

chiefsfan987 · 05-02-2013, 08:49 PM

Last place I worked at wouldn't even give 15 minute breaks or lunch. If you wanted those you had to clock out. Needless to say I didn't work there long.

05-02-2013, 07:35 PM
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	Pregnant T-Mobile Employee had to Clock Out to Use Toilet http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs...100119456.html Kristi Rifkin had been working at T-Mobile Call Center in Nashville for four years when she got pregnant with her third child. She says she loved her job. "I had a great run," Rifkin, 40, told ABC News. "I was making bonus. T-Mobile was good to me. I never had a problem getting a schedule I wanted. I enjoyed it. I had even left another company to work at T-Mobile because they had great benefits." But her good will toward the company changed once she got pregnant. According to Rifkin, the pregnancy-her second (she has one stepson)-was a difficult one, and she was going to the doctor twice a week, seeing both a regular obstetrician and a high-risk obstetrician. She was also required to drink "tons and tons" of water - which, in turn, resulted in frequent trips to the bathroom. This did not sit well with T-Mobile, she said. "They give you two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch," said Rifkin. "If you can't take care of your biological needs in that time period, you don't go." Before her pregnancy, this wasn't an issue. But as she explained in a blog post on MomsRising.org, frequent jaunts to the bathroom would cut into what was known in the call center world as "adherence" - a metric that measures the degree to which employees meet their quota for being on the phone. "You have different numbers you have to meet each month, and if you don't meet them they can fire you," she said. "The thinking is that if you're off the phone and you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing, then there are customers waiting to talk to you." She tried to hold off on eating and drinking; she needed the health insurance the job provided. But the baby was suffering, Rifkin said, and she had to start drinking water again. Finally, she said, her supervisor pulled her aside and told her to get a note from her doctor explaining that she needed to go the bathroom often. "At that point, I thought my head was going to launch off my shoulders," said Rifkin. "'Are you serious? I need to get a note from my doctor to go to the toilet?' This is a basic biological need.'" But Rifkin did as she was told; she got the doctor's note and cleared it with Human Resources. She was told that she could use the rest room any time she needed to, she said, but that she would have to clock out. When she returned from that bathroom, she would have to clock back in. "This meant I was out of work for five minutes," she said. She had to write the hours down and turn it into her supervisor, just to make sure she wasn't taking advantage of the situation. "I ended up using my vacation time to use the bathroom," she said. But she still wasn't eating and drinking as she was supposed to. Her blood pressure skyrocketed. She was stressed and anxious. She finally went on the Family Medical Leave Act, which requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees, seven weeks before her son, Ian, was born, on May 14, 2010. A month and a half after she returned to work she was fired, she said. The reason? Rifkin says she was summarily fired after she failed to remove an extra-charge feature from a customer's account, the commission for which was 12 cents. She says the rare error occurred when she either forgot to remove the charge or removed another charge instead. She got no severance, she said, and now pays for medical expenses out of pocket. Rifkin said she has no plans to sue the company; it's too expensive, and Tennessee is an at-will employment state. "They can fire you for any reason," she said The US. Department of Labor reports that only eight states require paid rest periods and Tennessee is not among them. "There is no specific legal requirement that requires employers to let their employees use the restroom," Paula Brantner, the executive director of Workplace Fairness, which provides legal information about workers rights. However, "If a pregnant woman is the only employee being forced to clock out, and they don't require males or non-pregnant females to do so, it would seem to me that would be pregnancy discrimination." In an email statement to ABC News, T-Mobile spokesperson Glenn A. Zaccara said that he could not comment on a specific individual. But "T-Mobile employees enjoy generous benefits including paid-time-off and short and long-term disability coverage," he said. "The company has leave of absence policies in line with regulatory requirements." Rifkin was not impressed. "I'm done with T-Mobile," she said. "I don't want anything to do with them anymore."
Posts: 66,914

05-02-2013, 07:38 PM	#2
Dayze Resident Glue Sniffer Join Date: Nov 2003 Casino cash: $5259358	jesus. thanks god i don't have to work at an environment like that. __________________ Life is 99% inspiration, 1% Perspiration, and 1% Attention to Detial. RIP & Godspeed: Saccoppo Lonewolf Ed Fire Me Boy
Posts: 37,356

05-02-2013, 07:46 PM	#3
Spott Court Jester Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Orlando Casino cash: $3172400	I worked at an AT&T call center in Lee's Summit when I first started out with the company and it was pretty much like that. You logged in at exactly 8:00, took your breaks and lunches exactly when scheduled and never took more than 15 minutes for break and 30 minutes for lunch. At then end of the day you didn't clock out a minute early ever. At the time it didn't seem like such a big deal but I would hate to do that crap again now.
Posts: 19,688

05-02-2013, 07:54 PM	#4
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $3054284	pure hell
Posts: 27,242

05-02-2013, 07:55 PM	#5
BigBeauford MVP Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Lenexa, KS Casino cash: $2336717	I haven an easy fix for this lil problem.
Posts: 14,093

05-02-2013, 07:55 PM	#6
In58men Baba Ganoush Join Date: Jan 2012 Casino cash: $2378026	What a phony company
Posts: 29,165

05-02-2013, 08:04 PM	#7
Dayze Resident Glue Sniffer Join Date: Nov 2003 Casino cash: $5259358	my wife just quit her job of 10 years and started a new gig on Monday that had very similar policies. she had to log into a phone, they could monitor her calls whever they wanted to, couldn't spend too much time on the phone, but not too little. had to forward so many calls over to sales a month, but her performance review had a portion that was based on sales closed - not forwarded to the sales department. she couldn't take it any more. Now she's at a different company and loves it so far. not on the phone every minute of everyday. she was in insurance, and she would be the person you call when you need to update your policy, have questions about it, want t file a claim etc. So....yeah, about 90% of the people calling in were pissed off to begin with. __________________ Life is 99% inspiration, 1% Perspiration, and 1% Attention to Detial. RIP & Godspeed: Saccoppo Lonewolf Ed Fire Me Boy
Posts: 37,356

05-02-2013, 08:07 PM	#8
KCFaninSEA Starter Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Seattle, WA Casino cash: $10005813	This kind of treatment is an everyday occurrence. Not shocking at all. When large corporations continue to buy up the smaller more worker friendly companies and implement corporate policies this is what happens. Everything sets a precedent and employees are now numbers, not people or coworkers. This is another example of the destruction of the American dream. __________________ Stop corporate Greed!!!!!
Posts: 346

05-02-2013, 08:07 PM	#9
Bump YOU take YOUR seat Join Date: Nov 2007 Casino cash: $2325105	I've worked for big corporate. I can confirm. It's basically modern day slavery. You are not a human being. You are a money generator, nothing more, nothing less. The thing that always drives me crazy, CRAZY. Absolutely, bat shit **ing crazy is when they scheduled me to work 10am - 3 am and then expect me to get home from work at 3:30 am and set my alarm clock for 8 am to go back there and after a 17 hour work day I want more than 4 hours of sleep and I want some ing time to relax before sleep. And they did that shit all of the **ing time. There's nothing worse coming home from work all of the time that late at night and knowing as soon as you get home from a super long day, you don't have time to eat, or do anything, you just have to try and get as much sleep as you can, hopefully 2 or 3 hours at least. I'm getting anxiety just writing this out right now, bringing back those memories. I've only experienced this type of slavery here in Boston. Working in Kansas was never that bad. __________________
Posts: 32,131

05-02-2013, 08:10 PM	#10
HonestChieffan Seeking the Truth daily Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the Country in MO Casino cash: $2314309	Awwww jeeeze __________________ “Make no mistake. If you try anything to raise the cost of vishessavatubs, I will veto it.” - Joe Biden, SOTU 2023
Posts: 53,299

05-02-2013, 08:11 PM	#11
Bump YOU take YOUR seat Join Date: Nov 2007 Casino cash: $2325105	and the worst thing is, if you dont suck it up completely 100% and smile about getting those hours and if you say one thing even in the most professional manner that you can possibly say it in. They think immediately that you don't care about the company and the only criticism that I got on my annual review, ONLY CRITICISM. The only thing that was bad on that review was and I quote him "You like to come in and work, and when you are here you do a great job, but when the work is done, you just want to go home and that's an issue." I didn't know how to respond to that, so I said "that's a bad thing?" __________________
Posts: 32,131

05-02-2013, 08:14 PM	#12
Predarat Run Chiefs fans, run!! Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nashville, TN Casino cash: $9973863	I ****ing hate working in Call Centers, they are almost all like that and getting worse. They have so many metrics, alot of them conflict each other. It is horrible.
Posts: 10,776

05-02-2013, 08:49 PM	#15
chiefsfan987 MVP Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Seattle, WA Casino cash: $8708441	Last place I worked at wouldn't even give 15 minute breaks or lunch. If you wanted those you had to clock out. Needless to say I didn't work there long.
Posts: 6,160