Half hour a day wasted going through security at work and not paid

[Matt1970]

I would probably be bitching about it too if it took a 1/2 hour to get through security.

 

[OverVolt]

Knew it was amazon before I even clicked

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Airline personnel cut in at the head of the line last time I was at the airport. The TSA said "These folks need to go first"- I was right there- nobody argued.

Wife, and I were bumped off our flight so that personnel could board instead.
Our luggage went on without us, and beat us home by 4 hours.

 

[boomerang]

According to some of you, I may have a good case for a shit ton of back pay. I would arrive at work using my badge to gain entry and head for the locker room. I would then change into coveralls and walk a full ten minutes from one corner of the plant to the other where my work area was. Those bastards expected me in my work area at the start of my shift. For some reason they didn't consider changing my clothes and walking to be work.

First world problems can be a real bitch sometimes. I don't think the workers in low wage nations that demand lots of hours and that work under very hazardous conditions truly realize how much the average American worker really has to go through at their job. When those jobs move overseas, they're really going to be in for an eye-opening experience.

 

[yllus]

If you have a company location (warehouse) with 200+ employees in it, and you mandate that they all pass through a chokepoint of a security door that moves very slowly - I see that as something the company needs to fix or pay for.

 

[waggy]

If you arrive at company property and are on your way to your assigned work area, where once you arrived you would be on the clock, and the company is doing something preventing you from getting to that assigned work area, I'd think that is the companies decision, and thus you would be considered on the clock. It's one thing to swipe a badge and go through the gate uninhibited, and then being clocked in when you're at your work area. It's quite another to be stuck in line day after day and not getting compensated for it.

I'd say the employees have a legitimate gripe...

I agree

 

[DCal430]

pretty sure that was k-mart, not costco. costco always has a manager on-site, and doesn't seem to dick around with their employees like that.

Costco doesn't actually care about its employees. It just likes to pretend it does.

 

[Fox5]

If my company decides to locate their parking lot an hour from the door, I wouldn't be paid for the time spent walking from my car.
If my company has a massive sprawling building that I have to walk through, I wouldn't be paid for that time either.
I'm paid from the moment I begin to do my job, until the minute I stop doing it. That's from sitting down in my desk until I get up from my desk. I'd expect most hourly jobs are the same.

 

[werepossum]

According to some of you, I may have a good case for a shit ton of back pay. I would arrive at work using my badge to gain entry and head for the locker room. I would then change into coveralls and walk a full ten minutes from one corner of the plant to the other where my work area was. Those bastards expected me in my work area at the start of my shift. For some reason they didn't consider changing my clothes and walking to be work.

First world problems can be a real bitch sometimes. I don't think the workers in low wage nations that demand lots of hours and that work under very hazardous conditions truly realize how much the average American worker really has to go through at their job. When those jobs move overseas, they're really going to be in for an eye-opening experience.

I think this is rather different. What you're describing is time you require to get ready to do your job. How quickly you can do that largely depends on you. In the Amazon example, the workers are ready to go through security immediately upon ending their shift, but must wait on a company-required third party to get to them. That's more similar to the Costco case. If it takes you fifteen minutes to get to the front door, that's on you - but if it takes you five minutes and then the Costco manager takes another ten to let you out, that's on Costco. If instead you had to wait on a company-designated clerk to hand you your coveralls, then that delay should be on their dime.

 

[cubby1223]

I look at this situation as, if the workers are making minimum wage, then you can make a claim they are losing out on money. If they are making above min wage, then how exactly do you quantify this? Company could pay you for the extra half hour each day but reduce hourly pay by 6% so in the end it is the same dollar figure earned per day. Unless that extra half hour adds up to bonus benefits in the letter of the law

 

[boomerang]

I think this is rather different. What you're describing is time you require to get ready to do your job. How quickly you can do that largely depends on you. In the Amazon example, the workers are ready to go through security immediately upon ending their shift, but must wait on a company-required third party to get to them. That's more similar to the Costco case. If it takes you fifteen minutes to get to the front door, that's on you - but if it takes you five minutes and then the Costco manager takes another ten to let you out, that's on Costco. If instead you had to wait on a company-designated clerk to hand you your coveralls, then that delay should be on their dime.

Now remember, I said 'some of you' and I will point to post #42 as one example of what I was addressing.

"As long as you are ON SITE and not clocked out for break or lunch, you should be paid."

 

[werepossum]

Now remember, I said 'some of you' and I will point to post #42 as one example of what I was addressing.

"As long as you are ON SITE and not clocked out for break or lunch, you should be paid."

Agreed. These are largely the same people who believe that burger flippers should be paid $15/hour. Basically it is "You have a lot of money. I am entitled to it." I generally come down on the same side of that as you; I'm just saying that in this particular case, I think they are correct to side with the Amazon workers.

Just for a little clarity - we have an Amazon warehouse in Chattanooga. Starting hourly wages for order pullers run from about $10.00 to $11.75. These are not kids earning minimum wage.

EDIT: Crap, I just posted that and then went to Monster and found an Integrity add offering as much as $13.50 for order fulfillment. It varies because although Amazon pays standard fixed rates, one staffing company may offer a higher wage (i.e. take a lower cut for itself) to attract more and better recruits. There can be a lot of range here. One engineering job I took through a staffing company paid me $5/hour for the first six weeks, while paying the staffing company $22/hour. For this they gave me literally a five minute interview (including reading my resume), made a phone call, and cut my paycheck for the first two weeks (at which point I was made a permanent employee.) And even though the employer made me a permanent employee during the second week, the staffing company received that $17/hour for six weeks, with no duties.

http://jobview.monster.com/Warehous...to-11-75-hr-Job-Chattanooga-TN-139816946.aspx

EDIT TOO: Just for clarity, $13.50/hour is $28k per year. A two earner family fulfilling orders at Amazon will be above national median household income - and way above Tennessee median household income.
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/statemedian/

 

[crashtech]

What makes this case different than some of the other examples posted is that it is an affront not only to be presumed guilty, but then to be detained every single day for an unreasonable amount of time. The method they are using is an expedient that comes at the cost of every worker's time. Instead of using surveillance techniques to ferret out criminals, they simply treat all their workers as criminals instead.

 

[Zorba]

For the employee's purposes, it doesn't matter what the company is charging the customer. What matters is that they're paid for hours actually worked.

What you describe is unfair to the customer.

True, but it is usually at least 30 minutes between when the flight attendants board and the door shuts. And that's each leg. I bet it adds up to way more than 30 mins/day that these employees are complaining about.

First, almost all flight attendants are union, so their contract suoercedes the wage and labor act.

Second, flight attendant pay is really weird. They get paid by leg, and length of leg. Plus something for delays, cancels, etc. Pilot pay is similar. Now when FAs are complaining, they whine about how they only get paid from for close to open, but they are it is just a part of the per leg pay. I have read the pay section of a handful of FA contracts and it gets complicated quickly.

 

[pcgeek11]

I agree with the employees from all I've read. The time clock should be downstream of the security checks. The employer mandated the security checks they should pay for the time. They could probably streamline the checks to save themselves some $$.

 

[Zaap]

I agree with the employees from all I've read. The time clock should be downstream of the security checks. The employer mandated the security checks they should pay for the time. They could probably streamline the checks to save themselves some $$.

Yup. This.

 

[Matt1970]

I bet if they end up having to pay them for the time there, Amazon will pony up some more money to speed up the process, which is what they should do to begin with.

 

[doubledeluxe]

Seems to me they should all be fired and replaced with more subordinate employees who appreciate their jobs.

They're lucky to be working. They shouldn't be biting the hand that feeds them. Screw those employees. If Amazon HAS to pay them they should cut their benefits. No more lunch breaks!

 

[boomerang]

I'm sometimes amazed at what cases end up in the lap of the SCOTUS. This seems like one that could have been decided without escalating to this level. I hope that all members of the SCOTUS enjoyed their three month long summer vacation. Ah, tradition.

 

[JockoJohnson]

I agree with the employees from all I've read. The time clock should be downstream of the security checks. The employer mandated the security checks they should pay for the time. They could probably streamline the checks to save themselves some $$.

Good point. Who is Amazon to tell the employees what they can and can't do with their time after work. They clocked out, they aren't working. Let them out the door without the harassment.....or move the time clock to a spot after the security checkpoint.

 

[xBiffx]

I just got back from a long weekend so I didn't have time to comment on this.

This story appears to be 100% bullshit. My mother works at the Amazon order processing center in Fernley, NV. She clocks in as soon as she enters the door. Then she goes through security. Then she has to walk almost a mile down to here station. The building is that large.

So from what I can tell, at least at that facility, they are paid for going through security and the time it takes to arrive at their workstation.

 

[OutHouse]

lol this reminds me of a episode of Hardcore Pawn where Seth the owners son goes Nazi control freak crazy and has his security search, pat down the stores employees after closing. The women revolted and just walked out saying they better not touch them or... then all of them called in sick the next day.

 

[Matt1970]

lol this reminds me of a episode of Hardcore Pawn where Seth the owners son goes Nazi control freak crazy and has his security search, pat down the stores employees after closing. The women revolted and just walked out saying they better not touch them or... then all of them called in sick the next day.

That show is largely made up. The people that start the commotions already have microphones on. I saw episode where they threw someone out and when she was all the way on the other side of the parking lot you could still hear her clear as a bell.

 

[Brainonska511]

I just got back from a long weekend so I didn't have time to comment on this.

This story appears to be 100% bullshit. My mother works at the Amazon order processing center in Fernley, NV. She clocks in as soon as she enters the door. Then she goes through security. Then she has to walk almost a mile down to here station. The building is that large.

So from what I can tell, at least at that facility, they are paid for going through security and the time it takes to arrive at their workstation.

How can it be bullshit? If it was, it would have been thrown out a long time ago. Just because one facility works the way you describe does not mean all the other subcontracted facilities operate the same way.

These people should be paid for the amount of time their employer makes them wait to go through the loss-prevention screening.

 

[dainthomas]

I bet if they end up having to pay them for the time there, Amazon will pony up some more money to speed up the process, which is what they should do to begin with.

That thirty minutes would magically drop to thirty seconds if Amazon was paying for it instead of the employees.