Comments on: Have You Been Working “Off The Clock”?

By: dan cline

dan cline — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:53:52 +0000

at my job, dominos pizza, if my schedule says 5pm i have to be there at 5 pm. No problem there, but once i get there if they don’t absolutely need me i HAVE to wait to clock in until they deem necessary. I’ve waited up to one and one half hours before. It’s unpaid time that i’m required to be present for or else face punishment but am not paid for. If i’m late i have to run laps around the building on a major highway for every minute i’m late or be written up. This can’t be legal and is definately not ethical. Also i’m not sure if this is allowable but men and women are held to different dress codes as well. Our boss picks and chooses who gets to wear what and how. girls don’t have to tuck in their shirts but men do. ripped clothing is okay for some but not for others. Also many of the employees are required to pick up other employees on their deliveries for free while using employees gas and time.also breaks aren’t given to drivers because they say driving is a break…… ?? really?? i am criticized for using the restroom when we are busy. when ya gta go, ya gta go. managers make me do their job for my pay(below minimum wage). sexual harassment is constant. we are clocked out sometimes without them telling us. overall some of this has got to be illegal. i know its wrong but i don’t know what to do about it. i’ve brought it up but it never goes over well.

By: Sharon Green

Sharon Green — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:13:32 +0000

I work in retail after we clock out we must gt bags checked and wait outside until the alarm sounds sometimes are told to gt carts is this legal also hv minors working at this place they are not fair what to do help

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:27:46 +0000

I was terminated today for failing to work off the clock. My shift ended, report was given to the oncomming nurse. I was out the door. Policy states we are not allowed to punch out later than 7 minutes after our scheduled time. They had 8 compitent persons in the facility, 3 withing 120 feet of the resident needing assistance. I thought, “Am I covered if something goes wrong”? Nope. The nurse for that person was on the way. I was suspended on 1/05/10 and told today I was terminated under “at will employment”

By: Tabitha

Tabitha — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:30:29 +0000

My mother is employed at an individual owned convinant store, she was called the other morning by another employee to come in cause they were sick. When she got there the owner of the store said that the other employee would have to pay my mother out of her pocket. to me this is called working off the clock and is very illegal, please tell me if the owner has the right to do this an if not who is it reported too.

By: BH

BH — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:47:18 +0000

I am a manager trainee for mcdonalds. I was told recently that in order to advance as a manager, I would have to come in before, stay late after, and/or do computer based training on my lunch break on my time. Unpaid. This seems unlawful to me, yet it has been going on for a long time. This seems to be the way that they “train” management. Is this lawful? I would like to know please.

By: Jeff Weber

Jeff Weber — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:03:30 +0000

I worked almost a year as a delivery driver for one of the nations largest pharmacutical companies. I was ‘forced’ to sign a time sheet weekly and was ‘forced’ to show one half hour lunch break daily. Problem: Almost never took that half hour. I complained to my immediate supervisor often but was told that I had to sign the time sheet anyway, which I did in fear of being terminated. (I strongly believe I was eventually terminated for reasons involving male sexual discrimination).
When I was terminated I sent an email to my boss’s immediate supervisor, his boss and HR. complaining that I had been on call 24/7 for 11 months and was never compensated. I immediately was sent a large check as payment for my on call time. That shows me I was treated unfairly in regard to pay as related to lunch hours but because I was forced to sign the time sheets the company says I have no case. I think I should be compensated for that time..

By: DJ

DJ — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:42:25 +0000

I work at zaxbys in cartersville GA, and my manager likes to Schedar employees to show up an hour-2 hours before the lunch rush, and make the employees sit in the lobby and wait without being able to clock in, then he calls us in as he needs us to work, then we are allowed to clock in, i have been harassed by my boss because i left after he tried to get me to work for free during this time, he also likes to send the employees home after the rush to “lower his store hours” please tell me this is unorthodox

By: tina

tina — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:03:47 +0000

i wrk in a hotel, wen our rooms r finished we wait 4them2 b checked then we have 2go bak2 our mistakes..our employers r now sayin we have to clock out as soon as our rooms r done then we have 2 wait till they are checked then go back2 them 2 rectify our mistakes on our own time..is this legal, we dont get our 4hours a day contracted hours as it is, and i find it appaullin they now want us 2 wrk in our own time.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:32:04 +0000

I work at a preschool, and enrollment has been getting worse and worse over the last two years at a pretty steady decline. As a result, our owners have made efforts to cut cost wherever possible- startin with the cost of labor. To do so, we have been required to come to work at a certain time, but if our child to teacher ratio is low, then we cannot clock on unitl enough children have arrived to require another teacher. This means we wait anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes each day, on top of a school wide hour cut. Also, over the past two years we have been “strongly recommended” to put in unpaid hours in order to finish our classroom work. they are often referred to as “prep parties” and little incentives are given in place of hourly pay. This includes decorating for upcoming special events, cleaning, decorating rooms for holidays, and making over the school for the new school year. I only recently found out that knowingly letting us work unpaid was illegal. I am unsure what steps to take because I want to be sure that I fully know what my rights are before I come forward. Any information will help!!

By: Don Aldred

Don Aldred — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:27:21 +0000

I was working off the clock for all of 2008.
I gave my hr. a list of dates. They thought I kept notes, I didn’t keep notes, I set down with a calendar and tried to remember the days I worked off the clock.
Now I have to give them the updated version, I”m thinking that I’m in trouble for doing this, for not taking notes just doing it from memory. And also that my position is weak now.

Help what do I do now?

By: Brandi

Brandi — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:54:27 +0000

I work for this restaurant making $2.15 an hour plus tips. The thing is, I’m scheduled at 10:45 and if I’m not there by 10:30, I’m considered late. I can’t clock in until I get my first table, which sometimes isn’t until 12:00 or so. I’m not just sitting around doing nothing during this time either. I’m working from the time I step foot in the door. We were told we had to come in at 9:00 one day to move some tables. When I got there, I tried to clock in and they told me that I wasn’t getting paid for it. They didn’t ask for volunteers. They demanded that we come in. I didn’t get to clock in until my first table after we opened at 11:00. Is this right?

By: Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:02:13 +0000

!2 yrs ago I worked for my step- uncle’s construction company. We were told when we hired in that he paid only “straight” time……no overtime and that we worked 6 days a week 10 hrs a day mandatory!!!! I was 22 and knew nothing of ot laws. I worked for him for a yr and a half @ $8 an hour. I went on a Friday and asked to leave 1 hr early so I could pick up my lil brother (on opposite sides of the fam) from school. He told me to “yeah…and tell him he can have the next week off too!” So I quit after that response. I’m now at a job Ive been at for 10 yrs and I was salary. I was put doin floor work with a supervisors heading and not paid ot. When I started researching ot laws I found that my “step-uncle” had out it to me 12 yrs earlier but the statute of lim is 4 yrs max I believe. He took taxes out I know that. Is there anything I can do about this. I just want what I earned no more.

By: D. Cody

D. Cody — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:21:49 +0000

i work 3rd shift,and work in CA, but HQ is in Texas. we start at 945pm and HAVE to take lunch @ 11pm CA time so that we dont go into OT on the dallas time clock, but are still expected to help customers during that time. if we do not punch out it is later adjusted by managment.

By: Meghann

Meghann — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:39:00 +0000

I work at a YMCA in Ohio and am asked by my employer to clock out and have a meeting during my lunch hour which consists of talking about the program for which I work. There is no way this is right, but he hides it by saying me and the other directors are “hanging out.”

By: jennifer carlson

jennifer carlson — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:42:59 +0000

i would like an answer to what marquetta said in question #7. the only difference is that i work in a health care facility. can my employee make us stay on the premisis for our lunch break if we are not getting paid for this break?

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:34:10 +0000

I was forced to sign a contract or not take the job- stating that I will clock out at 6:30pm whether or not cleaning duties are done-they are never done. So I’ve been working 15-30 minutes to clean up and not getting paid for it-I make minimum wage. Who can can I talk to about this without loosing my job?

By: danika

danika — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:22:08 +0000

i work(ed) at Cotton Patch Cafe in Granbury, TX and if you get into touble for just not having a belt or something like that…you have to work off the clock for one-two hours on saturday mornings…i got fired for not coming to one of these while i was processing for the army! which my recruiter told me was violating another law! is any of this okay? can they really do this?

By: George Nordling

George Nordling — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:36:45 +0000

Those of us who work the night shift are required to come to the plant on our free time for training. This goes on every week and we receive no pay for this. we are threatened with a ‘write-up’ if we fail to comply

By: Unethical or working off the clock?

Unethical or working off the clock? — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:51:23 +0000

I clock in 10-15 min early to prepare for my shift. My workplace edits my punch at my scheduled start time, At the end of my shift they do the
same thing, cutting the 5-10 minutes have already worked. Iam losing 15-25 minutes a day. Is this ethical ? legal ?

By: Dianne

Dianne — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:24:45 +0000

I have worked for my company for almost 5 yrs. and during that time have put in alot of off the clock time, because the hrs allowed us are not sufficient to properly do our jobs. It is no the kind of job you can just “leave” when it is time. I am sick and tired of this, but feel if I do not get the work done I will be fired. Help! What can I do? Talking to my supervisor does not work, they say no more hours will be given. I am working the fastest I can and still doing a good job.