Learning to demand pay for your time at a job is an important life lesson. Not everyone learns it. I have a coworker on the verge of retirement that eats while working and doesn’t take a “no-lunch”.
I would argue that the lion’s share of wage theft happens at the lowest paid jobs. They have no alternatives, they’re paid zero respect, the power balance is in the employer’s favor, and their employers know it. They can’t even demand a reasonable standard of living.
Well, they can but it would take a concerted effort, and the American mindset is too individualist to understand class solidarity, or too distracted by just trying to survive.
The requirement should be that any time an employer makes a demand of an employee’s time, they pay.
FA waiting on your plane to arrive that’s 6 hours late? Pay up.
15 Apple store employees lined up and waiting to get searched by a single manager after a shift? Pay up.
Require an employee to respond to phone calls or issues after hours? That’s not “after hours”, that’s hours. Pay up.
Make an employee commute to an office for a job that can be accomplished from home? Believe it or not, pay the hell up.
Making demands of a person’s time for a job is part of the job. They should be compensated for it.
… I guess you’re writing this because it isn’t so… ?
Learning to demand pay for your time at a job is an important life lesson. Not everyone learns it. I have a coworker on the verge of retirement that eats while working and doesn’t take a “no-lunch”.
I would argue that the lion’s share of wage theft happens at the lowest paid jobs. They have no alternatives, they’re paid zero respect, the power balance is in the employer’s favor, and their employers know it. They can’t even demand a reasonable standard of living.
Well, they can but it would take a concerted effort, and the American mindset is too individualist to understand class solidarity, or too distracted by just trying to survive.
That’s actually illegal in my state, and companies can get in big trouble if the employee doesn’t take a break/ lunch.
Knowing it, and being able to do anything about it are two very different things. Especially in lower paying fields.
Correct. In the US, these practices are commonly not paid by employers.
sigh