I’m in a situation with my manager who is suggesting that clock-in starts when the employee arrives to the site of work. Effectively saying that everyone should be coming in 15 minutes earlier than their start time.
The majority of what I read online was about security checks when leaving the premises instead of entering. And the results of a couple class actions seem like the law has loose interpretation.
Wondering what your experiences have been like dealing with this situation. Are you paid for your time traveling on company premises?
For ref this takes place in California.
The line here is always arbitrarily set, so you’d want to look up what it is at your specific company. At what point does your personal commute to work end and your work begins? Does it start once you sit in your chair? Step into your office? Walk through the door? How about once you park your car? If you’re available by phone, you can start working your day while in transit. Working from home blurs that distinction further. It’s all arbitrary and usually outlined as a company policy.
For example, my last company’s policy was “be onsite to punch in at a terminal by XX.” The previous company’s were basically “who gives a shit, we’re never gonna check. If not being present on time causes any problems, it’s on you to fix them. Be an adult.”
So yeah, your mileage may vary.
There are very likely laws defining where that line can be set, as Dippy’s comment suggests. It is very likely that the employer is legally obligated to pay an hourly employee for any time they require that employee to be on site, which would include employer-mandated security checks.
You just reminded me of my first job (call center)
My shift officially started when I logged in and set my terminal to “available”
Problem was that the parking lot was very small so sometimes I had to wait for someone to leave to be able to park, then try to find an open computer close to my area and then sometimes said computer took a long time to log off/on so by the time I could set my terminal I was already “late”
My first manager was great and I would send him an SMS as soon as I walked to the building and he would override the system if I logged in late, but my second manager told me to arrive half an hour early to avoid any issues. I quit that job shortly after that
Deciding how much wage theft to do is not valid “company policy.” The law is not arbitrary.
If you’re hourly, you must be on the clock the moment you answer the call, or open your work laptop, etc.
If you’re salary exempt, it’s more about expectations than paid time anyway.