Walking out when you're called in?

[mjr]

Here's one I've got a question on, because I thought about this a few times when I worked at King of Burgers.

Ok, let's set up a situation.

It's your scheduled day off, and you're enjoying yourself. Your phone rings, and you answer it. Your manager "needs" you to come in just for a bit (through lunch rush, or as a "bridge" until they can get someone else there, or whatever).

Now lets say that you, being the nice person you are, go into work. And let's say that things go downhill, fast. And let's say that your manager keeps you there longer than promised.

Now, let's say you've had enough for the day, and you want to enjoy the rest of your day "off".

What happens if you just clock out and leave? Is that grounds for termination? I mean, you weren't scheduled to work to begin with. You were actually doing them a favor, and they essentially abused the privilege.

So what do you think, and what are the legalities of this? I've always been relatively curious.

[Pimento]

Well where I work if they call you in for one job and they ask you to do another you can go home and they have to pay you 4 hours even if you've been there for 5 mins.

I know also if we're called in for 4 hours and they ask us to stay extra, you can go home or at the time you say yes it counts as a new call and there's another 4 hours pay.

[Pixilated]

Keeping in mind this is only valid for my area ... I once had a labour lawyer tell me, "You can be fired for anything, up to and including the colour of your socks. The question is whether it was a legal firing."

So yeah, it's possible the employee in question could be fired for that. The question then becomes: if it turns out to be an illegal firing, does the person have the time and resources to pursue it through the courts?

Would the person not get an extra day off in compensation? Or would it just be a case of "tough tootsies"?

[mjr]

Would the person not get an extra day off in compensation? Or would it just be a case of "tough tootsies"?

It would be a case of "tough tootsies".

I actually had that happen to me (without the walking out part).

I was enjoying myself one day on a day off. Phone rings. Their drive thru person didn't show up, and could I please come in and work Drive Thru "just through the lunch rush" (i.e. around 11 AM to roughly 2 PM, about 3 hours).

Me, being the nicey-nice I was, went in to work...

So I start working...

Well, 2 PM rolls around, and I'm still there...then 2:30, then 3:15...then 4 PM...

They didn't even attempt to let me go home! And from 2-5 is generally a slow time!

So I was unhappy and very angry at that point. And I made it known that I was angry, to the point where I said, "I'm leaving at 5 whether a new drive-thru person is here or not."

Guess who got to leave at 5...

[kpzra]

If you are in an "At Will" work state they can fire for anything or nothing. That being said, my last job if you came in for any OT it was stated up front what the hours were (usually a whole 8 hour shift). It was also a minimum 2 hours pay for clocking in (paid safety meetings that could last as little as 15 minutes).

This was at an airport with regular shifts though so you knew ahead of time.

[Bright_Star]

Why go in at all on your day off even if they're in dire need of you working? That they need you for whatever reason is their problem. They can find somebody else OR they can pick up the slack, roll up their sleeves & jump on in there. They're management!! IF they feel it's below them to work like a "PEON" then too fucking bad.
& when they call you, say "NO, I can't" & then hang up & enjoy your day off. Screw em if they can't manage without you for that day.

[dougall]

Remember you don't have to answer the phone and "no sorry" is a complete sentence if you give no reason or excuses overcoming your objections becomes impossible.

[Android Kaeli]

Keeping in mind this is only valid for my area ... I once had a labour lawyer tell me, "You can be fired for anything, up to and including the colour of your socks. The question is whether is was a legal firing."

This.

My state is an 'At Will' state -- employers do not NEED a reason to let someone go, it's best that they do but they don't have to have a reason to fire someone.

[Pixilated]

I'd go in to help them over a jam ... but if they pulled this on me, with the "tough tootsies" when I asked about a replacement for my lost day off, it would be the only time I did that. Any such cries of desperation in future would, oddly, go to the answering machine ... funny how suddenly I'm never home when they call ...

[kpzra]

Why go in at all on your day off even if they're in dire need of you working? That they need you for whatever reason is their problem. They can find somebody else OR they can pick up the slack, roll up their sleeves & jump on in there. They're management!! IF they feel it's below them to work like a "PEON" then too fucking bad.
& when they call you, say "NO, I can't" & then hang up & enjoy your day off. Screw em if they can't manage without you for that day.

My last job had mandatory OT. You didn't show up, you were fired. There were 2 members of management, the GM, HR lady and the Duty manager. The last one was the only one who could do line tech work (lots of certs to go through and OJT). When the economy took a downturn the cut back on staff so the supervisors went away, leaving just the line techs (10 total for 3 shifts) and one manager to cover everything. One person calls in and the shift was screwed. It takes 3 people to pull a plane out of a hanger, there were usually two per shift per side.

[KhirasHY]

My last job had mandatory OT. You didn't show up, you were fired.

Which, while legal, is one of the most bullshit moves that any company can make. Seriously.

Honestly, I'm proactive at work...and I really enjoy my job right now. It's not that I don't want to help (and I will, in some cases), but I've always had the mindset that I work only as long as I have to. Were I to win Powerball on Saturday, I'd be gone (though I'd be nice enough to let them get someone hired and trained if they did it fast).

The point being that your time off is just that: yours. I at least have the excuse of sometimes not feeling my phone go off (it's on vibrate 24/7, and I almost never feel it going off in my pocket. My managers have actually sat next to me as I got call after call and didn't notice (somehow they heard it and I didn't), until they finally asked who kept calling me.

It gives me a bit of an out when I don't answer the phone...

[kpzra]

Which, while legal, is one of the most bullshit moves that any company can make. Seriously.

Oh, I totally agree. The company did have a policy that they had to give 36 hours notice for the OT. As soon as I got home (hour commute) I turned my phone off. Anyone who needed my had hubbys number that our olf manager made sure to delete in the system (we worked at the same place for a bit). They tried to fire me after a "NCNS" while I was in the hospital giving birth to my daughter. My maternity leave had started 4 days before, on her actual due date. I got quite familiar with corporate HQ in Florida. It got so bad that the GM got called to the big MAIN HQ in London to have a "talk".


That company is always hiring, almost every location around the world. They just suck after awhile.

[Kitten in the box]

My job sometimes tries to call me in. IF I am feeling nice, I'll go in. One time they asked me to cover a cw shift for 2 hours. At the end of those 2 hours I left. They asked me to stay longer but I was already heading to my car. I got a replacement day off as well as a speech on 'how I let everyone down and this will NOT happen again.' your right.. It won't...because next time my phone goes unanswered

[Pixilated]

*snip* I got a replacement day off as well as a speech on 'how I let everyone down and this will NOT happen again.' your right.. It won't...because next time my phone goes unanswered

Isn't it amazing that some bosses don't make the connection between shit treatment like this and the sudden unavailability of the worker whenever they call thereafter ...

[Aethian]

Isn't it amazing that some bosses don't make the connection between shit treatment like this and the sudden unavailability of the worker whenever they call thereafter ...

Or why they move off the OT list.