we start our shifts on the hour. 9-5, 2-10, what have you. we cannot leave the building untill the end of the shift, or on the hour due to "liability". But, when we start we have to relieve the shift before us early, usually ten minutes, so they can be back "by the hour". if they dont get back by the hour the company docks pay to whoever was coming on shift. we are not paid for this extra time so we are losing out on at least six minutes of pay a day, and anytime we raise the issue with our employer they tell us "thats the way it is"...... is there anything i can do?
2007-09-20 03:41:41 · 3 answers · asked by commanderkraut 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Corporations
mind you its been almost four years at this location, with 20+ employees...
2007-09-20 04:15:37 · update #1
Yes there is. The above advice is good. Contact your state labor board or the fair housing and employment (don't know which one would handle that kind of claim). You could also contact an attorney and get a free consult and see what he says-maybe you can somehow fish out of him who to contact. But, if you make a complaint...just be careful that you obey all the workplace rules. Don't give them any excuse to termintate you. You would view it as retaliation of course, they will simply say "you violated the rule and you're fired, we don't retaliate-that's against the law!" (oh puleeeese!)
This happened where I worked. We worked 12 hours shifts (7-7) and it was "understood" we relieve the next shift 15 mintues prior. However, a guy that was very "law savvy" brought this up and they told him the same thing "that's the way we do it". So he continued to relieve the person at the designated time of 7 instead of 6:45. On his eval he got a below standard for punctuality and he promptly filed a lawsuit, won and the workplace, now being publicly exposed, had to pay backwages to all employees which amounted to alot of money since we were paid upwards of $25-30 per hour.
2007-09-20 04:09:11 · answer #1 · answered by Lesleann 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Technically a company cannot require you to work any additional time without compensation. Companies can round off the time to the quarter hour though. So if you do clock in and start working 7.5 min before the hour or earlier you should be compensated for 15 min of work.
I would contact your state labor board to confirm the law where you live. If nothing else they should be able to provide detail on what you should do to correct any issues.
2007-09-20 10:51:40 · answer #2 · answered by arimarismacon 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you have to be on site, you have to be paid for the time. That said, in most places the employer is allowed to round to the nearest 15 minutes, so if it's 6 minutes you wouldn't have to be paid, if it's 10 minutes you would. Depending on where you are though, those extra minutes might have to be added up for the week, then the total rounded to the quarter hour.
2007-09-20 11:37:16 · answer #3 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋