My manager kept “forgetting” my overtime. Three weeks in a row.
Every Friday I’d clock 47 hours. Every Monday my paycheck showed 40.
I asked HR. They said: “Talk to your manager first.”
I emailed him: “My timecard shows 7 hours OT missing. Can you fix it?”
He replied: “System must’ve glitched. If it’s not approved, you didn’t work it.”
I didn’t fight him.
Because the district manager said: “He’s been here 15 years. He doesn’t make mistakes.”
So I started taking a photo of the timeclock every time I clocked out.
Next Friday, I clocked out at 6:32 p.m. — 7.5 hours OT for the week.
Took a photo. Time, date, my name, all visible. Then went home.
Monday morning, paycheck still said 40 hours.
I checked the system. My clock-out had been edited to 4:00 p.m.
Edit log showed: “Approved by: J. Matthews” at 8:14 a.m.
I saved screenshots, emailed them to myself, printed two copies, then asked HR for a meeting. No anger. Just put the folder on the desk.
Turns out he’d been shaving hours off anyone who “questioned policy.”
I was just the first one who kept receipts.
He got written up I got backpay for 22.5 hours.
And somehow…
I’m the one coworkers avoid in the break room.
Apparently, proving you worked is “not being a team player.”
But stealing wages?
That was just “a misunderstanding.”
Funny how evidence turns you into the villain.