Wife just called me. Her company instructed everyone to stop working 1 hour before work ended and told them to decorate their office. They are making the employees charge personal leave for that hour. The employees won't leave due to fear of retribution.
Isn't this wrong?

Lawyer or not, that's "wrong" from standpoint of a dick move indicative of somewhere nobody should want to work.

If they're instructing me to be doing anything for an hour they better be paying me for that hour.

Decorate your office. Yeah if you teach Kindergarten. Taking personal leave to do it. That is beyond the pale. I would vigorously search for alternative employment. I would not bother with a barrister.

After doing some brave searching, there was a case where a company wouldn’t let people clock in until after their computer finished booting. The court sided with the employees and awarded them back pay with additional penalties.
So for my wife, one hour, while wrong, doesn’t compare with that case. I suppose she could take extra toilet breaks or something.
Thanks for letting me vent.

I'd tell 'em to fuck straight off.

I certainly wouldn’t put in for time off. If there’s a time clock I’d not clock out. I’m no lawyer but no way it’s legal.

quote:

Originally posted by xd45man:
Wife just called me. Her company instructed everyone to stop working 1 hour before work ended and told them to decorate their office. They are making the employees charge personal leave for that hour. The employees won't leave due to fear of retribution.
Isn't this wrong?

If they can't afford to pay everyone for that one hour I would suspect financial difficulty for them in the future. Make sure your wife's resume is up to date.

Forced leave is one thing - that's when they force you to not go to work and use your accrued leave. Making you stay to decorate is forced labor. TF?

Oh, wait. I know. It's to boost morale among the employees.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:

quote:

Originally posted by xd45man:
Wife just called me. Her company instructed everyone to stop working 1 hour before work ended and told them to decorate their office. They are making the employees charge personal leave for that hour. The employees won't leave due to fear of retribution.
Isn't this wrong?

If they can't afford to pay everyone for that one hour I would suspect financial difficulty for them in the future. Make sure your wife's resume is up to date.

Sounds very odd.

How much will the employer save after paying the legal expenses, fines, penalties, and court costs of a lawsuit brought by the feds under fair labor standards laws? The employees won't even have to hire a lawyer to represent them; there is a federal agency ready to jump on that wagon.

Icing on the cake would be an employer served with a federal court order, then threatening employees with reprisals or termination.

Of course, if the company is upside down financially to begin with (hence ordering employees to eat an hour per day of unpaid time) there will be little hope of enforcing the financial penalties.

Still, no harm is saving all those memos, directives, and emails from the bosses running that shitshow.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
If they're instructing me to be doing anything for an hour they better be paying me for that hour.

Word. If I'm at work, doing work things, even something silly like decorating, you better be paying me. I got other things I could be doing, like going home an hour early.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that there is a company of any size (multiple employees with offices) that would even think this is some kind of good cost saving idea that would pass labor law 101.

All kinds or wrong. Save the memo. Start keeping a journal. Figure out if this is a one off bad decision she’s willing to let slide or a pattern of labor theft. Start making an exit plan.

I’ve decorated the office on the clock. My leave time is my time. If I’m working I’m getting paid.

State wage & hour laws differ, of course, but I can tell you that in Maryland, legally, that would either be paid time or optional attendance. FLSA exempt employees exempt, of course.

I can't imagine FL is so much different that employees can be forced to burn leave during a mandatory office decoration hour.

As for the cost vs. benefit of pursuing it, I'd probably offer to write a nasty-gram for a reasonable fee, which, if everyone chipped in, might be reasonably doable if successful, and put employer on notice that they can't do that shit in the future.

DEFINITELY agree with the advice to document, document, document. A list of wrongs can go a long way down the road should any employment-threatening shenanigans occur.

-Rob

^^^ Thank you. I will bring it up with the wife. One question: Would the nasty-gram be anonymous or does the right to face your accuser come into it?

"No" is a perfectly good response here.

Why are they suddenly trying to save money here? That's a pretty big red flag

^^^^^^^^^^
I am curious. What kind of business is she in where decorating your office is required? I am have been self employed for so long I am not familiar with that stuff. This the new Woke stuff??

^^ I would rather not say what kind of business. I can say white collar. As for hurting for money. I would say more like Scrooge McDuck.