Forced to Work Off the Clock, Some Fight Back

NY Times ^ | NJovember 19, 2004 | Steven Greenhouse

[Dianna]

for some americans, these kinds of low paid service jobs is all they can do, all that's available. so if all companies engage in these practices, where are they supposed to go?

While I don't agree with forcing workers to work off the clock, if the people are THAT bothered by it, then they will upgrade their skills.

When I was working in fast food in high school, I had to do all kinds of prep before opening. I was a good worker, but no matter what the heck I did, I was never ready on time. I begged to be able to come in early, off the clock! They wouldn't let me.

[ClaireSolt]

Well, these people have recourse, and that is fine. I worked straight comission for years. There are people in this sample who remind me of some employees I have known. they are watching the clock instead of woirking for the bonuses. that is where the money is in hair and telemarketing.

[StoneFury]

Not being paid while you're not doing what you were hired to do?!
THE HORROR!

The next time you need to take a crap at work, please do it off the clock. You were not hired to crap. (Or were you?)

[endthematrix]

"Federal and state laws generally require that hourly employees be paid for every minute they work"

Well if State and Fed employees, after smoke breaks, chit-chat, long lunches and general laziness. Who owes who now? A taxpayer wants his dues!

[endthematrix]

You get a federal mandated two craps per shift, if you want.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Man, what are you talking about? If your are instructed to physically be there, you should be paid. Period.

You are kidding right?

[Willie Green]

I can get most jobs done in half the time the book says it should be done

I've always heard that "the book" was based strictly on using manual tools -- no pneumatic wrenches or other power tools that make the job go faster. Not sure if it's true or not, but I was told that's why the customer gets charged for 4 hours labor even though it only takes the mechanic 2 or 3 hours.

[KingNo155]

Most of the time it is based on Hand tools and most applications thats the only way the job can get done due to lack of space to get pneumatic tools and their air lines past obstructions. Us good Mechanics know how to cheat those tight spots.

[Willie Green]

Us good Mechanics know how to cheat those tight spots.

Question: When the customer pays for the full book rate of 4 hours, and you do it in 3, do you still get the pay for 4 hours of work as a bonus?

[bigeasy_70118]

In Catholic moral theology, depriving a worker of his/her just wages is a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance.

It is theft clear and simple, and the worst kind at that. Theft of the employee's time spent with family and friends and theft of their daily toil. The NYT finally has an article that can outrage conservatives in a positive way.

[Zack Nguyen]

This is awful, and these companies should have to pay back wages. That hair salon featured here should be prosecuted. That's nothing less than the powerful kicking the weak around.

[Zack Nguyen]

If so, they can quit and find another job. FREEDOM!

That is no excuse for unjust and immoral behavior, in my view.

[bigeasy_70118]

Not being paid while you're not doing what you were hired to do?!

The article states that while off the clock, she had to sweep up and clean the salon. If she is an hourly worker, that work deserves to be compensated or she should be free to leave.

Conservatives are allowed to be outraged at people being oppressed.

[Xenalyte]

Why do these people not report their companies? Sheesh. If you don't fight back, you don't get to bitch.

[Xenalyte]

Unlike factory workers, many hourly employees work where there are no time clocks and the situation is somewhat fluid. For example, an employee might work two hours past the end of a normal shift without putting in for overtime pay one night, but arrive two hours late on another morning because of a parent-teacher conference. In such settings, employers may easily wring out extra hours from their workers.

I work an extra hour tonight, I come in an hour late tomorrow. Doesn't sound like anyone is getting wrung out for anything.

[Sam's Army]

"This is also a company that times your bathroom breaks!"

They could time my middle finger.

[Hildy]

If you don't like the rules of your company, QUIT. QUIT. QUIT. Soon, the company will see that they will only get bad workers for that money and they will change. I worked for a Korean Company that was simply awful to women. There were only three of us in managerial type positions. After realizing I wasn't going to go anywhere in this Company and not liking the way I was being treated, I left. The other two ended up suing for Sexual Harrassment. They won a TON of money. Neither of them has to work.

That being said, I would never have gone in with them, I believe that if you don't like your situation, it's up to you to change it.

[Xenalyte]

I have three things to do before my life ends, and one is to rebuild a car that's older than me from just about the ground up. Will your father take on a quick-to-learn 35-year-old wanna-be grease monkey babe?

[bigeasy_70118]

My husband is a chef, paid hourly, and he just found out they have been basing his pay on his scheduled hours not his actual hours- a lot of times he gets in and his boss asks him to clock in early or they have to stay late to close. I know he should have been tracking his actual hours to paid hours all along, but he's too trusting for his own good.

Additionally, I know a company that intentionally schedules hourly employees for less than 40 hours and usually makes them work some non round number of hours like 37.25 or something. Then pays them for less like 35.75 hours. Most of the time, the employee fails figure out their correct gross pay due to their lack of math skills. If the employee catches the "mistake", the company pays them immediately and claims a clerical error.

[FourtySeven]

Thank you for posting that (about the woman still being required to work, while off the clock). It seems many on this thread missed that point. When I read that she wasn't being paid between salon customers, I had a similar reaction to Beelzebubba, but then I read how she still had to work, just not cutting hair. There's no other word for that other than slavery people.

Unions, and their government counterparts (like the Dept of Labor, etc) for the most part are a waste and a drain on our country, but it's examples like this that clearly indicate the need for at least some BASIC labor laws in the US. For all those who would have only "free market" forces dictate the labor market, these examples should show how some basic laws are needed. It's not all black and white, and I'd hope others on here could see that.

I think this is more prevailant than some believe, really. I was just in a Blockbuster the other day, and I heard the girl behind the counter talking to herself, but loud enough so her fellow workers standing by her could hear, "Man, you all should appreciate this, I'm off the clock after all".

I thought to myself, "You're off the clock? You should leave or get back on it". I thought she might be just ending her shift, and got caught up in some rush, and was just nice enough to help. After reading this article though, I'm not so sure.

There's nothing wrong with making a lot of money as a private business owner, but not through exploitation. That's not what a REAL conservative is all about, IMO.