Can you get written up at work for not taking a break?

Not sure where you are from. I can't speak to the American laws. What I can say about Canadian employment laws is this...each Province and/or Territory have their own Employment Standards Act. Typically, the Act is very clear about the requirement of the EMPLOYER to provide you with breaks and lunches based on the specified hours you work in a single shift. For example, in Ontario, you are entitled to one half hour UNPAID break for every five consecutive hours of work. If you choose to work through your break, you should get it approved through your manager first and explain the reason why you want to work through it. With that being said, if you are working through your lunch so that you can leave early, that may actually be where the problem lies. The Employer may believe that you are not fulfilling your shift obligations. If you work through your lunch, the Employer would deem that as your choice, but leaving early without their agreement is something completely different, if you don't have a flexible work agreement in place. They need to protect themselves, too. They don't want you to come back and say that you had no choice but to work through your break because they forced you to. It's that whole "cover thy butt" thing for them. As far as being written up, discipline can be tricky. Reality is that they can write you up for just about anything. However, discipline should be progressive and timely. What does progressive discipline mean? For minor things, the Employer shouldn't automatically jump to written notice on the first "offence". There should be a verbal reminder, then a written reminder, then maybe a write up. If the unwanted behaviour doesn't change, then they should move towards termination. So, there should be a natural progression through the discipline process, with every opportunity for the employee to change the behaviour before the Employer taking any firm action. Only if the unwanted behaviour continues should the discipline become stronger. Withholding pay is not something that can be done on the basis of refusing to sign a disciplinary document. You have the right to disagree and not to sign. It's that whole freedom of speech/freedom of expression thing. At the end of the day, whether you sign it or not, it doesn't change a thing. The Employer will still put the document in your personnel file. Note, too, that you have the right to file a rebuttal to state your position. Even if you refused to return assets to the company, such as a laptop or a uniform (stuff like that), an Employer still can't refuse to give you your pay. The exception to this rule would be if you signed something when the asset was given to you and/or providing the Employer was clear in what would happen if you didn't return it. Hope this helps.

in most states by law if you work more that 5 hours a day you are required to take a 30 min brake. (that is in ohio) i dont know about the other states laws. but yes, by law your employer must make you take a brake or your employer gets fined, thus the write-ups.

Yes you can be written up; clock or not clock the law says they have to pay you as "over-time" if you take no lunch (after the 5th hour of work in most jurisdictions). As for the written ups, yes you can get three or more written ups on the same day IF they are for three independent infractions (you yourself admit that you "often" skips lunch; they were supposed to tell you on the first time but the law says they can, it's "dirty play" to wait to have the three to tell you but legal). The best you can do is sign the first one and try to "nicely" make a deal arguing that the other two written ups wouldn't have been necessary if you were told about the first one. As for your pay, no they can't hold it.

do not sign them...they admit uve done something wrong...which i dont think u have i would call a lawyer and just try to quickly get an answer from him for hopefully free..im sure someone would let u know

It depends on the company policies and possibly state laws. For example, my company has a handbook that states you MUST take at least one half hour for lunch unless otherwise directed by your boss. Your company might be concerned about paying over time or something. Check to see if they have a policy about lunch times posted somewhere, that might explain a bit more about why they wrote you up.

It all depends on what state you are in. Most states it is in fact a law that you must take breaks. You may in fact be written up. But holding up your paycheck for refusing to sign the writeups? Highly illegal and possibly grounds for you to hire a lawyer

yes it is all legal, you have to take lunch breaks if you work a certain amount of hours.

They way that they have handled this sounds wrong. However, it is the law that you have to take a lunch break if you work a certain amount of hours. Your boss could get in trouble for you not taking breaks. However, each individual write up should have been given to you on seperate occassions and your boss should have warned you about the breaks. THEY CANNOT HOLD YOUR PAY. Contact an attorney. There should be legal services provided at no costs or low cost to students.