Santa Monica, CAKimberly worked in the corporate office of a fashion company until about a month ago." When I was hired, I was told that there would be occasional overtime," says Kimberly. "I was fine with that if I got overtime pay but I didn't even get a lunch break." Kimberly is familiar with overtime laws. "Did you see the movie, The Devil Wears Prada? I was Emily, the overworked assistant; my boss was Miranda, Meryl Streep's character—I wasn't in a position to say no to overtime."
Kimberly says she even quit a god job of two years, a position that she was secure in, to take this employment, only to find out that she would only work there for two months and get fired.
"I believe that getting fired was connected to my complaints about not getting paid overtime," says Kimberly. I was paid a salary and I know you aren't entitled to overtime when you are salaried, but I am entitled to lunch and I know the law: that is a labor law violation if I am not taking breaks, including lunch.
Right from day one, I worked overtime. My job description stated that I worked 9am to 6pm Monday thru Friday—40 hours a week if I had a one-hour lunch break. But I had a company blackberry and responded to emails at weekends so that was more than 40 hours per week. A typical day would start at 8.30am until 9pm and I never had lunch. My boss told me that executive assistants had to get their lunch wherever and eat at our desk.
When I asked the woman who trained me about breaks, she said ,'No, you aren't entitled to lunch,' just like Emily Blunt's character -- the other assistant in The Devil Wears Prada! 'Most of the assistants just grab their lunch and eat at their desk,' my boss—aka Miranda Priestly, said. ).
I didn't even go outside to buy food: We usually had an organic food guy deliver with a cart so it took less than 5 minutes to purchase my lunch then I had to run back to my desk and continue working.
And I wasn't alone. All of the 7 assistants—and the girl who worked in my position previously, ate at their desks. I worked for two months, from August 11th to October 15th. I was fired because the HR person said it wasn't going to work out.
I became disgruntled once I was let go, especially because of the economic crisis we are in and especially because I didn't do anything wrong. I feel taken advantage of. Even if I did get lunch breaks, I wouldn't have been OK with this job because the hours were excessive. I have looked into the overtime pay rule and I know that not getting a lunch is a violation of the labor law."