I CANNOT help you, I am off the clock.

[Nunavut Pants]

It's Federal Labor Law. The company can even get into trouble for allowing you to work off the clock (presumably because a store could just force someone to do so and then claim it was by choice).

I volunteer for an animal shelter. I wind up talking to some of the staff when things aren't busy, and at one point asked one of them about them volunteering. They cannot--or rather, any volunteer work they do at the shelter can have nothing at all to do with what they are actually paid to do. So one of the adoptions staff volunteered there doing laundry and cleaning, not doing the fun stuff like socializing cats and dogs. Because their paid duties included interacting with the animals, and they couldn't do anything close to that when off the clock.

It was kind of strange, but I did eventually understand why that might be the law.

Of course, non-hourly staff (like the director-level folks) could do whatever, as they did not go on or off the clock at all.

[Dreamstalker]

i.e., "Just go ahead and clock out already, man."

That could explain why on occasion my supervisor will tell me to clock out a few minutes before I'm supposed to...because somewhere during the week I must have had additional equivalent minutes*, but I can't figure out when that happened or can't do the mental math on the fly to make it even out overall.

* I can guarantee those few minutes were 'gained' by having to fight my way to an open timeclock...IMO it's not 'time theft' if the very nature of the setup ensures it will happen at least once unless you have military-precision timing and the ability to teleport.

[dalesys]

... the ability to teleport.

... into the person already at the clock. E=MC² for 80 to 300 kg

(Hiroshima converted on the order of one gram to energy)

[Lace Neil Singer]

Where I work, the clocking out machine is at the back of the supermarket. (I work in a petrol station attached to a supermarket) I normally work days so I'll take the cardboard or disposals with me when I go home, cuz then I look like I'm busy doing something (here, customers tend to pounce mainly on colleagues who are just walking around and don't look busy) as I walk at the speed of light to safety.

I also get changed in the locker room, cuz I have found that by doing so, I can just blend into the crowd. People who finish their shift, then go shopping in uniform get bothered by customers; one lady who was shopping with her husband and baby after work had a customer bother her and demand she go and get something; she just replied, "I'm off the clock, which is apparent by the fact that there's a baby in my trolley, and they don't sell babies here." XD

[Pixelated]

My parents don't even understand this. As a concept, the idea that someone in retail cannot help them if they're off the clock, they think that being directed to what they're looking for isn't "work" it's just "being nice".

Given that it may be a matter of law (don't know if it is, in all 50 states), I would be tempted to ask if "being nice" is worth getting me, my boss, the store, and the company into legal trouble. Which would certainly come back to bite me in the butt when upper management learned the name of the person responsible.

Everywhere I've worked, if this pushes you far enough into the next 15 minute (or 7.5 minute) "time chunk," they simply made sure to send us home early on the next shift to balance it out.

Sensible idea!

[No Coupons 4 You]

When I used to work at King Soopers the manager expected us to help a customer even if we were off the clock or on break.

[Dreamstalker]

That's what my old place did, which was a bit surprising as they were (are) union. I think a lot of places count on minions not knowing the law (or assuming the employer knows it).

If I'm not on the clock I'm not to be working...if an SC collars me just after punching out for break though I try to ignore them even if I'm in uniform; that's my time and I'm going to waste enough of it getting food. If they're the type to 'ask' for help by making vague noises directed to nobody it makes ignoring even easier

I think there's an exchange in Pretending You Care that goes something like this:
"So you don't want to work unless you get paid for it?"
"Yeah, I'm funny that way..."

[MoonCat]

Strange to say, I'm seeing a very weird reverse version of this going on in our subscriber services dept. Specifically, they have apparently been told by a manager that they are not to log off the phones at 5:00 but at 5:01.

Yeah, no. I'm sorry, but when your shift is 9 am to 5 pm you are DONE at 5:00 pm. For the life of me I can't understand why they put up with this. I don't believe anyone in their dept. is contesting this. As far as I'm concerned, after 60 working days the company owes every one of them an additional hour's pay.

[No Coupons 4 You]

What I really love about my new job is that I can have all the overtime and they don't complain.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Given that it may be a matter of law (don't know if it is, in all 50 states), I would be tempted to ask if "being nice" is worth getting me, my boss, the store, and the company into legal trouble. Which would certainly come back to bite me in the butt when upper management learned the name of the person responsible.

I don't know of any state where working off the clock is legal. If it was, it'd be happening all. the. time.

I can see my parents having that attitude about "being nice" though. They can be a bit...entitled.

[EricKei]

Pix - It's Federal

Note that the above does NOT apply to an Exempt employee (feel free to read up on that yourselves), which, obviously, includes anyone on salary. Note that Interns are a whole other ball of wax, and often go unpaid illegally (if an intern does anything that actually benefits the business directly, they need to get paid. They're they're to LEARN, not fill in for a paid worker).

Reference here: http://employment.findlaw.com/wages-...the-clock.html

[An Haddock]

I'm not sure he understood why I got bent out of shape about it. Maybe it would have taken a second to tell him where it was (had I actually known), but there's a good chance that it wouldn't have ended there, especially if other people found out I worked there. I have better things to do on my day off than play 20 Questions with customers.

It's bad enough when other people don't understand why you don't want to help them when you're not working. There's no excuse for a parent to throw you under the bus.


Fortunately my folks don't do it to me, but I've had other techs tell me they'll be at the shore, shopping, at a BBQ, etc. and one of their parents will "volunteer" them to fix a problem for someone, even complete strangers.

"Shoot... my wifi isn't working."
"Oh, that's okay - hey Sean, help this gentleman."
"I... what?"

[An Haddock]

I think there's an exchange in Pretending You Care that goes something like this:
"So you don't want to work unless you get paid for it?"
"Yeah, I'm funny that way..."

Since we're a relatively small town, I get recognized often as the "computer guy". More than a few times I've had a customer corral me at a restaurant or grocery store and ask "a quick question". (which it never is) I try to be polite but in so many words tell them we'd have to look at it at the shop or come out to their location.

Because, oddly enough, I'd like to get paid for my work so my business stays open.

[Nunavut Pants]

"I'd like to ask you a quick question..."

"OK, my hourly rates are $XXX/hour, one hour minimum. Will this be check or cash?"

[Pixelated]

That's what my old place did, which was a bit surprising as they were (are) union. I think a lot of places count on minions not knowing the law (or assuming the employer knows it).

*snip*

I think there's an exchange in Pretending You Care that goes something like this:
"So you don't want to work unless you get paid for it?"
"Yeah, I'm funny that way..."

I love that! Gotta remember it for possible future reference.

I once worked as a cashier in a grocery store and we were unionized. For what that was worth. Which was pretty much nothing. That was the same store that wouldn't even allow the cashiers to keep bottled water at their stations (I've since seen another site here in My Hometown and there's bottled water on almost every stand.) I had somebody tell me we just had a crappy union (in retrospect maybe we just had a crappy union rep). Might be true. That was my one and only ever unionized job so I've nothing to compare it to.

Pix - It's Federal

Note that the above does NOT apply to an Exempt employee (feel free read up on that yourself), which, obviously, includes anyone on salary. Note that Interns are a whole other ball of wax, and often go unpaid illegally (if an intern does anything that actually benefits the business directly, they need to get paid. They're they're to LEARN, not fill in for a paid worker).

Reference here: http://employment.findlaw.com/wages-...the-clock.html

Thanks.

I definitely know about salaried employees; that's what I was at Ye Olde Weeklie Paper, where you worked until the job was done. Page layout was part of the job, and this was BC (Before Computers ) so it was all done by hand, with melted wax and X-Acto knives. Mondays were 12-hour days and Tuesdays were 10-hour days, but that was how the job went. And since (despite my bouts of griping) I really loved my job, I didn't care about all those extra hours.

Wouldn't do it now, though.

I think a lot of these people have never stopped to think about how they'd feel if people kept waylaying them out in public, asking them questions related to their work, asking for their assessments and professional help, and expecting them to spend their own off-hours "being nice" by doing what they normally get paid to do, but for free.