A Panera Employee Was Promoted to Manager So the Restaurant Would Pay Her Less

If you’ve ever worked in food service, this is the kind of story that will make your blood boil.

A TikTok video that is a repost of an NBC News Now story about a woman who works at a Panera restaurant in Florida said that she was promoted so the company wouldn’t have to pay her overtime.

The woman, Tiffany Palliser, said that she performed all kinds of duties while working at Panera: “Maybe I would work cashier that day. Maybe I would work the line, prepping salads and doing things like that, and that’s where I spent the majority of the rest of my shift.”

She said she worked about 50 to 55 hours per week, but when she was promoted to manager, she realized that her salary job wouldn’t include the overtime pay she had when she was an hourly worker.

Palliser ended up being part of a collective action complaint accusing Panera of not paying their managers for overtime and Palliser ended up receiving a settlement.

A reporter in the video said,

“A growing number of employers are mislabeling rank and file workers as managers according to a recent paper.

Why? The paper alleges companies actually want to avoid paying overtime. Federal law requires employers to pay time and a half overtime for people who work more than forty hours, or make less than about $35,500 a year.”

In a New York Times expose on Palliser, the outlet reported that she worked for a South Florida Panera location. Palliser said that while her regular shift was slated for 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., she often stayed late or came in to help when the store was short-staffed or someone called out.

In a New York Times article, Palliser said,

“‘I would say, ‘My kids get out of school at 2. I have to go pick them up, I can’t keep doing this.’”

Check out her video and see what you think.

@fayeluvsyou #news #workers #panera #lawsuit #fayeluvsyou #ohboy #money #fyp ♬ original sound – Faye-News-Gossip

And here’s what people said on TikTok.

One person said having a salary is a joke.

Another viewer said this is how CEOs make the big bucks.

And one TikTokker said salary in food service is not a good thing.

Note to self… never work at Panera…