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200 Comments
- inactive, on 05/19/2009, -1/+109I worked at Best Buy when I was in college and they used to do the same exact thing. At closing time they would shut the metal doors and lock them, so even if you wanted to leave you couldn't. They would make you clock out and then you would stand there at the front doors for 15-20 minutes. I would say that 9 times out of 10 they wouldn't stop with their closing duties to let you out of the store. They even went as far as to start searching employee's personal belongings that they brought to work with them before they would let you leave. That job was total ***** and I would not recommend working Best Buy, no matter how desperate you are!
- nogami, on 05/19/2009, -2/+96If they're paying the employees for having to wait there while they close and verify the stock, I have no problem with that. If they don't pay the employees (which seems to be the argument), that would be an issue.
- asgardshill, on 05/19/2009, -0/+74My nephew used to work at Best Buy, and they did the same thing to him in 2001 (locked him in past the end of his shift, unpaid, during inventory). I told him to call 911 the next time it happened, and if he got fired as a result I would pay his salary until he got another job.
The upshot? They did it again the next month, he called 911, the police showed up and "persuaded" the manager not to do that any more on pain of his being arrested personally, he got fired, and I paid 3 days of his salary before he got another job. The only thing I regret is not calling my attorney that same day. - yellowsnowcone, on 05/19/2009, -0/+57They need to pay the employees for that time.
- psykiv, on 05/19/2009, -1/+54I'm sure the fire marshall would *LOVE* to have a word with them...
- 8FoldPath, on 05/19/2009, -1/+52I believe this is quite common in retail. Controlling access to the building is mainly a safety/loss prevention issue, though they should be paying people while they take inventory/count receipts.
- chiefautoparts, on 05/19/2009, -1/+42I used to work at Sears and we had an assistant store manager physically lock us in after closing and after we all clocked out one night. A fellow employee went to the emergency exit but was blocked by a loss prevention agent. We had no physical way of leaving, short of breaking a window. A different employee called the cops and forced the manager to open the doors. The manager was fired the next day and all the employees that were locked in received Black Friday off (while being paid for it).
- brbubba, on 05/19/2009, -0/+30You're awesome! Nice to finally see citizens with the power to do something actually put their money where their mouth is.
- nesagwa, on 05/19/2009, -0/+28When you clock out you aren't under the authority of your employer anymore. They can't fire you for leaving after you've done your shift and forced to clock out. Thus the lawsuit.
Its not like they are trying to leave 2 hours early or something. - shaka776, on 05/19/2009, -1/+29Well, I'm not going for false imprisonment, but unfair wage practices is an easy win. They should definitely get paid for their time.
- shinpoe, on 05/19/2009, -2/+29People still have jobs?
- Donotsurf, on 05/19/2009, -1/+24Welcome to Costco, I love you.
- sysoprock, on 05/19/2009, -3/+26FTA: The confinement doesn't have to be through physical force. In the Costco case, the employees (through their attorneys) will likely claim that, whether or not they could have left the store, their confinement was based on an implied threat that if they did leave, they would lose their jobs.
Uhhh I think pretty much all of us are under the threat of losing our jobs if we decide to leave without permission, these guys need to be paid for this time though. - inactive, on 05/19/2009, -0/+21Just about every fast food place makes at least one employee stay with the manager for safety reasons. Thing is, most places you have to have all employees clocked out to close out the system and do the deposit. So they say they'll write down your time and put it in the next day, which in my experience, doesn't happen. Them 15-20 minutes adds up.
- Fozefy, on 05/19/2009, -2/+22If you're going to do something like this I'd definitely follow through with the attorney, otherwise you're wasting the opportunity. No point in just being a pain in the ass if you're not really going to get into it.
- zoidbergio, on 05/19/2009, -8/+28When i worked the night shift at Costco and the managers were running late in closing, I didn't clock out until they were ready to let us out. The plaintiffs could have done the same without fear of retribution. No regional manager or VP would tolerate the practice of theclosing managers holding employees without pay; Costco is not that type of company.
- asgardshill, on 05/19/2009, -0/+14I spill more in bourbon on a barhop than I actually paid the kid in salary. Worth every penny though.
- inactive, on 05/19/2009, -1/+15HomeDepot does this to their night crews all the time the mangers leave and lock all the doors you can't get out without setting off an alarm, if you set off an alarm by opening a locked door you are fired and most likely charged with stealing something. So when I needed to leave at 2am to help my sick wife I had to page a manger and wait 2 hours after clocking out to leave the store. Then they wondered why I quit the next day.
- MrMacMan, on 05/19/2009, -0/+14Walmart has done this for a decade:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/national/18WALM. ...
Thats 2004.
There have been times when workers were told not to call the police even if there was an emergency.
When someone got their leg stuck under a isle that fell on them the manager told them not to call 911, 3hrs later the manager wasn't there to unlock the door... etc etc - inactive, on 05/19/2009, -2/+15I'll bet the employees won't see a dime of this money.
- Barackalypse, on 05/19/2009, -1/+14Brilliant, sue one of the good companies that takes care of its employees:
"A new Costco employee, at $11 an hour, doesn't start out much better, but after four and a half years she makes $19.50 an hour."
http://www.slate.com/id/2194332/
$19.50 an hour for a cashier, you think anyone at Target or Walmart checking you out is making anything near that? - ldkronos, on 05/19/2009, -0/+11Well, the fire exits worked perfectly fine. We could have gone out them if we needed. However, I'm sure you could count on not having a job if you left that way.
- x986123, on 05/19/2009, -1/+12For the people who don't understand... The fire Marshall says keep passages open incase of a fire.
- ericcc, on 05/19/2009, -1/+12Most salaried workers get better benefits, pay and comp time.
- zantos420, on 05/19/2009, -0/+10For the people who don't understand... The Fire Marshall is above the law and can open you fence door, walk through leaving it open for the dog to run out, walk down to the basement door, open the sliding glass door and take $500 worth of fireworks I just bought and then give me a $500 fine, That was the worst 4th of July ever.
- rpark, on 05/19/2009, -2/+12$50M seems like 1/2 of what one store makes in LA.
- sockpuppets, on 05/19/2009, -2/+12They haven't paid anything, they're just being sued. Reading comprehension FTW.
- inactive, on 05/19/2009, -4/+13So what's holding you back then?
- GhostOfKraken, on 05/19/2009, -0/+9I worked at Old Navy when I was 17 and they did the exact same thing to us. At closing time they would make everyone clock out, shut that metal gate to lock us in, and wouldn't let anyone leave until the whole store was clean. They would hold everyone there for 45 mins to an hour every night, OFF THE ***** CLOCK! When they finally let us leave they would check all the girls purses to make sure they hadn't stolen anything.
I wish we'd all had the collective wisdom to sue the ***** out of them for that. NEVER WORK FOR ANY CHAIN THAT'S OWNED BY GAP INC!!!
- RungeKutta, on 05/19/2009, -0/+9That's not true. Just because you put something in a written contract or say something in an oral contract, and the other party agrees to it, doesn't mean that it's always 100% binding. The law isn't black and white like that.
- ultar6, on 05/19/2009, -0/+9See, that's the issue. They're not paying you for the time you spend waiting around, are themselves spending that time to check the jewelry cases and cash registers to make sure you didn't steal anything, and are actually keeping you until they have determined that you have earned your own free will back from them.
It's false imprisonment because THEY decided to stop paying you, then decided to prevent you from leaving. - zuiquan, on 05/19/2009, -0/+9The only people that are going to make money off of this ***** are the lawyers.
- lex0nyc, on 05/19/2009, -4/+12I make it a standard policy to beat the ***** out of anyone who tries to search me without a warrant.
- J3553, on 05/19/2009, -5/+13i used to work at costco, and they did the same thing to me, except i was smart enough to stand next to the time machine and wait for the manager to start towards the door before i clocked out. most people are just too dumb to think of such things, and that's why they're 40 and still working at costco.
and it wasn't like they were really locking us in. if someone had an emergency and had to leave, they would let you out. they even had security in the parking lot to make sure you got to your car safely. having to stay a few minutes after your shift every now and then is a minor inconvenience. these people should probably shut the ***** up and be glad they still have a job.
working in a retail type environment always sucks ass, but if your choices are limited, you can do far worse than costco. i also worked at best buy. *****, that place was terrible. - arplayer2k, on 05/19/2009, -1/+8Same with Pep-Boys when I worked there. They should hopefully be going out of business soon. I don't see why anyone would go there, and how they are still in business.
- HunterGathers, on 05/19/2009, -1/+8So you don't fly commercially?
- ontain, on 05/19/2009, -0/+7most workers are "at will" employees so they can fire you for just about anything
- beachtrader, on 05/19/2009, -0/+7Yo former Airman--a building with classified material and in the military is a whole lot different than working a near minimum wage job with a publicly traded retail store.
You have to compare apples to apples, not apples to marshmallows. - Skwerl, on 05/19/2009, -0/+7If the doors are locked and you can't leave without being fired, you're being held against your will unless you signed an agreement that stated this was an S.O.P.. The lack of pay is a separate issue, reminds of of an article awhile back where employees weren't being paid until they logged into their workstation regardless of how early they were required to arrive.
- emt1451, on 05/19/2009, -2/+9They did this all the time when I worked at American Eagle. We got paid for all of the time we spent there though... I think
- ldkronos, on 05/19/2009, -0/+6I worked for Best Buy back around 1995 and it was the same deal. You'd clock out then stand there for 5-10 minutes (and occasionally up to 20) for the manager to come let you out. They never got to the point of searching anyone's belongings, though.
- GrammerPants, on 05/19/2009, -0/+6At Costco any salary position is 45hrs+ this is what you agree to when you take on a management position. If your department runs well then you won't do more then 40 hrs in a week. But I've seen people to 12-15 hr days simply because there department is having issues.
- ChildeRoland420, on 05/19/2009, -0/+6... Locking you in is just *****. There should be someone else on the crew they can trust enough to monitor the place.
- piratearggghhh, on 05/19/2009, -0/+6Costco pizza .... mmmmm
- ampdj89, on 05/19/2009, -2/+8Costco > Sam's Club
- Skwerl, on 05/19/2009, -1/+6Then you could count on an easy lawsuit win, lack of pay combined with lack of a contractual agreement to be locked inside the store seems pretty cut and dry.
- ultar6, on 05/19/2009, -0/+5When it comes to hourly employees, an unpaid break that happens after clocking out does not exist. If what you say truly happened, there's also malfeasance on the part of the labor board.
If an hourly employee has clocked out at the end of their shift, you simply cannot force them to stay on the premises without compensation.
BTW, there is no such thing as a fifteen-minute unpaid break when it comes to the law and there is certainly nothing like that that comes at the end of someone's shift.
There is a fifteen minute paid break that is mandated by federal law after a certain number of hours of work. There's also a 30-minute unpaid meal break that is mandated by federal law if you work a certain number of hours. There is certainly no exception for a "we decided to stop paying you, but force you to stick around until we decide you can leave" unpaid break. - zoidbergio, on 05/19/2009, -0/+5You are a silly silly person.
Imagine a membership based business checking memberships at the door. Unbelievable. - MixMastaKooz, on 05/19/2009, -1/+6Yes, your last sentence sums it up. Costco is not that type of company. I would think that Costco would definitely reimburse someone for lost time.
- Ajajadude, on 05/19/2009, -0/+5The article mentioned they were not being paid for the extra 15 minutes. That'll definitely net any current and former employees an extra check. But the false imprisonment thing might be a stretch, depending on how it's argued for/against. It's hard to make a call on that without knowing anymore specifics.
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