Companies’ desire to limit operational expenses is in direct conflict with workers’ desires to optimize their income. Businesses often pay workers the lowest hourly rate they can justify.
They also frequently train workers to fill their time with secondary tasks if they do not have specific job functions to perform. Those waiting for a customer at a shop, for example, may need to clean or restock in between visitors. In some cases, employers may even try to insist that workers perform job tasks without pay.
Is it ever lawful for employers to demand uncompensated labor?
Most major tasks require pay
There are several ways in which companies may try to trick workers into performing job functions without compensation. They might host a company party where workers receive pizza in exchange for cleaning or taking inventory. In such cases, workers likely deserve pay if they have an obligation to attend and must perform job tasks.
Minimal tasks performed while off the clock, such as answering an employer’s call while on call, may not create wage obligations. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does allow for minimal exceptions for inconsequential amounts of time.
A company can legally justify requiring that a worker clock out before inputting a code to arm a security system and locking the door of the shop on the way out of the business. Large amounts of time and demanding tasks generally require pay, but companies can ask that workers perform inconsequential tasks while not on the clock.
In scenarios where companies have flagrantly violated wage rights, employees may have grounds for wage and hour lawsuits. Reviewing company demands and how much time they require from workers with a skilled legal team could help employees determine if they have grounds for a lawsuit.
