I am a salaried worker and was told by my boss that I needed to be at work 15 mins early daily. Ethical?

Question

I am salary. I am not permitted to be at work early. Is this right?

Answer 1

This is one of the situations where you are ethically right but do you really want to stir up something over 15 minutes? You are better off not making it an issue.

I have had several managers (including the place I am currently at) that insisted people get in 15 minutes early because by the time you get coffee, turn on the computer, etc you will be ready to work when your day is suppose to start.

You dont want to be taken advantage of but at the same time you want to be a team player not one of those "I am on my entitled break at the moment" people.

Answer 2

This probably falls well within the salary guidelines, salary workers are expected to work for the same pay regardless of how long this may be. But that also means salary workers are paid when work requirements are shorter.

Do you have a contract? If you do read through it carefully and see if it covers overtime issues, more often than naught it will not provide extra pay. I ran into this when I was assistant to the Principal at a private school. The school board fired the principal and I had to keep up the slack until they hired a new one. All under the provisions of a salaried employee even though I was working like crazy, doing his job and mine all in the busiest last few months of school. I never saw my family it was horrible. But in a right to work state there was nothing I could do about it.

Now the other variable is the state in which you live in. States like California have laws for working that even apply to salaried workers. My Father in Law was a salaried employee with Countrywide Home Loans and he and his fellow employees contacted local labor authorities when they were required to work long hours without leaving the premises. Forced to keep working during lunch and dinner hours. The state stepped in, required them to be paid retroactively and compensated them for this time. But this is a very rare case.

In states like Arizona where I live this would have been legal, if your in a right to work state there may be very little you can do.

You should review your contract, as well as check the local labor laws in your state.

Answer 3

Plenty of salaried workers get "told" what to do. I have seen management base salary increases on how much "face" time you put in regardless if you are working that extra time or not.

Your boss might be thinking that if you arrive exactly on time, you aren't working right away because most of us need a few minutes to get situated... hang up coat, get coffee, etc. Ask why and if you don't like the response, start looking for another job.

Answer 4

For your boss to worry about 15 min is ridiculous, but as it is with most jobs, especially salaried jobs, you are expected to work as long as it takes to get the job done.
You didn't say why you were told to come in early, though. That would be good to know.

Answer 5

Salaried means you get paid X$ despite the number of hours you work - which means that yes you can be required to come in early. You are an exempt employee -lol you are exempt from the benefits hourly employees get for working their butts off.

I was salaried for 2 years - and I worked 50-70 hours per week and still made only the money that was based on 40.......as someone else said......I LOVE MY HOURLY JOB!

Answer 6

It just depends on the work hours set by your employer.

I'm salaried and I work upwards of 60 hours per week.

I don't quibble over 15 minutes here or there, because some days I stay home and telecommute via the internet.

It all works out in the end.

Answer 7

No - Salary typically means that you can be asked to work more than 8 hours and there is nothing that you can do about it.

Typically - when I was salary - I had to work 50-60 hours a week. I love my hourly job now!

Answer 8

Salary means you get paid irrespective of the hours you work. In the states, it also means you are generally an exempt employee and are under different laws then hourly employees.

I don't think it is illegal to have you come in early. Do you get paid if you have to leave early?

Answer 9

You are salary which means you get paid one price to do the work they assign you. It means you work overtime without extra pay, just as you collect when you don't work full time. Sure, it sucks, but those are the breaks. You're free to look for another job.

Answer 10

When salaried you can be made to do just about anything, including 50-70 hours a week.