"I worked at a large retail store - the equivalent of Target for appliances and computers," says Phil Stevens (not his real name pending a lawsuit). "When it closed, many of us had 'total store recovery' (TSR) duties that included stocking shelves, cleaning up etc. which often went passed our scheduled hours and we were paid overtime. But here is the hitch: after we finished work, we punched out and had to leave by the main door. We had to go through security before leaving and just about every night, about 15-20 of us would have to wait until the security guy gave us clearance. If the store safe was open, we couldn't leave. (This could also be thought of as unlawful imprisonment!)
"Most of the time we only had to wait a few minutes. But depending upon what time you clocked out, you could get to the door just as they were closing and might have to wait 10 or 15 minutes. It doesn't seem like a long time but when it happened more often than not, some of us did the math. I was working five days a week and closing just about every night, which equaled about one hour of overtime per week. Multiply this by 20 people and that amounts to thousands of dollars per year this company legally owes its employees.
"I understand the safety issue regarding the safe, but shouldn't we punch out our time clocks when the safe is closed and when we can leave? A responsible company, with these resources, should know better. But they might regret this practice when they get slapped with a huge fine for overtime pay back. Corporations such as these are built around their own rules - and it's time they change. I think employees are having their say and it's about time big companies listen."
Remember -- Paying overtime is not at the employer's discretion. Companies do not have a choice whether or not to pay you overtime. When you clock out, that is the time you should leave your place of employment. And not ten minutes later. No matter if you are stocking shelves or changing your uniform or waiting for clearance to leave, you should still be on the clock.
The law requires companies to pay hourly employees overtime rates whenever it applies, even 15 minutes over eight hours can qualify overtime. Any time worked more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week qualifies as overtime, and if your employer says they don't pay overtime, or won't pay you for time you worked, it's time to learn your rights.