Hi I work as chef and since we got a new manager he has started taking hours off us that we have worked to lower his wage percentage. Last week he took 2 hours each off 4 of the full time staff and when asked he had excuses that he hadn't added the hours up right or he forgot to add parts of shifts on and for the members of staff that smoke he says that they will have been for a cigarette so he is taking 15 minutes off them for that break, he used this excuse for me when I had been on a 5 and a half hour shift because he wouldn't believe me that I hadn't had a cigarette break because it was busy, because he said smokers can't last that long without a break when he knows that I can go without a cigarette if its too busy. I don't believe that its right for him to keep taking hours off us that we've worked for no reason can someone tell me if this is allowed or not.

You have few options without a union behind you. The guy is jerking you around but there is no law or regulation that you get any breaks with pay. However you can complain to the local branch of the fair labor standards board Office of Compliance: Your Rights - Fair Labor Standards (http://www.compliance.gov/employeerights/er_fairlabor.html) to see if they see a pattern of abuse of labor. Unless he sends you on a break or schedules a break he can not fairly just assume you took a break because you are a smoker.

He takes extra hours off us after our breaks I always write down exactly what breaks I have. He just takes hours off us anyway.

Unless he has you clocking in and out?

But he can not just deduct hours off how many hours you are working, it is illegal, report them to the department of labor