Why can’t they order it for delivery on the company card? 

If you’ve had a job in your lifetime, you’ve probably wondered whether your boss’s requests are legal or not. If you’ve been forced to work through your lunch break, your company might be breaking the law based on where you live. When I was a teenager, I worked about two weeks’ worth of shifts at a Chinese restaurant without clocking in because, according to my manager, the clock-in system wasn’t working. I tried to get the money I was owed for that time, but I never got it. That certainly was illegal, but there’s nothing I can do about it now, since it was in 2017 and the restaurant has been closed for years. Having me work without clocking in might’ve been illegal, but it was certainly illegal not to pay me for hours and hours of work. 

Companies need to follow the law, not just because they should treat their employees with dignity, but because there are significant liability issues at stake if they don’t. If an employee gets hurt because their job involved cutting corners on safety and rules, the employee can sue them with a lawyer who is willing to work for free because they know they will win. 

The employee in this story is working for an incredibly dysfunctional hospital. They want her to order everyone lunch with everyone’s personal debit cards, all while sitting at the front desk and attending to her normal responsibilities. They are willing to take away her lunch break so she can get lunch for everyone else without paying her for the pleasure.