Ummm I don't think that's legal...

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

A couple of jobs ago, there was a change in management. Shortly after the change we were informed that one of the new corporate guys would be hosting our department and several others for some kind of meet and greet luncheon.

We were told it would only take an hour to 90 minutes, attendance was mandatory BUT the event was unpaid. The company claimed that since it was technically an "unofficial" event and was taking place at a non company owned location that there was no problem with them not paying us, after all, as one of the corporate guys said: "Do you expect to get paid when you go to lunch with your friends?"

I claimed I had a doctor's appointment and skipped the luncheon. Left the job not long after that due to other corporate shenanigans.

[Racket_Man]

Nope not legal at all. anytime a company has some manditory all hand meeting, it is considered work time and therefore you must be paid your regular wage. Just saying it was a "lunch with friends" but you MUST be there is a very thin veil indeed.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

We were told it would only take an hour to 90 minutes, attendance was mandatory BUT the event was unpaid. The company claimed that since it was technically an "unofficial" event and was taking place at a non company owned location that there was no problem with them not paying us, after all, as one of the corporate guys said: "Do you expect to get paid when you go to lunch with your friends?"

So....the event is "unofficial" and "unpaid" but attendance is "mandatory?" Wow, that's almost legal.

I'd just not show up and let them fire me. They're not going to pay for something I'm required to do as part of my job? They're not worth working for.

[bhskittykatt]

If it's mandatory, they need to pay you. Plain and simple.

[SuperDan]

Pull out your cell, dial 1-866-4-US-WAGE, and hand the phone to him and ask him to explain his reasoning for not paying you to your "friend." The US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour division is your friend.

[Solacelawlz]

Pull out your cell, dial 1-866-4-US-WAGE, and hand the phone to him and ask him to explain his reasoning for not paying you to your "friend." The US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour division is your friend.

I concur completely, you def should've done that! That is a fantastic "friend" to have and that friend works wonders!! They proc on and own companies daily, i know this, i've seen this, believe me this!!

[neon81159]

my brother worked at a car wash.. they had 2 locations

manager would clock them out, and send them to the other location if they needed help

and when the staff complained.. they were told the labor board can't touch me..

my brother found a better job.. called the labor board.

they touched the owner.. 3 yr back audit, tons of off the clock work driving from one location to another.. touched him for about $30,000 in back wages and penalties.

my brother got a nice $400 check for a 5 minute phone call.

[PepperElf]

yeah mandatory meeting = paid wages.

unless you're already salary.


that's why when my company does fund-raisers for charity they encourage people to go, but they never force it. and never punish for non-participation. cos they're very big on keeping within the labor laws

[Geek King]

yeah mandatory meeting = paid wages.

unless you're already salary.

Even then, you may have to be paid overtime based on your salary. Somehow it works that way for my position, as a result of one of the big lawsuits against one of the software companies for abusing the salary vs. hourly laws. My boss just sat me down one day and told me I was no longer allowed to work overtime and that payroll had to track my clock times more closely due to the new precedent that was set by the lawsuit. Weird stuff, but who am I to argue?

[EyeAgree]

We were told it would only take an hour to 90 minutes, attendance was mandatory BUT the event was unpaid. The company claimed that since it was technically an "unofficial" event and was taking place at a non company owned location that there was no problem with them not paying us, after all, as one of the corporate guys said: "Do you expect to get paid when you go to lunch with your friends?"
I claimed I had a doctor's appointment and skipped the luncheon. Left the job not long after that due to other corporate shenanigans.

I guess since you skipped it that you wouldn't know what was served, and if they paid for the lunch?
I would have said that since they say treat it like lunch with your friends and it's off the clock, that my friends usually buy me all the drinks I want, so the company can pay for all my drinks too and I'd be having a few.

[MadMike]

My ex worked as a waitress for a short time awhile back, long before my son was even conceived. I met her manager once or twice when I dropped her off and picked her up at work, and he seemed like a nice guy at first. But things aren't always what they seem...

I stopped by one night to pick her up from work at what was supposed to be the end of her shift, and found her sitting at a table folding napkins and wrapping silverware. She told me that her manager told her to do that before she left, but told her to clock out before doing it. Naturally, she and I were both pissed. At the time, we were still both young and naive, and didn't know that sort of thing was illegal. I felt so bad for her, that I sat down and helped her get her stuff done.

While we were doing this, we got to talking about the job, and came to the concensus that it just wasn't worth it. She was getting paid crap wages, and she was working a weird set of hours that didn't get a lot of customers, so she wasn't making much in tips either. It was a 20-mile drive each way to the restaurant, so we were probably spending more in gas than she was bringing home. And then having to work for free was the final straw. We agreed that she would quit as soon as she was done with what she was doing. Looking back now, I don't know why we didn't just say screw the napkins and silverware, and walk out the door.

A few weeks later, after she had quit her job, I was doing some cleaning and found an exit interview form from that job. She had filled it out, including her reason for leaving, going into detail about having to work off the clock. But she never sent it in. So naturally, I put it in an envelope and mailed it.

A few weeks later, I stopped by that same restaurant for a late night snack, and found out that her old manager no longer worked there. The place had a sign up front with the names of the managers, and his name was no longer on it. I hope his ass got fired, and that I was the one who made it happen. Hell, I'd like to be able to look him right in the eye and say, "It was me!"

[emt_cookies]

My former medical transportation job did something similar. They would make the new employees come in unpaid on their time off and do protocol testing. They argued that it was educational and hence why they didn't have to pay us for it. However, typically educational relates to something like continuing educational hours which we did not get paid for but we get hours towards our renewal for completing. I was pissed when the guy didn't show up for 2 hours.

[Sapphire Silk]

Even then, you may have to be paid overtime based on your salary. Somehow it works that way for my position, as a result of one of the big lawsuits against one of the software companies for abusing the salary vs. hourly laws. My boss just sat me down one day and told me I was no longer allowed to work overtime and that payroll had to track my clock times more closely due to the new precedent that was set by the lawsuit. Weird stuff, but who am I to argue?

A lot of companies tried to get more work out of their salaried employees by piling on the work load for what was supposed to be a 40 hour/week job, but that would take 60+ hours to finish, without giving a pay raise or other bennies to compensate. It's the economy; everyone is trying to get more for less from workers, and workers who fear not being able to find a new job are ripe for the pickings for these kinds of shenanigans.

Some companies, including ones that traditionally paid workers hourly like their IT folks, converted people to salary to get out of paying overtime. The salaried folks rebelled and took it to court, and got coverted back to hourly with OT benefits.

My former medical transportation job did something similar. They would make the new employees come in unpaid on their time off and do protocol testing. They argued that it was educational and hence why they didn't have to pay us for it. However, typically educational relates to something like continuing educational hours which we did not get paid for but we get hours towards our renewal for completing. I was pissed when the guy didn't show up for 2 hours.

They have to pay you for training. I always got paid for training when I still worked as hospital staff. They paid for ACLS and PALS, and then paid me to go to the class.

My first hospital job played games with the time clock as well. They wouldn't pay you for time before or after the start of your shift. So if you worked 7am to 3:30 pm (you only got 8 hours cuz lunch was unpaid), but clocked in at 6:30am, you didn't get paid for that half an hour.

Problem was, they required us to come in 15 minutes early for shift report . . . but didn't start paying us until 7am. So a lot of people started not coming in until 7 on the dot . . . and you can't clock everyone it at 7am exactly. So people were getting docked 15 minutes for being "late." And if you had to clock out late, they just didn't pay you . . . they even wrote you up for not clocking out on time. In patient care, sometimes that's impossible.

One day I stayed over an hour after my shift ended because a doctor needed help performing a lumbar puncture (spinal tap), and everyone else was still in shift report (we taped report, they were listening to the tape). The tap didn't go well and took nearly half an hour to complete. Then I had to reposition the patient, clean up, send the samples to the lab, and document on the procedure . . . report to the evening nurse what went down. I got in trouble for not clocking out on time. So much for patient centered care

I quit that job after a year, and went back as an agency nurse . . . they were so short staffed from all the people who quit because of the god awful working conditions, that I got all the hours I wanted for twice the pay (no bennies, but it didn't matter since I only worked in summer between semesters anyway).

A year or so after I quit working there all together, I got a nice little check for about $120 . . . my part of a settlement from a lawsuit filed by my former co-workers over the time clock abuse ($120 wasn't bad money in 1989).

[Eireann]

I'm reminded of a place where I used to work. It was owned by a married couple, and at first things were great. Then the business began to grow, and the dark side of both of them came out, and never went back. It became absolutely horrible to work there, especially since the female half of the couple was the manager, and she singled me out for abuse on a daily basis. She was no sweetheart to anyone else, but she saved her special venom for me.

Anyway, some time after I no longer worked there, she arranged a get-together for everyone who worked for the company, including freelancers. It was held at a hotel owned by friends of hers, so she got a special rate.

Well, she supplied soft drinks for those who wanted them. One of the freelancers decided on, let's say, a can of Coke (I think that's what it was).

She wanted him to PAY for it. 100 Czech crowns, which is easily five times the regular sales price. He refused. She didn't insist, but according to the friend who told me the story, she was well and truly pissed off.

[Dreamstalker]

The Jerk expected me to manage the online listings from home--obviously off the clock. I came up with some technical-sounding excuse (I think I told him that logging in from two different locations would raise a red flag with ebay and they'd have to investigate the account). Also, to do what he wanted (pack and ship outside store hours) I'd need to either come in outside of our agreed-upon hours--which he told me flat-out I wouldn't get paid for and to not try clocking in--or take the listed items home with me (and use my own shipping supplies which I didn't really want to do).