Supreme Court stops Amazon workers lawsuit

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I used to stand in line to punch the time clock. I didn't get paid for that time, just from the time I punched in. And I didn't get paid waiting to get out of the parking lot, either. People are ridiculous. I haven't gone to lunch in forever--everyone works hard these days.

I bet you got paid for the time you stood in line waiting to punch out though, didn't you?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

It's not outrageous, it's how the law is written and has been since the 30's. Where are you going to draw the line? Should people be able to charge for the amount of time it takes to get from home to work and back? I mean, actually showing up is generally required for continued employment.

No. What a vapid, straw man argument. No one is arguing that they should be paid for time going to work and back. It's time "held in custody" for the screenings, while still on the jobsite that they should be paid for. Prosecute the thieves, don't punish everyone for their wrongdoing.

Should Amazon be able to require 2 hour employee meetings every week, off the clock?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by taustin

Did you spend an hour or more doing those things? My understanding is that in this case, the time spend waiting to be searched is not trivial.

If that is true -- and extra hour each day, that's comes out to approximately 260 hours a year -- or $2,600 at $10 an hour. That's just pure theft. I guess it's time for Amazon employees to unionize. No wonder Amazon doesn't want to pay their employees for time on the job.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Because this screening is done at the end of a shift then my solution is that it happens in company time.

Yep. Agreed. The time clock should be at the end of the screening line.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Nor do I, as an Amazon buyer, want to have to pay more for items,

I, as an Amazon customer, expect Amazon to pay their employees fairly if they want to keep me as their customer. If the screening time is trivial -- as some claim here -- then put the time clock behind the screening line. Problem solved.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

[url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/08/amazon-supreme-court-nevada-wage-and-hour-pay/16924227/]Amazon.com spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman said workers now have "little or no wait" to get through the security screening.

And we all know a company paid spokesman is always going to be dead honest when their company's reputation is at stake.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If that's true, then why doesn't Amazon place the time clocks at the end of the security checks? What have they got to lose?

I asked the same (later). Sorry about the redundancy. Something doesn't quite "add up" here, does it?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by taustin

What the average is, the news coverage hasn't made clear, but the court documents say "up to 25 minutes." If that's common, that's just not reasonable.

Yep. 25 a minutes a day, would be approximately 195 hours a year -- or, for simplicity at $10 an hour, $1,950. Not insignificant.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by rcentros

No. What a vapid, straw man argument. No one is arguing that they should be paid for time going to work and back. It's time "held in custody" for the screenings, while still on the jobsite that they should be paid for. Prosecute the thieves, don't punish everyone for their wrongdoing.

Should Amazon be able to require 2 hour employee meetings every week, off the clock?

It's not a straw man argument. The point is where do you draw the line? The argument about whither or not Amazon should have such security measures in place is a different argument or discussion. (Personally, I wouldn't want to work for such a company).

According to the line drawn by the law (i.e. work related tasks) a 2 hour employee meeting would be on the clock. In this specific case, I think that anyone who exits that area, be they employee or not, has to go through the security check point, thus it's not actually work related.

[theducks]

I find this ruling odd.
I received a 'back wages' check because of a wage lawsuit.

The reason:
Employees had to pick up their 'required equipment' (minor line standing at the issue window), then clock in precisely at start time (You heard about Early or Late clock ins).

This ruling said that employees need not be paid to pick up required Safety equipment. Splitting hairs?

It is real easy to 'take all the time you need' (and a single line station) to inspect when you are not paying.

Think TSA. Pretty soon, they will charge employees to be inspected if the want to keep their job.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rcentros

So everyone should be "punished" for the possible crimes of a few? I never agreed with that in elementary school and I don't agree with it now.

I'm afraid it's the way society works. Why do we have border controls at airports which cause long delays to every honest traveller? Because of the possible crimes of a few. Why are there ticket inspectors on trains, which make travel more expensive for everyone? Because of the possible crimes of a few.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Should Amazon be able to require 2 hour employee meetings every week, off the clock?

Obviously not.
They're Amazon, after all.

Other companies can and do.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Obviously not.
They're Amazon, after all.

Other companies can and do.

I don't know how it is in the US, but certainly in the UK, unpaid overtime, especially in professional jobs, is more the norm than the exception. My "official" working week is 37h; in reality I probably do on average 5-10h a week more than that, and a lot more when there's an important project that has to get done.

[tubemonkey]

I was a clock puncher. Meetings and clothing changes were done on company time. Mandatory training and re-certification tests were also done on company time. I did absolutely zero company activity off the clock.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't know how it is in the US, but certainly in the UK, unpaid overtime, especially in professional jobs, is more the norm than the exception. My "official" working week is 37h; in reality I probably do on average 5-10h a week more than that, and a lot more when there's an important project that has to get done.

Depends on the profession but the phrase "and other duties as assigned" is common in the engineering world. "Crunch time" is similarly common in the gaming software world. SiliValley startups thrive on young singles because they will happily put in 80-plus hours a week for their stock option bonuses.

Not everybody is paid by the clock.